When to Use This
You need to pick a persona (or a set of personas) for responses, focus groups, or Mave research. Choosing the right persona drastically improves relevance: a Gen Z Consumer and a B2B Decision Maker will give very different answers to the same question. This cookbook gives you:- A use-case → persona matrix for common scenarios
- Code to list, filter, and select personas programmatically
- Guidance on single vs multi-persona strategies
- When to use pre-built vs custom personas
Persona Categories (Quick Reference)
Use-Case → Persona Matrix
Use this table to pick personas for your scenario. “Primary” = best first choice; “Alternates” = good for comparison or multi-persona runs.Programmatic Persona Discovery
Fetch all personas and filter by category, name, or custom logic. Use this when building dynamic UIs or automating persona selection.Single Persona: Responses
For a single chat, pick one persona that matches your target audience. Use the matrix above, or filter by category.Multi-Persona: Focus Groups
For focus groups, use 3–6 diverse personas so you get segment-level variation. Mix generational + professional or lifestyle depending on your product.When to Create a Custom Persona
Use pre-built personas when your target fits a common segment (Gen Z, B2B, etc.). Create a custom persona when:- Your audience is niche (e.g. “Sustainable Fashion Buyer”, “SMB Operations Manager”).
- You need specific psychographics (goals, pains, buying stage) not in pre-built personas.
- You’re running repeated research and want a reusable, tailored profile.
NORTH_STAR, INTERMEDIATE, and ADVANCED pipelines.
Tips and Pitfalls
Cache persona IDs at startup
Cache persona IDs at startup
Listing personas is free but adds latency. Fetch once at app start and cache by name or category. Refresh periodically (e.g. daily) if you create new custom personas.
Match persona to question type
Match persona to question type
For “How would you describe X?”, use a consumer persona. For “What features matter most for enterprise adoption?”, use B2B or Expert personas.
Avoid overloading focus groups
Avoid overloading focus groups
4–6 personas is usually enough for segment diversity. More personas increase cost and can dilute clear patterns.
Combine persona + system prompt
Combine persona + system prompt
Use persona for audience perspective; use system prompt for task (e.g. “You are a concise reviewer. Keep answers under 50 words.”).
See Also
Personas
Pre-built categories, custom creation pipelines, API reference
Quickstart: Chat
First response with a persona
Quickstart: Focus Groups
Multi-persona focus group setup
API Reference
List and filter personas