{"id":14918,"date":"2016-09-19T14:29:50","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/?p=14918"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T02:57:06","slug":"ux-designers-5-minute-guide-lean-personas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/ux-designers-5-minute-guide-lean-personas\/","title":{"rendered":"The UX Designer\u2019s Guide to Lean User Personas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Not every company needs to build complex personas.<\/p>\n<p>After all, the reality of Agile timelines dictates that we focus on the 20% of effort that produces 80% of insights. Not to mention, the process of involving your team in learning from users is far more valuable than the document itself.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14921\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image02-1.png\" alt=\"persona template by UXPin\" width=\"615\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image02-1.png 756w, https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image02-1-319x300.png 319w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em> Source: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\"> <em> UXPin Persona Tool <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Welcome to the world of lean personas.<\/p>\n<p>In this article, we\u2019ll explain:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When lean personas work best<\/li>\n<li>How to conduct the proper research for quick personas<\/li>\n<li>How to use data when creating lean personas<\/li>\n<li>Examples of perfect lean personas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Join the world&#8217;s best designers who use UXPin<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sign up for a free trial.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/sign-up\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try it for free!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<section class=\"uxpin-trial-widget\">\n<h2>Join the world&#8217;s best designers who&nbsp;use UXPin.<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"white-info\">Sign up for a free trial.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/sign-up\" class=\"btn btn-flat sign-up-btn white\">Try it for free!<\/a><\/section>\n<h2><b>What is a User Persona?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A user persona is a tool to help create an ideal, reliable and realistic representation of a specific target audience. The persona is an important part of understanding potential visitors (and customers) by adding a real-world element.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>When to Use Lean Personas<\/h2>\n<p>Lean personas are recommended in the following scenarios:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Limited resources \u2014<\/strong> Personas require time and effort to research and build. If you\u2019re a smaller company working on a budget, lean personas that are informed by existing analytics, web research, and user interviews still provide plenty of insight.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rapid product development \u2014<\/strong> In an ideal world, every product timeline would include ample time for user research. We know that\u2019s not always the case in Agile processes, so even a few quick personas are better than nothing at all.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lenient stakeholders \u2014<\/strong> If your stakeholders don\u2019t demand multiple rounds of approval and review, a lean persona should suffice. Capture the important behavioral and psychological details, then spend more time on the design and iteration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Creating personas is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/loreleibrown\/lightweight-personas-and-cheap-ass-user-research-presentation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a lot like sculpture <\/a> : present only as much as your team needs to think about the problem, then remove the rest.<\/p>\n<h2>Lean User Research Options<\/h2>\n<p>Lean personas tend to be built more from qualitative data rather than quantitative, since quantitative data may require more effort to collect and interpret.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone can conduct user interviews and supplement with some online research, but it takes knowledge and money to track user behavior metrics.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14922\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image03-1.jpg\" alt=\"UX Research\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image03-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image03-1-452x300.jpg 452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em> Source:<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/chaione.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/User-Experience-research-752x3001.jpg\"> <em> UX Research<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Patrick Neeman gives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/5-approaches-to-creating-lightweight-personas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> practical tips <\/a> for persona research on a budget.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, if you\u2019re working on a commissioned project, ask the client for customer details. Sometimes the client already conducted their own market research, which you can build into the persona. For example, you might think that your design app is intended for any designer in the world when the client knows it\u2019s only for in-house design teams from the United States.<\/p>\n<p>But you may not be that lucky, so be prepared to do the research yourself. If you don\u2019t have the resources to conduct full-scale user interviews, there\u2019s nothing wrong with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxbooth.com\/articles\/guerrilla-research-tactics-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> guerilla user research <\/a> . Neeman explained a couple of clever tactics that worked for him.