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Deep Dive: User Types

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A user type is a distinct group of people who share similar needs, behaviors, or goals.

Define your user types too broadly, and your problems and solutions will feel generic. Define them too narrowly, and you’ll box yourself into a single use case.

In this deep dive, you’ll learn how to define user types at the right level of specificity and choose which one to prioritize in a product sense interview.

Generate your user types

Step 1: Generate candidates using a lens

Start by identifying at least three possible user types. Picture real people in real situations, then use one or two lenses to find meaningful differences between them. You do not need to use every lens—choose the ones that fit the product.

Use Case
What job are they hiring
the product to do?

Product Usage Stage
New user, power user,
or lapsed user?

Demographics
Age, location, income,
or life stage?

Consumption Behavior
How and when do they
engage with the product?

Four lenses for segmenting users into user types
  • By use case: What is the person trying to accomplish?
  • By product usage stage: How do the needs of new, casual, and advanced users differ? This works best for established products with clear usage patterns.
  • By demographics: Do age, life stage, or professional role meaningfully change the need?
  • By consumption behavior: What kind of value does the person want from the product? A media product, for example, might distinguish movie watchers from episodic viewers or people browsing an older catalog.

Step 2: Make each user type concrete

Give each group a memorable name and a one-sentence description of their situation: the Worried Dog Owner, the Field Researcher, or the Conservation Scientist. This forces you to picture the person behind the label and makes it easier to identify meaningful pain points later.

Step 3: Sharpen your list

Check each user type:

  • Too broad: Could this group appear in an unrelated product exercise?
  • Too narrow: Have you already baked a specific pain point into its definition?
  • Too similar: Does it overlap heavily with another group?

“Dog owners” leaves room to explore several needs. “Dog owners dealing with separation anxiety” has already chosen the problem for you.

Segment Specificity Spectrum

If you do not yet have at least three distinct, plausible user types, return to Step 1 and refine your list.

Prioritize one

Compare the segments on three dimensions:

  • Breadth: How many people share the need?
  • Depth: How painful or urgent is it?
  • Mission: How well does it fit the company’s goals and the technology’s strengths?

You do not need a detailed scoring exercise. Use the criteria to make a clear choice and explain the tradeoff.

Prioritize One

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