What is Persona Team about?

“Data-Driven Personas for Sustainable Growth” (Persona Team, for short!) is a research team at the University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland. We research data-driven personas in a range of applications from computer systems to marketing and sustainability. We’re a cross-disciplinary and fun team that appreciates HARD WORK. The roots of the team are at the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) where Jim, Joni, and Soon worked on data-driven personas since early 2017. Over the years, we’ve published more than a 100 research articles on personas and a textbook on data-driven personas.

For Academic Collaborators:
Personas are fictitious people that represent real groups of people to help decision-makers make informed decisions about those people. Data-driven personas are always based on real data about people. Our team studies computational approaches to persona creation, evaluation, and application using state-of-the-art techniques, such as Generative AI, deepfakes, and Metaverse. Our team members come from various backgrounds (e.g., marketing, computer science, engineering) and study personas in multiple contexts, including sustainable business growth. We are open to research collaboration with other teams, individuals, and organizations.

For Aspiring Doctoral Students:
We welcome applications from students in any major (but with an emphasis on business and computer science fields). Our team is built around a strong collaborative attitude and support for newcomers to be integrated into our on-going research. We expect a strong work ethic and willingness to work for a common cause (see a description of the “persona” of our team members!). In return, we provide:

• Hands-on opportunity to learn professional research skills (e.g., user studies, experiments, statistical analysis) in collaboration with experts.
• Flexible work arrangements, including part-time studies.

See our current topical areas. Send an email to Prof. Joni Salminen (jonisalm@uwasa.fi) if you are interested in joining our team as a PhD candidate!

For Industry Collaborators:
We are open to research collaboration and consultation that delivers real-world impact. Our team can help you better understand your customers, users, or stakeholders, and make informed decisions. Personas can be used in many settings, including marketing, advertising, retail, e-commerce, education, public health, technology and software development, among others.

We can help with designing data collection activities, carrying out persona generation, and training you in how to leverage personas in practical decision-making. We can also model a whole industry ecosystem as personas, which can be useful for simulating the impact of strategic decisions. Reach out to Prof. Joni Salminen (jonisalm@uwasa.fi) if you are interested in learning more!

Keywords: Data-driven personas, Human-computer interaction, Quantitative UX, educational AI