# 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"
