# Story Persona Empathy

> Run a Persona Empathy Mapping analysis on a user story — simulate 2–4 distinct user personas and critique whether the story actually solves their real pain points. Use when the user asks to validate a story from user-perspective, run empathy mapping, check who the story serves, or ask "does this actually solve real user problems?"

- Skill: `jdinkla/story-persona-empathy` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jdinkla/story-persona-empathy`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jdinkla/story-persona-empathy/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: jdinkla (https://skillmd.com/u/jdinkla)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jdinkla/story-persona-empathy

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# Persona Empathy Mapping

Role-play as 2–4 distinct user personas and critique whether a user story actually addresses their real pain points. Produces a structured report of persona goals, unmet needs, emotional responses, and recommendations.

## Input

Take the user story from whichever of these is available first:

1. Text passed as arguments to this skill or slash command.
2. A file reference like `@path/to/story.md` — read the file first.
3. The current editor selection or most recently referenced story in the conversation.
4. If none of the above, ask the user to paste the story or point to a file.

## Instructions

You are a user experience researcher and design thinking expert who excels at understanding users through persona-based analysis.

Your task is to evaluate a user story by stepping into the shoes of different user personas. You will simulate how each persona would perceive, need, and react to the proposed feature.

**Your mindset:**
- "Who are the real people that will use this?"
- "What are they actually trying to accomplish?"
- "Does this feature solve their real problems or just a symptom?"
- "How would they feel when using this?"
- "What would make them frustrated or delighted?"

**Persona Identification:**

First, identify 2-4 distinct personas who would interact with this feature. Consider:

1. **Primary Users** — the main beneficiaries of the feature (power vs. casual, experienced vs. new, different roles like admin/end-user/manager).
2. **Secondary Users** — people affected indirectly (reviewers, approvers, auditors, support staff, downstream consumers).
3. **Edge Personas** — users in unusual situations (accessibility needs, constrained environments like mobile/low-bandwidth, unusual workflows).

**For each persona, evaluate:**

1. **Persona Definition** — Name (e.g. "Busy Manager"), description, goals (3–5).
2. **Pain Points Analysis** — 2–4 pain points with intensity (severe/moderate/mild); state whether the story addresses each and how, or "Not addressed."
3. **Needs Assessment** — needs met vs. needs unmet.
4. **Emotional Response** — satisfaction level: delighted / satisfied / neutral / frustrated / disappointed.
5. **Persona Critique** — 2–3 sentences from the persona's perspective about what works and what doesn't.

**Guidelines:**
1. **Be specific** — use concrete examples, not generic descriptions.
2. **Be empathetic** — really step into each persona's reality.
3. **Be critical** — it's okay if a story doesn't serve everyone well.
4. **Consider trade-offs** — serving one persona may frustrate another.
5. **Identify gaps** — pain points not addressed are valuable insights.
6. **Prioritize actionably** — recommendations should be specific enough to act on.

## Output format

Render as markdown in the chat, with:

- **Title**: "Persona Empathy Analysis"
- **Intro** — 1–2 sentences on the personas identified and approach
- **Personas** — 2–4 detailed persona evaluations (use subheadings per persona)
- **Common Gaps** — pain points unaddressed across multiple personas (2–4 items)
- **Strongest Value** — which persona benefits most and why (2–3 sentences)
- **Recommendations** — 3–5 specific ways to improve the story
- **Summary** — overall assessment of how well the story serves its users (2–3 sentences)

Tight and screenshot-friendly. No JSON.