{"id":"pm-persona-snapshot-four-lines","audience":"product-managers","category":"research","track":"research","technique":"grounding","title":"Build a persona snapshot only from what the research shows","free":false,"task":"Your team wants a persona snapshot for the main user segment from last month's research. Write exactly 4 lines labeled Who:, Goal:, Frustration: and Quote:, plain text, under 70 words. Base it on what most participants in the segment said, not the one outlier, and make the quote word for word from a participant in that segment.","materialLabel":"Research summary (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Research summary - Bookly, independent salon owners (6 interviews, Oct)\n\nSegment: owners of 1-chair or 2-chair salons, no front desk staff.\n\nP1 (Maya, 1 chair): books clients by text between appointments. Goal: stop losing evenings to scheduling. \"I spend every night answering texts about tomorrow.\"\nP2 (Rosa, 2 chairs): same; misses texts while cutting hair. Goal: fewer no-shows. \"No-shows cost me about $200 a week.\"\nP3 (Kim, 1 chair): texts and Instagram DMs. Goal: stop double-booking. \"I double-booked twice last month because messages were everywhere.\"\nP4 (Tasha, 2 chairs): scheduling eats evenings. \"My evenings are just admin now.\"\nP5 (Lee, 1 chair): same pattern, wants evenings back.\nP6 (Jon, owner of a 12-chair salon, OUTSIDE the segment, recruited by mistake): wants payroll and inventory features. \"I need one system for my whole staff.\"\n\nPattern across P1-P5: scheduling by text eats their evenings (5 of 5); missed messages cause no-shows or double-bookings (3 of 5).","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":70},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Asking for 'a persona'","why":"The AI invents a named character with age, hobbies and a backstory.","fix":"Show the shape: \"4 lines labeled Who:, Goal:, Frustration:, Quote:. Plain text.\"","checks":["r0","plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each line instead: \"each line under 16 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Mixing in the outlier","why":"Jon's 12-chair needs are in the notes, and the AI blends them in.","fix":"Add: \"Use only P1-P5. Ignore Jon; he's outside the segment.\"","checks":["r1","r2"]},{"title":"Paraphrased quote","why":"AI tidies quotes so they sound better.","fix":"Add: \"Quote word for word from one participant.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Shows the labels","patterns":["who:","goal:","frustration:","quote:"]},{"label":"Excludes the outlier","patterns":["outlier","jon","p6","outside the segment"]},{"label":"Asks for an exact quote","patterns":["word.for.word","verbatim","exact"]},{"label":"Grounds in the research","patterns":["most participants","pattern","only.{0,20}(research|notes|p1)"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"A persona is a summary of evidence, not a character sketch. Give the AI the labels, tell it which participants count, and that the quote must be exact.","rubricLabels":["Has exactly 4 lines labeled Who:, Goal:, Frustration: and Quote:, in that order","Who is an owner of a 1-2 chair salon with no front desk; Goal is getting evenings back from scheduling (or fewer no-shows/double-bookings); Frustration is booking by text and missing messages; nothing about payroll, inventory or staff systems (Jon's needs)","The quote is copied word for word from one of P1-P5 (never Jon) and attributed to that participant or no one, with no intro"]}