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Quick UX User Research Tips<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Conduct online research <\/strong>\u2014 When Neeman was working on a local government website in Alaska, he didn\u2019t have the resources to fly a team out for user research. By using Wikipedia, he revealed that Anchorage is a college town, travel is driven by the oil economy, and other insights. He then validated the information by remotely interviewing stakeholders and residents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Validate with co-workers<\/strong> \u2014 Whether it\u2019s budget or confidentiality concerns, sometimes you can\u2019t interview outside people. In that case, build some quick personas based on web research (and any existing analytics), then validate them with coworkers who match the profile. Interestingly enough, some large companies <a href=\"http:\/\/motherboard.vice.com\/blog\/a-peek-inside-apple-s-maniacal-design-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> like Apple use this approach <\/a> .<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check out competitors<\/strong> \u2014 For an e-commerce project, Neeman took a deep dive into competitors with similar audiences. He deduced usability best practices, content strategies, and even developed design questions (and subsequent user scenarios) without speaking with any users. The end result? Millions more in revenue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of the above tactics help keep your personas more rooted in reality. Of course, when possible, we always recommend interviewing users.<\/p>\n<h2>Conducting Quick User Interviews<\/h2>\n<p>The tried-and-true method for understanding your users (and therefore, building accurate personas), the user interview is one of the most cost-efficient methods of qualitative research. Aside from any scheduling back-and-forth, it might take an afternoon (at most) to develop your list of questions, and sometimes 30 minutes per interview is enough to generate actionable results.<\/p>\n<p>Now when it comes to how many people to interview, the answers vary. The minimum for accurate results is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nngroup.com\/articles\/how-many-test-users\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> 5 users <\/a> . A common range is <a href=\"https:\/\/ux.stackexchange.com\/questions\/25311\/how-many-people-should-i-interview-for-creating-a-valid-persona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> 5-30 <\/a> , but that of course depends on your product, timeline, data, and design process.<\/p>\n<p>For example, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> UXPin <\/a> first moved to the United States around 2013 to build our web app, we conducted over 50 user interviews. We talked to everyone ranging from designer friends who freelanced full-time, to well-known design experts like Brandon Schauer of Adaptive Path. We wrote up an informal test script, then spoke with each person for anywhere from 30 minutes over coffee to 2 hours in our own apartments.<\/p>\n<p>Because our goal was product discovery, we wanted as much data as possible to inform our personas. Now that we\u2019ve fleshed out our personas, we interview 15-20 people per major iteration to ensure our understanding is still current.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t obsess over the location of user interviews. Nothing affects the quality of the research more than the questions. We\u2019ve compiled this list of generic questions based on this thorough research from the Open Personas Project and our own experiences.<\/p>\n<h3><b>User Research Questions<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Can you describe how you spend a typical day or week?<\/li>\n<li>Which activities do you spend the most time on?<\/li>\n<li>What is\/are your worst pain point(s)?<\/li>\n<li>What would an ideal day or week be like? What would you be doing?<\/li>\n<li>What are the differences between that ideal day\/week and the real world?<\/li>\n<li>Can you tell me how you use [product]?<\/li>\n<li>What does [product] allow you to accomplish that you otherwise couldn\u2019t?<\/li>\n<li>Where does it fall short? What doesn\u2019t it do (or do well) that you need it to? What would an ideal experience with [product] be like?<\/li>\n<li>Have you used other [products] to do that in the past? What were they?<\/li>\n<li>Which [product] is better? Which one is the best? Why?<\/li>\n<li>What do you usually do when you\u2019re searching\/shopping\/evaluating for similar products?<\/li>\n<li>What kind of [reports\/documentation] do you create?<\/li>\n<li>Whom do you need feedback from to generate those [reports\/documentation]? What insights or data do they offer you?<\/li>\n<li>What roles (coworker, PM, manager, developer, etc.) do the people who receive your [reports\/documentation] play?<\/li>\n<li>What part of [the job] do you most enjoy? What do you least enjoy?<\/li>\n<li>How do you know when you are doing [the job] well?<\/li>\n<li>What are your goals? What are your ambitions?<\/li>\n<li>Is anything making it difficult for you to accomplish your goals? If so, please describe them for us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep your questions open-ended to encourage the interviewees to elaborate, giving you more workable results.<\/p>\n<p>For an in-depth look at the art of the interview, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/edanzico\/user-interview-techniques\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Liz Danzico\u2019s presentation, User Interview Techniques <\/a> .<\/p>\n<h2>What to Include In Lean Personas<\/h2>\n<p>Considering that this type should be distinctly simple, it\u2019s helpful to pay attention to a few aspects over others.