Short answer

When designing healthcare services, actively develop and utilize personas to represent diverse consumer needs and experiences throughout the entire co-design lifecycle, while critically assessing their potential biases and resource requirements.

Field
User-Centred Design
Source
BMC Health Services Research (2025)
Method
Scoping Review
Sample
29 studies
Evidence
Strong effect

Personas are effective tools for facilitating consumer involvement throughout the entire co-design process in healthcare, from analysis to design. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2025 study published in BMC Health Services Research. Using Scoping review with 29 studies, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing healthcare services, actively develop and utilize personas to represent diverse consumer needs and experiences throughout the entire co-design lifecycle, while critically assessing their potential biases and resource requirements.

Study
User-Centred DesignNew This WeekStrong effect

Personas Enhance Consumer Involvement in Healthcare Co-Design Across All Stages

Personas are effective tools for facilitating consumer involvement throughout the entire co-design process in healthcare, from analysis to design.

BMC Health Services Research · 2025

01

Key Findings

  • 01Personas can be utilized across all stages of the co-design process: identify, analyze, define, and design.
  • 02Personas are reported as effective tools for promoting a user-centered approach and as valuable participatory methods.
  • 03Key limitations include resource intensity and potential for bias or inauthenticity.
02

Application

Design takeaway

When designing healthcare services, actively develop and utilize personas to represent diverse consumer needs and experiences throughout the entire co-design lifecycle, while critically assessing their potential biases and resource requirements.

How to apply

In your next design project, create detailed personas based on thorough user research. Use these personas to guide decision-making at each stage of the design process, from problem definition to solution ideation and refinement.

Project actions

  • 01When creating personas, base them on actual user research, not just assumptions.
  • 02Ensure your personas reflect the diversity of the target user group, especially for healthcare projects.
03

Method & Evidence

AimTo identify the key characteristics and applications of personas in involving consumers within healthcare co-design processes.
MethodScoping Review
ProcedureA systematic search of six academic databases was conducted to identify peer-reviewed literature on co-design with consumers using personas in healthcare. The identified studies were analyzed using Vargas' framework to map persona usage across co-design stages and the PROGRESS-Plus tool to assess consideration of health equity factors.
Sample29 studies
ContextHealthcare co-design

Variables

IVUse of personas in co-design
DVConsumer involvement and effectiveness of co-design process
CVType of healthcare service being co-designed, specific co-design methodologies used (beyond persona integration)
04

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

  • +Comprehensive search strategy across multiple databases.
  • +Systematic analysis using established frameworks (Vargas, PROGRESS-Plus).

Limitations

Be aware that creating truly representative and unbiased personas can be challenging and time-consuming, and may not fully capture the nuances of individual user experiences.

Reliability & validity

The reliability of the review is supported by its systematic search and analysis methods. Validity is enhanced by the use of established frameworks for analysis, though the review's scope may limit in-depth exploration of individual study validity.

Think critically

How can the resource intensity and potential for bias in persona development be mitigated to ensure equitable representation of all user groups, particularly those with limited access to technology or research participation?

05

Design Principles

"User representation through personas can bridge the gap between design teams and end-users, fostering more empathetic and effective design outcomes."

Effectively involving end-users, especially those from diverse or priority populations, is crucial for developing relevant and equitable healthcare services. Personas offer a structured method to represent user perspectives, ensuring that design decisions are grounded in real-world needs and experiences.

06

What This Means for Your Design

Using made-up user profiles called 'personas' helps designers understand and include what real people need when designing healthcare services, and they can be used at every step of the design process.

How to use in your project

  • 1.Reference this study when explaining your choice to use personas for user representation in your design project, highlighting their effectiveness across co-design stages.
07

Add to My Project

08

Quick Cite

Paragraph starter

Personas have been identified as a robust method for integrating consumer perspectives into healthcare co-design, applicable across all phases from analysis to final design (Dominello et al., 2025). This approach ensures that design decisions are grounded in user needs, promoting a more user-centered and effective service.

09

Source

BMC Health Services Research

The use of personas to involve consumers in healthcare co-design: a scoping review

journal · 2025

View source

Questions About This Research

What does the research say about personas enhance consumer involvement in healthcare co-design across all stages?
When designing healthcare services, actively develop and utilize personas to represent diverse consumer needs and experiences throughout the entire co-design lifecycle, while critically assessing their potential biases and resource requirements. Evidence: BMC Health Services Research (2025).
Why does "Personas Enhance Consumer Involvement in Healthcare Co-Design Across All Stages" matter for design?
Effectively involving end-users, especially those from diverse or priority populations, is crucial for developing relevant and equitable healthcare services. Personas offer a structured method to represent user perspectives, ensuring that design decisions are grounded in real-world needs and experiences.
How can designers apply this research?
When designing healthcare services, actively develop and utilize personas to represent diverse consumer needs and experiences throughout the entire co-design lifecycle, while critically assessing their potential biases and resource requirements.
What were the main findings?
Personas can be utilized across all stages of the co-design process: identify, analyze, define, and design.. Personas are reported as effective tools for promoting a user-centered approach and as valuable participatory methods.. Key limitations include resource intensity and potential for bias or inauthenticity.
What research method was used?
Scoping Review with 29 studies.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2025 journal from BMC Health Services Research.
What should I do differently in my next project?
In your next design project, create detailed personas based on thorough user research. Use these personas to guide decision-making at each stage of the design process, from problem definition to solution ideation and refinement.
What are the limitations?
The review primarily included studies from high-income countries, potentially limiting the generalizability of findings to diverse global contexts. The resource-intensive nature of persona development was also noted as a significant challenge.