How to fill in a user persona template in 6 steps

A six-step process for filling in a user persona template with research instead of guesses: define one behavioural segment, run 10 to 20 interviews, anchor every field to evidence, capture verbatim quotes, look for evidence that contradicts each claim and review the persona every quarter. It suits product managers, designers and researchers building personas for a real product. Koji runs the interviews as AI-moderated conversations and links persona fields back to the quotes behind them.

Where this appears

• User Persona Template: 7 Free Templates and Examples for Product Teams (2026)

What's in this process

1. Define one segment first: Pick a single group that behaves differently from the rest. The narrower it is, the more useful the persona.
2. Run 10 to 20 interviews: Most teams hit diminishing returns between 12 and 20. For high stakes, check the themes with a survey of more than 100.
3. Anchor every field to evidence: Name the interview, survey or analytics event behind each claim. If you cannot, mark it as a hypothesis.
4. Capture verbatim quotes: A real quote convinces stakeholders far more than an inference about users.
5. Look for contradicting evidence: Search for interviews that disagree with each key claim. Finding none usually means you cherry-picked.
6. Review it every quarter: Check each persona against the last 90 days of interviews and analytics, then update the behaviour fields.