According to UX Magazine, “A persona represents a cluster of users who exhibit similar behavioral patters in their purchasing decisions, use of technology or products, customer service preferences, lifestyle choices, and the like. Behaviors, attitudes, and motivations are common to a “type” regardless of age, gender, education, and other typcial demographics. In fact, personas vastly span demographics.”
Personas are typically created in a workshop setting with a variety of users and/or staff members. They populate three profiles: user, task prioritization, and environmental. When the three profiles are complete, a persona can be constructed for a particular user group, such as a pricing analyst for a non-U.S. international airline.
Additional personas are created in a similar manner until all of the user groups are modeled.