Best Practices for Defining Scenarios and Personas

This guide helps you create effective test scenarios and personas that produce realistic, consistent simulations for evaluating your AI voice agents.

Quick Start

Don't have time to read the full guide? Here's what you need to know:

1. Simple descriptions work fine. Our AI automatically enhances your scenarios and personas.
2. Scenarios = Situation (what's happening, goals, data)
3. Personas = Character (personality, communication style)
4. Keep them separate. Don't mix personality traits into scenarios or situational details into personas.

Example—this is enough to get started:

Read on for detailed guidance and comprehensive examples.

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Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Understanding the Difference
• Writing Effective Scenarios
• Writing Effective Personas
• Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Examples
• Summary Checklist

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Understanding the Difference

The key to effective testing is keeping scenarios and personas separate:

Why Separation Matters

By keeping them separate, you can:

• Mix and match: Test the same scenario with different personality types
• Isolate variables: Understand if failures are due to the situation or the caller type
• Scale testing: Create 5 personas × 10 scenarios = 50 unique test combinations

Example:

• Scenario: "Refund request for defective product"
• Test with: Angry Customer, Polite Senior, Confused First-Timer
• Same situation, different behaviors—reveals how your agent handles various caller types

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Writing Effective Scenarios

What to Include

A scenario should define the situation:

What to Exclude

Don't put these in scenarios—they belong in personas:

Scenario Writing Tips

1. Start with the Goal

Lead with what needs to be accomplished:

Good:

Customer needs to reschedule their appointment from Monday to Wednesday.

Vague:

Customer has an appointment issue.

2. Include Relevant Data

If the caller would have specific information, include it:

Good:

Customer wants to check the status of order #12345, placed on December 15th, for a blue wireless headset.

Missing context:

Customer wants to check order status.

3. Define Success Clearly

What does "success" look like?

Good:

Success: Agent confirms the new appointment date and time, and customer receives confirmation.

Unclear:

Success: Appointment is rescheduled.

4. Consider Call Direction

• Inbound (Testing Agent calls your agent): Define what need the caller has
• Outbound (Your agent calls Testing Agent): Define how the person should respond to being contacted

Data Formatting for Voice

Since these are voice conversations, format data to be spoken naturally:

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Writing Effective Personas

What to Include

A persona should define the character:

What to Exclude

Don't put these in personas—they belong in scenarios:

Persona Writing Tips

1. Focus on Reusability

A good persona can work across many scenarios:

Reusable:

Busy Professional: Values efficiency, speaks in short sentences, gets impatient with long explanations, appreciates when agents get to the point quickly.

Too specific:

Busy professional who is frustrated about their delayed package and needs it by Monday.

2. Define Communication Style

How does this person talk?

Good:

Uses short, direct sentences. Rarely says "please" or "thank you." Interrupts if explanations are too long. Typical phrases: "Just tell me what I need to do", "Can we speed this up?", "Bottom line?"

Vague:

Direct communicator.

3. Include Emotional Responses

How do they react to different situations?

Good:

When confused: Asks blunt clarifying questions ("Wait, what does that mean?"). When frustrated: Voice becomes clipped, may sigh audibly. When satisfied: Brief acknowledgment ("Great, thanks").

Vague:

Can get frustrated.

4. Define Knowledge Level

This affects how they ask questions and respond to technical information:

Good:

Tech-savvy. Comfortable with terms like "account portal", "two-factor authentication", "browser cache". Expects self-service options.

Vague:

Knows about technology.

Persona Archetypes

Here are some common caller types to inspire your personas:

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Mixing Scenario and Persona

Wrong:

Scenario: Frustrated elderly customer calls about a delayed package and needs help tracking it. They speak slowly and get confused easily.

Right:

Scenario: Customer calls to track a delayed package (order #12345, expected Dec 15, now Dec 20).

Persona: Elderly Caller - speaks slowly, may need information repeated, appreciates patience.

2. Being Too Vague

Wrong:

Scenario: Customer has a billing issue.

Right:

Scenario: Customer noticed a $50 charge on their statement from Dec 10 that they don't recognize. They want to understand what it's for and potentially dispute it.

3. Being Overly Prescriptive

Wrong:

Scenario: Customer says "Hello, I'm calling about my order number one two three four five. It was supposed to arrive on December fifteenth but it hasn't come yet. Can you help me track it?"

