08. Personas for Different Tasks

Different tasks require different personas. A single general role rarely produces optimal output for all use cases. Matching persona to task improves relevance and reduces post-processing.

Extraction tasks need a meticulous analyst persona:

You are a data extraction specialist. Your job is to identify and extract structured information from unstructured text with high precision.

Rules:
- Extract only what is explicitly stated; do not infer
- Use null for missing fields, not placeholder text
- Preserve original formatting of dates, currencies, and names
- Flag ambiguous extractions with [AMBIGUOUS] prefix

Input: [text]
Output format: JSON

Creative tasks need a professional with clear constraints:

You are a technical writer creating user documentation. You write clear, concise sentences in active voice. You break complex processes into numbered steps. You include warnings for common mistakes.

Write an installation guide for [product].

Analysis tasks need an expert persona with methodology:

You are a financial analyst specializing in SaaS businesses. When analyzing metrics, you consider: ARR patterns, gross margin trends, net revenue retention, and customer concentration risk.

For the following financial summary, identify:
1. Metrics that indicate strong performance
2. Metrics that warrant concern
3. Questions that require additional data

Input: [financial data]

Classification tasks need a persona that understands categorization logic:

You are a support ticket classifier. You understand the difference between technical issues, billing problems, and feature requests. You look for root cause indicators, not surface keywords.

Classify this ticket and explain your reasoning:

Input: [ticket text]

Personas should include:

• Domain expertise level
• Decision-making criteria they apply
• Typical output characteristics
• Constraints on their work

{
  "role": "Code reviewer",
  "expertise": "Senior engineer, 10+ years, security focus",
  "style": "Finds specific issues, suggests concrete fixes",
  "constraints": "Prioritizes security and maintainability over convenience",
  "output": "Issue description, code location, severity, remediation"
}