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Original · left

Persona (theatre)

The mask or role a person presents to others, from the Latin for a theatre mask.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Persona (user experience)

A fictional user archetype that design teams use to guide product decisions.

First in use: c. 1999

Persona / Persona (theatre) / Persona (user experience)

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Theatre masks vs. Alan Cooper's user archetypes.

Which meaning of Persona is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Persona (theatre) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Persona (user experience) arrived in 1999. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Persona (theatre)Persona (user experience)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Persona (theatre)

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Duplicate · c. 1999

Persona (user experience)

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More duplicated terms

Design & UX