What is a persona?
info A persona is a fictional but realistic user profile that represents a typical user of the Vklass system.
Think of a persona as a character description of someone who would use Vklass. It's similar to character descriptions in a play – they are made up, but based on real people and their needs. A persona helps us understand who uses the system, why they use it, and what they need to succeed.
What does a persona contain
A complete persona in the Vklass documentation includes:
- Name and background – A fictional name and personal background that brings the person to life
- Role and responsibilities – What role the person has in the education system (e.g., teacher, student, guardian)
- Goals and needs – What the person wants to achieve when using Vklass
- Frustrations and challenges – Problems the person encounters in their work or studies
- Technical competence – How familiar the person is with using digital tools
- Usage context – When, where, and how the person uses Vklass
Examples of personas in Vklass
person Anna Andersson – Elementary school teacher, grade 6
Anna is 42 years old and has worked as a teacher for 15 years. She teaches Swedish and social studies. She is comfortable with digital tools but appreciates simple, clear interfaces. Her biggest challenge is finding time to give all students individual feedback while managing administration and parent communication.
person Erik Eriksson – Student in grade 8
Erik is 14 years old and in grade 8. He is active on social media and uses his mobile phone for most things. He wants to quickly see his assignments, deadlines, and grades without having to click around too much. He prefers apps over websites.
person Maria Martinez – Guardian
Maria is 38 years old and has two children in elementary school. She works full-time and has limited time to follow her children's schoolwork. She wants to quickly see if anything needs her attention (absence, low grades, messages) and wants to be able to communicate easily with teachers.
Why do we use personas
Personas are an important tool when developing Vklass for several reasons:
- Empathic design – Instead of building features "for everyone," we think about specific people with concrete needs
- Prioritization – Different users have different needs. Personas help us prioritize which features are most important
- Shared understanding – When developers, designers, and stakeholders talk about "Anna the teacher," everyone has the same picture of who we're building for
- Realistic scenarios – We can test features by asking "How would Anna use this?" or "Does this work for Erik on his mobile?"
- Avoid assumptions – Personas are based on research and interviews with real users, not just guesswork
Persona relationships
In addition to individual personas, we also document the relationships between personas. For example: how does Anna the teacher interact with her students' guardians? What information do they need to share? These relationships are important for understanding how information flows in Vklass.
In the persona relationship documentation, you'll find:
- Communication channels – Who needs to be able to contact whom?
- Information sharing – What information do different roles see?
- Workflows – How do different roles collaborate to achieve goals?
- Permissions – Who has access to what?
Personas in the development process
When creating a new feature or mockup, we always start by asking: "Which personas are affected by this?" and "What do they need to be able to do?"
This ensures that we build features that actually solve real problems for real people, not just theoretical solutions.
lightbulb Do you recognize yourself? If you read a persona and think "That's exactly like me!" then we've succeeded! Personas should feel authentic and relatable.
Exaggerated personas
Some personas can be exaggerated and don't necessarily represent a specific user that actually exists. These personas often embody extreme characteristics or edge cases. For example, imagine a persona like this:
person Example of an exaggerated persona
A teacher in their early 60s who dislikes technology and their job. They're counting down the days to retirement, and their greatest joy seems to be finding things to complain about. They avoid using the school's software, resist learning new tools, and often skip tasks even when they're mandatory.
Users like this are not very common, but most of us can recognize or relate to this type of person in some way. They are not the main audience we design for, but including such personas can still be valuable. They remind us that not all users are motivated, tech-savvy, or engaged. Keeping these personas in mind helps us build systems that are more tolerant, forgiving, and accessible, which ultimately improves the experience for everyone.
However, personas like this shouldn't drive major design decisions. The main functionality and workflows should focus on the core users who actively use and benefit from the product. Exaggerated personas are best used to test usability, identify frustration points, and build empathy for less engaged or change-resistant users.
Explore our personas
In the persona documentation, you'll find detailed descriptions of all different user types in the Vklass system. You can read about their background, needs, frustrations, and how they use the system in their daily lives.