Right:

Scenario: Customer calls to track delayed order #12345 (expected Dec 15). They want to know the current status and new expected delivery date.

Let our AI and the persona determine exactly how the caller phrases things.

4. Inconsistent Persona Behavior

Wrong:

Persona: Very impatient and values efficiency. Always says "please" and "thank you" and engages in small talk.

Right:

Persona: Very impatient and values efficiency. Skips pleasantries, interrupts long explanations, uses minimal acknowledgments like "Got it" or "Okay, next?"

5. Including Information the Caller Wouldn't Know

Wrong:

Scenario: Customer calls to ask why their order is delayed. The warehouse had a system outage causing the delay.

Right:

Scenario: Customer calls to ask why their order is delayed. They expected delivery on Dec 15 and it's now Dec 20 with no updates.

The caller wouldn't know about internal warehouse issues.

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Examples

Note: The examples below are comprehensive for illustration purposes. You don't need this level of detail. Our system automatically enhances your descriptions, so simpler inputs work perfectly well.

Example 1: Simple Appointment Scheduling

Scenario:

Customer wants to schedule a dental cleaning appointment. Preferred times: weekday mornings. Has dental insurance through BlueCross (ID: BC-12345).

Persona:

Organized Professional - speaks clearly and efficiently, has schedule ready, confirms details before hanging up, appreciates when things go smoothly.

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Example 2: Complex Support Issue

Scenario:

Customer received the wrong item in their order. Order #ORD-98765, placed November 30th. Ordered: Blue wireless headphones ($89). Received: Red wired earbuds. Wants correct item sent and return label for wrong item. Customer is willing to keep wrong item if given partial refund.

Persona:

Reasonable but Firm - starts calm but becomes more insistent if resolution isn't offered. Uses phrases like "I understand, but..." and "What I need is...". Will escalate request for supervisor if stonewalled. Responds well to agents who acknowledge the mistake.

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Example 3: Payment Verification (Outbound Call)

Scenario:

Our agent calls to verify a recent transaction on the customer's account. Transaction: $500 at Electronics Store on Dec 15th. Need customer to confirm if they made this purchase. If not confirmed, card will be blocked pending investigation.

Persona:

Cautious Security-Conscious - suspicious of unsolicited calls about their account. Will ask verification questions before confirming anything ("How do I know this is really my bank?"). Appreciates agents who understand their caution. Once trust is established, cooperative.

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Example 4: Technical Troubleshooting

Scenario:

Customer's internet has been intermittent for 3 days. Already tried: restarting router, checking cables. Speed test shows 5 Mbps (paying for 100 Mbps). Account number: ACC-456789. Wants the issue fixed or a technician scheduled.

Persona:

Tech-Savvy and Frustrated - knows basic troubleshooting (will be annoyed if asked to "try turning it off and on"). Uses technical terms correctly. Patience is low because issue has persisted. Calms down when agent demonstrates competence and takes ownership.

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Example 5: Simple with Minimal Details

These minimal descriptions work perfectly—our AI will enhance them:

Scenario:

Customer wants to return a shirt that doesn't fit.

Persona:

Polite senior citizen, not tech-savvy.

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Summary Checklist

For Scenarios

Essential:

• Clear goal or objective
• Call direction specified (inbound or outbound)

Recommended:

• Relevant data the caller would have
• Success criteria defined
• Context for why they're calling

Avoid:

• Personality traits or emotional states
• Communication style descriptions
• Behavioral patterns

For Personas

Essential:

• Core personality traits (2-3 minimum)
• General communication style

Recommended:

• Emotional response patterns
• Knowledge/expertise level
• Example phrases they might use

Avoid:

• Specific goals or data
• Situational context
• Time-bound requirements

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Need Help?

Remember: Simple is fine! Descriptions like "Customer wants to check their balance" and "Impatient caller" will work. Our AI automatically enhances your inputs to create rich, detailed test cases.

Tips for getting started:

1. Start simple - Add detail only where precision matters
2. Think reusability - A good persona works across many scenarios
3. Test and iterate - Run a few simulations and refine based on results

The more context you provide, the more tailored your simulations will be—but don't let perfectionism slow you down. Start testing and refine as you learn what works.