Criticism
Criticism of personas falls into three general categories: analysis of the underlying logic, concerns about practical implementation, and empirical results (cf. Chapman and Milham, 2006; Rönkkö, 2005).
In terms of scientific logic, it has been argued that because personas are fictional, they have no clear relationship to real customer data and therefore cannot be considered scientific. Chapman & Milham (2006) described the purported flaws in considering personas as a scientific research method. They argued that there is no procedure to work reliably from given data to specific personas, and thus such a process is not subject to the scientific method of reproducible research.
For practical implementation, Portigal (2008) has claimed that personas give a "cloak of smug customer-centricity" while actually distancing a team from engagement with real users and their needs. He argued that real-world stories and customer immersion would better serve designers to understand the needs of users.
A fourth problem with using personas is that some organisations are not ready for the methodology. Creating hypothetical users with real names, stories and personalities may seem unserious and whimsical to some people, teams or organisations.
Read more about this topic: Persona (marketing)
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