Customer

Persona Canvas (DABB variant)

A persona built as a trends-to-emotion cascade, not a flat goals-and-frustrations list.

What it is

Name & Role, Outlines and Need sit at the centre; two mirrored columns run outward — Positive Trends into near-term Opportunities into long-term Hopes on one side, Negative Trends into Headaches into Fears on the other. Comparing the two columns, rather than reading either alone, is the point of the exercise.

Reach for it when

• A team that can describe a segment demographically but not what actually drives its decisions
• A persona exercise that produces a name and a stock photo and nothing else usable
• A group that needs to see where a customer's biggest fear blocks their biggest hope

Running it

1. Name the persona and sketch their role and likeness first, using a realistic name and role rather than a demographic label.
2. Fill in the Need box to anchor what actually drives this persona's decisions.
3. Work down the positive column — Positive Trends, then Opportunities, then Hopes — in that order.
4. Work down the negative column — Negative Trends, then Headaches, then Fears — then compare both columns as a group; the contrast is the point.