AI-powered personas take the traditional method to a higher level. They do this by adding interactive conversations to static profiles. With the help of artificial intelligence, companies can talk directly to their personas. This helps them understand their target groups in a more realistic and emotional way.
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| When personas no longer just represent, but also respond, new conversations begin. |
A tool developed by market research company makes this possible. It allows businesses to get data-based feedback at any time. They can test products, campaigns, or ideas with it. This supports stronger empathy and a better customer focus.
It is 1983. The Californian sun beats down on the Monterey golf course. Alan Cooper, a software designer, walks across the lush green fairway. He does not carry a golf club. He stares ahead with a focused gaze. His brow glistens with sweat. He seems completely lost in his thoughts.
As he walks, he gestures wildly with both hands. He sometimes speaks aloud as if he addresses an invisible companion. He pauses to nod or frown, as if listening to silent feedback. The other golfers watch him curiously. Yet no one stands next to him. At least no one that any golfer can see.
Cooper named his conversation partner Kathy. She is not a real person but a persona he created. He used her as a character to see his software from a user’s point of view. In dialogues with Kathy, Cooper made many complex decisions. He shaped a clear method through these talks. Later, people called him the “father of persona use” because of this work.
His key motivation was simple and strong: customer focus. By looking at the world through Kathy’s eyes, he learned exactly what his users needed. In his essay “The Long Road to Inventing Design Personas,” Cooper explained this story. He showed that talking with a persona deepens our understanding of a target group, almost as if they sat right in front of us.
Our Golf Course Moment:
How We Fell in Love with Personas?
It was just a normal day at our office. We were working as usual when we started talking to Emily, Bianca, Peter, and Simon. These are four personas from our own research study about sustainability. We had added them to our new AI tool called TAIA Personas.
For the first time, we didn’t just read about them on paper. We actually interacted with them through the tool. Honestly, it felt a bit magical. Suddenly, we weren’t talking about them anymore—we were talking with them. Their answers were clear, direct, and sometimes surprising. Often, they felt very human. It seemed like we were getting to know real people. We felt as if we were meeting them face-to-face. That was our “golf course moment”—a moment of realization.
We understood something important that day. This kind of conversation could help companies understand their target groups much better. It could change how we connect with people in business.
Show, Don’t Tell: How Personas Come to Life
Almost every company knows this situation. A company spends many months doing segmentation studies. It creates detailed persona profiles with great effort. But later, those profiles get stored somewhere deep inside the company’s intranet. Nobody looks at them. Nobody uses them. These personas often stay as still documents. Very few people truly understand them.
We want to change this situation. Our goal is simple and strong. Every person in the company should feel the target group. They should not only read about it or hear others talk about it. TAIA Personas makes real conversations possible. This is similar to how Alan Cooper imagined personas in the mind. But many people do not have the skills, the imagination, or the time for mental roleplays using PowerPoint slides and written descriptions.
Our solution is clear and smart: an AI-powered chatbot brings personas to life. Every person in the company can talk to the personas. A product developer or a saleswoman can ask questions directly. They can learn what truly matters to their target audience.
Imagine this scene: You are working on a new advertisement campaign. You create a first version of your ad. Now you want to know if your target audience will like it. So, you open TAIA Personas. You select Emily – the passionate environmentalist. You ask her, “What do you think about this ad?”
Emily replies: “This ad speaks directly to my heart. It links low-cost shopping with climate protection. That matches my personal motto. The pictures of nature look nice and support the message of eco-friendly products. Partnering with NABU Climate Fund is a clever idea. But it would help to explain more clearly how buying these products really helps the climate. Transparency is key.”
Now you have useful feedback. You can use it to improve your ad and move forward with better ideas. This is the point when personas stop being just a theory. They turn into conversation partners. They give you direct feedback. This feedback is based on real data and easy to understand.
How TAIA Personas Works?
A Look Behind the Scenes
The core of TAIA Personas is a mix of strong market research and smart AI technology. First, we use or gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Then we build segmentation models. From this, we create clear personas. These traditional research methods still play a very important role. They form the base for building personas.
We can collect data from one-time studies. We can also use sources like customer databases or social media. It is important that we do not stop at demographic data only. We always gather enough information about the audience’s attitudes, needs, and behaviors. The key step is selecting, preparing, and analyzing the right data. We always do this in close cooperation with our clients. This ensures that the personas are based on real and useful insights.
What makes the tool truly special is the use of a large language model like GPT. This model allows natural conversations. We use a method called Retrieval-Augmented Generation. It links the researcher-created personas to the language model. This way, users can chat with the personas in everyday language. The AI answers based on the real persona data. It also adds smart context when needed. This makes every answer helpful and personalized.
The whole concept works in all areas where people see value in working with personas. It works for onboarding. It supports sales. It improves user experience (UX). It helps in marketing. It drives innovation. It supports product management. It strengthens brand development. It works across many industries. These include chocolate, retail, pharmaceuticals, and B2B target groups.
Like every method, our tool works only as well as the data behind it. Good results need good data. A conversation with a persona does not replace deep, detailed, and data-based analysis. It adds to these analyses. The dialogue with a persona gives you fresh ideas. It opens up new ways of thinking. It brings new perspectives. But it does not serve as a strict rule for decision-making. Instead, it gives helpful inspiration.
A very important part of our system is transparency. To make sure that the answers from the personas are not just guesses, we created a scoring system. Each answer shows a score from 0 to 100. This score tells the user how much of the answer is based on real data and how much is creative input from the AI.
We also want to keep our personas up to date. That is why we regularly feed them new data. This allows us to train them in a more complete and accurate way. Many people are impressed when we give our personas a real voice. They don’t just reply in text. They can also speak. This makes the experience more lifelike and easier to connect with. But this is only the beginning. We have many more ideas for improving TAIA Personas. For example, a live commentator could share the data that supports a persona’s answer. The personas could talk to each other. Or they could join meetings and speak directly with the team.
When is TAIA Personas useful?
TAIA Personas works best when it adds real value to your daily work. We learned from feedback that old-fashioned personas are only helpful when they serve a clear purpose. That’s why we strongly believe in involving real users early—during the concept phase of apps, services, products, or communication projects.
These are the key moments when TAIA Personas make a real difference:
1. Understand your target group better
If your team has little contact with real users, personas can help a lot. Talking to personas allows you to explore their real needs and opinions. Static profiles show basic facts. But a real conversation creates empathy and deeper understanding.
2. Test and evaluate ideas
Companies can share early ideas for products or ads with the personas. The feedback helps teams see things from a new point of view. It helps them better understand what their target group wants. The goal is not to decide everything at once but to get fresh input for the next steps.
3. Boost creativity
You can also use personas as creative partners. Ask them for ideas for campaigns or products. They might offer views that the team didn’t think of. They help you stay focused on what really matters to your audience.
One of the best moments in our work with TAIA Personas was when we saw how people react emotionally to them. Some users felt friendly toward a persona. Others even felt dislike. This reminded us of Alan Cooper’s story on the golf course. But today, AI allows everyone in a company to have this experience instantly.
Personas are not just information cards. They are personalities. They can inspire creative work and spark new ideas. Even though some people still criticize personas, we believe they remain a powerful tool. They help companies focus more on real customer needs during development.
With the help of AI, personas can finally do what they were meant to do: They help companies see the world through the eyes of their audience. And they do it in a way that is more dynamic, interactive, and practical than ever before.
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