Use this when you have research inputs (interview notes, support tickets, survey data, analytics, conversation transcripts, or even team assumptions) and need to produce structured persona artifacts that the team can reference in product documentation, use for steering decisions, and include in presentations.

This skill replaces /persona-draft. The key difference: it produces saved files — not just conversation text — so personas become reusable project artifacts rather than one-off outputs.

Brand reference

For branded visual outputs, see brand tokens.

Process

Step 1: Gather inputs

Ask the user:

1. What research data do you have? (Interview transcripts, survey results, support tickets, analytics, informal observations, existing proto-personas, conversation notes, or files to analyze.)
2. Who is this persona representing? (A specific user segment, role, or behavior pattern — e.g., "power users," "new PMs," "client stakeholders.")
3. What product or feature area is this persona for?
4. Are there existing personas to differentiate from? (If yes, what makes this persona distinct?)
5. What format do you need? Options:
   • Full persona document — detailed artifact for product docs and steering (default)
   • Persona card — one-page summary for slide decks and team walls
   • Both — full document plus a condensed card section at the end
6. Where should the file be saved? (Default: personas/ directory in the project root. Can also be a specific path.)
7. Do you want visual output beyond the markdown file? Options:
   • Markdown only (default) — the saved .md file is the final artifact
   • PDF slide deck — branded PDF via Marp
   • Presentation (Google Slides) — generated via Gamma, exported as PPTX
   • Miro board — document posted to a Miro board
   • FigJam — visual map in FigJam (diagram formats only)
   • Multiple — any combination of the above

If the user provides files (PDFs, transcripts, documents), read and analyze them as research inputs.

Step 2: Analyze the research

Review all provided data and extract:

• Behavioral patterns — What do these users actually do? How do they work?
• Goals — What are they trying to accomplish? What does success look like?
• Frustrations — What blocks them, slows them down, or makes them anxious?
• Triggers — What causes them to seek a solution or take action?
• Decision factors — What influences their choices? Who else is involved?
• Context — Where do they work? What tools do they use? What constraints apply?
• AI interaction preferences — How does this persona expect to interact with AI-powered features? Consider: trust level (skeptical, cautious, eager, dependent), control preference (wants to steer vs. wants to be guided), transparency need (wants to know when AI is involved vs. doesn't care), correction willingness (will report errors vs. will silently stop using it), and AI literacy (sophisticated user vs. first encounter). These preferences shape how AI features should behave differently for this persona. See /ai-persona-design for designing AI system personas that respond to these preferences.
• Direct quotes — Verbatim quotes that capture their voice (2-4 strong quotes).

Look for patterns that cluster users into distinct types. If the data reveals multiple personas, note this and offer to create each one.

When the domain involves service roles (agents, representatives, coordinators), consider the dual-persona pattern: the end customer persona AND the service provider persona. The Allstate engagement showed that agent personas (retention-focused, relationship-driven) have fundamentally different goals and frustrations than customer personas, even though they interact with the same product.

Step 3: Write scenarios

For each persona, draft 2-3 concrete scenarios. Scenarios are what make personas actionable — they describe real situations where the persona interacts with the product.

Each scenario includes:

• Trigger — what event starts the interaction
• Goal — what the persona is trying to accomplish
• Environment — where and when (at desk, on mobile, in a meeting)
• Actions — what they do, step by step
• Resolution — how it ends (success or frustration)

Step 4: Generate the persona artifact

Use the persona template to produce the full persona. Fill in every section. If data is insufficient for a section, mark it as "(Needs more research)" rather than guessing.

Include the presentation-ready persona card at the end of the document (the condensed version suitable for slide decks).

Step 5: Save the artifact

Save the persona as a markdown file:

• Default path: personas/(persona-name).md (e.g., personas/maria-ops-manager.md)
• File naming: lowercase, hyphenated version of the persona name and role
• If the personas/ directory doesn't exist, create it.

If creating multiple personas, save each as a separate file and create a personas/README.md index that lists all personas with one-line descriptions.

Step 6: Generate visual outputs

If the user requested visual output in Step 1, generate it now. The markdown artifact from Step 5 is always the source of truth — visual outputs are produced from it.

Follow the visual output addon for detailed instructions on each path. Persona-specific guidance below:

PDF slide deck (Path A)

Use the persona slides template as the structure guide. This produces a 6-slide branded deck:

1. Title slide — persona name, role, key quote
2. Bio & Goals — two-column: bio/goals left, frustrations/context right
3. Behaviors & Triggers — two-column: behaviors left, triggers/decision factors right
4. Key Scenarios — three-column cards, one per scenario
5. Success & Evidence — success narrative + evidence/confidence table
6. Persona Card — the condensed reference card (closing slide)

Save the Marp markdown to ./output/decks/(persona-name)-persona.md and generate PDF + HTML per the addon instructions.

Presentation via Gamma (Path B)

Prepare the persona content as a slide-by-slide outline following the same 6-slide structure above. Use textMode: "preserve" since the content is already structured. Set numCards: 6 and exportAs: "pptx".

Miro board (Path C)

Post the full persona markdown to the user's Miro board. The markdown format transfers well to Miro docs — headings, bullets, bold, and quotes all render correctly.

FigJam visual map (Path D)

For personas, FigJam works best as a persona journey map — a flowchart showing the persona's triggers, key scenarios, and decision points as a connected flow. Generate a Mermaid.js flowchart with:

• Trigger nodes (rounded) leading to scenario nodes
• Decision factor nodes branching from scenarios
• Resolution nodes at the end of each path

This complements the full persona document rather than replacing it.

Step 7: Review and validate

Present a summary of the persona and ask:

• Does this feel like a real person you've encountered in your research?
• Are the goals and frustrations accurate to what you've heard?
• Are the scenarios realistic — do they match how this person actually works?
• Is anything missing or overstated?
• Would the team find this useful when writing stories and making design decisions?

Revise based on feedback. A persona is only useful if the team trusts it.

Related skills

• /artium-deck — create standalone branded slide decks (used by the PDF output path)
• /artium-prototype — create branded HTML prototypes with persona-informed UI
• /research-synthesize — synthesize raw research into themes before creating personas
• /jtbd-analysis — connect persona goals to jobs-to-be-done
• /story-write — use personas when writing user stories ("As Maria...")
• Visual output addon — shared module for generating branded visual artifacts from any skill

Output locations