The controversy of personas: How Spotify built an audience framework that lasts

By Luiza Demasi

A Panel Discussion

& Serena Fang

Dome Stage

15:30

16:00

Discover the power of an iterative mixed-methods approach in shaping user personas at Spotify. Leveraging user interviews and quantitative rules, we developed an evolving classification system. Our daily dataset, categorizing all Spotify internal users into personas, aids recruitment and enriches product metrics. The personas have existed for over 1.5 years and remain highly used. Recently we've re-ran the process, adding two additional personas to align with the team's aspirations and foster discussions on expanding the user base

What you'll learn:

See the method developed to classify customers better
Using personas to align with the team's aspirations
Why it's still useful to develop your personas thoroughly

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About the Speaker

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Luiza Demasi

With a background in business, experience design, and education, Luiza sees design as a tool to mediate the human experience. She fosters a balance of rigor and pragmatism in her department at Spotify, where she operates as a strategic User Researcher. Today she specializes in the B2B space of Experimentation and Analytics Tooling. Previously, she worked as a User Researcher at Wise, where she influenced how people around the world deal with online money transfers.

Serena Fang

Using data to inform and empower design teams

Serena is a NYC-based user researcher who specializes in ensuring user needs remain at the center of all design work. She is passionate about research because it expresses deep empathy for users, promotes collaboration, and is the perfect balance of the left & right brain, satisfying her creative itch. She has worked in industries such as food, fitness, B2B analytics tooling, music, & more. Today, she’s a Sr UX Researcher at Etsy, where she’s focused on growing conscientious e-commerce buyers.

Explore methodologies and metrics that go beyond traditional analytics, providing a comprehensive framework for assessing the true impact of design on user experience, engagement, and positive business outcomes.