Proto Persona
Draft a lightweight proto-persona with pains, goals, and quotes so you can validate who you are building for before writing specs.
Overview
Proto-persona is an agent skill most often used in Idea (also Validate and Build) that produces a structured hypothesized user profile from pains, goals, and quotes.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-skills --skill proto-personaWhat is this skill?
- Structured proto-persona template: name, bio, quotes, pains, goals, attitudes, and influences
- Worked example (“Manager Mike”) showing B2B SaaS PM depth without full research spend
- Captures decision-making authority and what the persona is trying to accomplish
- Grounds positioning in concrete pains (meetings, fragmented metrics, onboarding friction)
- Useful for solo founders who need a shareable user snapshot for landing copy and roadmap debates
Adoption & trust: 1.2k installs on skills.sh; 5k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You have a product idea but no crisp picture of who suffers today, what they say out loud, and what success looks like for them.
Who is it for?
Solo founders or one-person PM teams who need a fast, narrative user anchor before validation and build.
Skip if: Teams that already have validated personas from research and only need to sync CRM segments—not another hypothetical profile.
When should I use this skill?
You need a hypothesized user profile with demographics, quotes, pains, and goals before deeper validation or build.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get a markdown proto-persona you can reuse in scope docs, landing drafts, and prioritization conversations without waiting on formal research.
- Markdown proto-persona document
- Quotes and pains usable in landing or interview guides
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Proto-personas belong on the Idea shelf because they crystallize target users and jobs-to-be-done before scope and build commitments. Audience is the right subphase: the skill structures demographics, quotes, pains, and decision authority for a hypothesized user segment.
Where it fits
Turn a vague “busy managers” idea into Manager Mike with quotes and pains before competitor research.
Align hero copy and CTA with the proto-persona’s stated pains and what they are trying to accomplish.
Reject scope creep by checking new features against the persona’s goals and decision authority.
Pick channels (LinkedIn vs communities) based on attitudes and influences in the persona block.
How it compares
Use for lightweight hypothesis personas instead of dumping unstructured “our user is everyone” notes into chat.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is proto-persona for?
Indie builders, solo PMs, and technical founders who need a shareable target-user sketch before committing to scope, UX, or marketing copy.
When should I use proto-persona?
In the Idea phase when defining audience; during Validate when aligning scope and landing messaging; and in Build/PM subphases when prioritizing features against stated pains and goals.
Is proto-persona safe to install?
It is documentation-style guidance with no built-in shell or network calls; review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing any skill from the catalog.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Proto Persona
# Proto-Persona Examples ## Example 1: "Manager Mike" (Good Proto-Persona) ```markdown ### Name - Manager Mike ### Bio & Demographics - 35-42 years old, lives in urban/suburban areas (Chicago, Seattle, Austin) - Director of Product at mid-sized B2B SaaS companies (100-500 employees) - Married with 2 kids, commutes 30 min by car, values work-life balance - Active on LinkedIn and ProductHunt, attends 1-2 PM conferences per year - Reads PM blogs/newsletters (Lenny's, Stratechery), listens to podcasts - Plays rec basketball on weekends ### Quotes - "I spend more time in status meetings than actually building product." - "My CEO asks me for data I don't have, and it takes 3 days to get it from engineering." - "Every tool promises to save time, but they all require a week of onboarding." ### Pains - Spends 10+ hours/week in status meetings and writing updates - No single source of truth for product metrics—data is scattered across tools - Pressure to ship faster, but team is stretched thin ### What is This Person Trying to Accomplish? - Deliver roadmap milestones on time without burning out the team - Make data-driven prioritization decisions in real-time - Communicate progress to execs without manual reporting overhead ### Goals - Be seen as a strategic thinker, not just a feature factory manager - Get promoted to VP of Product within 2 years - Spend more time with family (leave work by 6pm) ### Attitudes & Influences - **Decision-Making Authority:** Can approve tools up to $15k/year; needs VP/CFO approval above that - **Decision Influencers:** Peer PMs in Slack communities, former colleagues, analyst reports (Gartner) - **Beliefs & Attitudes:** - Skeptical of tools that require developer setup - Values ease of use over feature depth - Prefers tools that integrate with existing stack (Jira, Slack, Figma) - Willing to pay more for great UX and support ``` **Why this works:** - Specific demographics tied to behavior (not just "35-42") - Quotes reveal real frustrations (not generic platitudes) - Pains are measurable and specific - Goals include professional and personal motivations - Decision-making context is clear --- ## Example 2: Bad Proto-Persona (Too Generic) ```markdown ### Name - John ### Bio & Demographics - 30-50 years old - Lives somewhere - Works in tech ### Quotes - "I want better tools." ### Pains - Tools are bad ### What is This Person Trying to Accomplish? - Use good software ### Goals - Be productive ### Attitudes & Influences - **Decision-Making Authority:** Maybe - **Decision Influencers:** People - **Beliefs & Attitudes:** Likes good things ``` **Why this fails:** - Age range is too broad (20-year span) - No behavioral context ("works in tech" = meaningless) - Quotes are generic ("better tools" = every persona ever) - Pains are vague ("tools are bad" = not actionable) - No specific goals or influences **How to fix it:** - Narrow demographics: "35-45, Director-level, B2B SaaS" - Add behavioral details: "Remote-first, active in PM communities" - Use real quotes: "I spend 5 hours/week chasing down status updates" - Specify pains: "No visibility into what engineering is building" - Define goals: "Get promoted to VP within 2 years" --- name: proto-persona description: Create a proto-persona from current research, market signals, and team knowledge. Use when you need a working customer profile before deeper validation. intent: >- Create an initial, assumption-based persona profile that synthesizes available user research, market data, and stakeholder knowledge into a working hypothesis about your target user. Use this to align teams early in product development, guide initial design decisions, and identify gaps in understanding that require validation through research. type: component --- ## Purpose Create an initial, assumption-based persona profile that synthesizes available user research, market data, and stakeholder knowledge into a working hypothesis about your target user. Use this