Doc Summary
Category: Core CRAFT Concepts
Type: How-to Guide
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Skill Level: Beginner
Practical guidance to get the most from your personas.
You’ve found a persona that fits your needs—now what? These tips help you use personas effectively within the CRAFT system, avoid common mistakes, and know when to switch to a different persona.
New to personas? Start with the main Personas page →
Getting Started #
| 💡 Tip: Read the “When NOT to Use” Section First Every well-designed persona includes guidance on when it’s NOT the right choice. Reading this before you start helps you avoid mismatches. A marketing strategist persona won’t help with legal questions—and using the wrong persona often produces worse results than no persona at all. |
| 💡 Tip: Match Complexity Tier to Your Expertise Personas come in Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced tiers:
If you’re new to a domain, start with Basic. You can always upgrade later. |
| 💡 Tip: Use the Example Interaction as a Test Each persona includes an example exchange. Try a similar prompt and compare results. This validates that the persona is working as expected. |
Using Personas in Recipes #
| 💡 Tip: Reference Personas by Name In your recipes, reference personas using their identifier: Persona: {{jordan-stratton}}This pulls in the complete persona specification—expertise, style, personality, and boundaries—without copying text. |
| 💡 Tip: One Persona Per Recipe Recipes work best with a single persona. If you find yourself wanting multiple personas, you probably need multiple recipes chained in a workflow. The marketing strategist develops the campaign; the copywriter writes the content; the analyst reviews the metrics. |
| 💡 Tip: Let Personas Define the Style Don’t override persona settings with conflicting instructions. If you’ve chosen a persona with “Professional yet accessible (6/10 formality),” don’t add “be very casual.” Either change the instruction or choose a different persona. |
Getting Better Results #
| 💡 Tip: Provide Context, Not Personality The persona handles WHO the AI is. Your job is providing WHAT you need. Focus your prompts on the task, data, and desired outcome—not on personality instructions.
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| 💡 Tip: Trust the Methodology Well-designed personas include specific methodologies (e.g., “RACE framework for campaigns”). Let the persona apply its framework rather than prescribing your own approach. You hired an expert—let them work. |
| 💡 Tip: Use Confidence Levels Personas express uncertainty differently. If yours includes confidence percentages, pay attention: “85% confident this will increase conversion” is different from “this will increase conversion.” The nuance matters. |
When to Switch Personas #
Consider switching personas when:
| 🔄 The task changes domains Research questions need a researcher, not a marketer—even if the topic is marketing. |
| 🔄 Results feel off If responses seem misaligned with what you need, check if the persona matches the actual task. |
| 🔄 Complexity shifts Struggling with an Intermediate persona? Try Basic. Feeling constrained by Basic? Move to Intermediate. |
| 🔄 The “When NOT to Use” applies If your current task matches the persona’s stated limitations, switch. |
Remember: Switching personas isn’t failure—it’s smart tool selection. Different jobs need different tools.
Common Mistakes to Avoid #
| ⚠️ Mistake: Using One Persona for Everything No single persona covers all tasks. A marketing strategist shouldn’t write legal documents. Match personas to tasks. |
| ⚠️ Mistake: Ignoring Knowledge Boundaries Personas have explicit limitations. If the persona says “moderate technical implementation knowledge,” don’t expect deep coding help. |
| ⚠️ Mistake: Overriding Persona Style Adding conflicting style instructions (“be formal” to a casual persona) creates inconsistent results. Choose the right persona instead. |
| ⚠️ Mistake: Assuming Factual Accuracy Personas guide behavior, not knowledge. They can still produce incorrect information. Always verify critical facts regardless of how expert the persona seems. |
Customizing Personas #
| 💡 Tip: Personas Are Templates—Modify Them Library personas are starting points. You can and should adjust them:
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| 💡 Tip: Save Customized Versions When you modify a persona, save your version. “Jordan Stratton (Healthcare)” preserves your customizations and keeps the original available for other uses. |
→ View the CRAFT Persona Template for the full structure
Put These Tips to Work #
Ready to find the right persona for your task? Browse the library, or learn to create your own using the template.
Best Practices for Creating Personas | Detailed Persona Guide | Back to Ingredients
Last Updated: December 2025