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14923\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image04-1.png\" alt=\"proto personas idea by UXPin\" width=\"602\" height=\"339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image04-1.png 602w, https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image04-1-533x300.png 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Justin Smith, UX Architect for Cartoon Network, <a href=\"https:\/\/webdesign.tutsplus.com\/articles\/defining-and-applying-personas-to-ux-design--webdesign-7561\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> recommends adding only enough details <\/a> so that you can understand the user\u2019s mindset, desires, and tasks. Within the Lean UX methodology, these quick personas are known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/uxmag.com\/articles\/using-proto-personas-for-executive-alignment\">proto-personas<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3><b>UX Persona Fields<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Name &amp; Photo<\/strong> \u2014 If you like, you can give them a nickname based on their behavior, such as \u201cSam the Searcher.\u201d A realistic photo also helps, but a quick doodle for a first draft is acceptable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Job Title <\/strong>\u2014 Surveys can be very helpful for capturing this data. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/webcache.googleusercontent.com\/search?q=cache:_4CzrauFiFkJ:blog.bufferapp.com\/marketing-personas-beginners-guide+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Buffer conducted a survey <\/a> which showed a large percentage of users are small business owners. They then used this information to create a specific \u201cSMB\u201d persona. Make sure to include the role and the company.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Goals\/Needs <\/strong> \u2014 Get deep into the psychology of your persona so you know <em> why <\/em> they make their decisions. What are their fears? What are their goals? Rely on your user research and any available metrics.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Behaviors &amp; Beliefs <\/strong> \u2014 Make sure the details are relevant: for instance, <em> John the First-Time Car Buyer <\/em> is so embarrassed by his lack of knowledge of automobiles that he would never ask his friends for help.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Characteristics (Attributes) <\/strong>\u2014 To determine the categories of attribution (like Risk Tolerance or Education), look back on the user interviews and identify patterns between users. Once you\u2019ve created the categories, plot the users and start combining similar people into personas. For example, \u201cGreg\u201d shown above could be a combination of Jimmy and Steve, who are real people with the same spectrums of tech-savviness, education, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Usually, you can divide your desired user base into two segments: the primary and secondary segments. Your main segment are the users you can\u2019t do without (like our UX manager lean persona below that we use on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> UXPin <\/a> product team).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14919\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image00-1.png\" alt=\"secondary segment UX personas\" width=\"721\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image00-1.png 975w, https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image00-1-464x300.png 464w, https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image00-1-768x496.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 721px) 100vw, 721px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Your secondary segment is more like a bonus \u2014 these are the people that you\u2019d like to have as users, but they aren\u2019t always necessary.<\/p>\n<h2>Lean Persona Templates<\/h2>\n<p>When it comes time to create the actual persona document, you don\u2019t need to start from an empty canvas. There\u2019s plenty of existing templates for all levels of detail.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fakecrow.com\/free-persona-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Fake Crow<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 In an effort to appeal to startups, the L.A.-based creative agency offers a free downloadable template for simple persona creation.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.romanpichler.com\/tools\/persona-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pichler Consulting<\/a> \u2014 A great, no-BS persona template from Agile product management consultant Roman Pichler. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/\"><strong>UXPin<\/strong><\/a><strong> \u2014<\/strong> We offer lean persona templates inside our\u00a0collaborative design platform.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/userforge.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>UserForge<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 A cloud-based persona and usability testing tool with free plans. This tool supports lean and in-depth personas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you found this post useful, get more example-driven advice in the free e-book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/ebooks\/ux-design-process-documentation-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> UX Design Process Best Practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"uxpin-trial-widget\">\n<h2>Join the world&#8217;s best designers who&nbsp;use UXPin.<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"white-info\">Sign up for a free trial.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/sign-up\" class=\"btn btn-flat sign-up-btn white\">Try it for free!<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step-by-step instructions for creating fast user personas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,71,176,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-documentation","category-user-research","category-ux-design"],"yoast_title":"Building Lean UX Personas for Agile Timelines - UXPin","yoast_metadesc":"Not every company needs complex user personas. Find out how to simplify and significantly shorten your creation process.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Building Lean UX Personas for Agile Timelines - UXPin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not every company needs complex user personas. 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