# Persona Evidence

> Build and maintain personas grounded in research evidence — not stereotypes — and keep them tied to real data and decisions. Use when creating, updating, or challenging personas used in product and marketing.

- Skill: `itsual/persona-evidence` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add itsual/persona-evidence`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/itsual/persona-evidence/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: itsual (https://skillmd.com/u/itsual)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/itsual/persona-evidence

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# Persona Evidence

## Overview

Personas help teams build empathy and focus — only when they reflect real patterns in research. Evidence-light personas become fiction that misguides decisions.

## When to Use

- Creating or refreshing personas
- Challenging outdated or political personas
- Linking segment research to design tools
- Aligning product and marketing on who the user is

## Core Practices

- Derive personas from clustered behaviors, needs, and contexts
- Cite the studies and samples behind each persona
- Include goals, constraints, and environments — not only demographics
- Separate proto-personas (assumptions) from validated personas
- Retire or revise personas when evidence changes
- Show how each persona should change a product decision

## Principles

- A persona without evidence is a stereotype with a name
- Too many personas dilute focus
- Demographics alone rarely predict behavior
- Living artifacts need owners and review cadence

## Verification

- [ ] Each persona links to research sources
- [ ] Distinguishing behaviors/needs are clear
- [ ] Teams can name decisions the persona should influence