From Closet to Clicks: Crafting User Personas for Depop
When I set out to create user personas for the Depop app, I wanted to move beyond surface-level assumptions and instead ground them in meaningful motivations and behaviors. Personas, at their core, are fictional representations, but the work behind them is very real. They allow us to imagine a user not as a demographic label, but as a human being with goals, frustrations, and habits. Following the framework outlined by user experience professional Ben Ralph in his Medium article, "The Problem With Personas," I approached my process as both an investigation and a creative exercise.
Meet the Personas
My primary persona, Eli Seaburg, a new middle school teacher and casual Depop seller/buyer, embodies the sustainable shopper and pragmatic buyer. He's 25, lives in Boston, and earns a modest income. His main goal is to stretch his salary by finding affordable, professional-casual clothes that balance professionalism and personality. Eli isn't just thrifting to save money; he’s looking to find work clothes that make him feel confident while staying true to his sustainability values. This is a core part of his identity; he wants to model a more conscious consumption to his students.
My second persona happens to be myself. Representing Maggie Proper as both a graduate student in graphic design and an active Depop user gave me the unique advantage of drawing directly from lived experience. At 21, I align more with the trend hunter and casual buyer, budget-conscious but willing to splurge on pieces that feel one-of-a-kind. Building this persona from my own habits meant I could capture the nuances of how browsing often doubles as creative inspiration and how “window shopping” can be just as satisfying as the purchase itself. This insider perspective made the persona richer, as it blended personal reflection with the broader patterns I observed in Depop’s culture, ensuring the final result was both authentic and deeply relatable.
From Goals to Behavior
Once I had their basic profiles, I began shaping their motivations, connecting their overarching goals to specific behaviors. This is where the personas started to feel "lived-in" and not generic.
Eli's current journey on Depop is heavily influenced by his tight schedule. He scrolls Depop after work or on weekends with coffee, prioritizing sellers with clear sizing info and fast shipping because he simply doesn't have a lot of free time. His purchases are practical, he's looking for items he needs, like classroom-appropriate clothes.
Maggie, on the other hand, opens Depop casually between classes to scroll and save items. She treats it more playfully, using the app to browse for inspiration and connect with sellers whose aesthetics match her own. The distinction here is crucial: Eli's motivation is rooted in need and practicality, while Maggie's is driven by creativity and curiosity.
Mapping the Environment
To make these personas even more realistic, I mapped out their specific environments and contexts. This helped me understand the subtle differences in how they use the app.
For Eli, his buying context might be "After School (at home, browsing to buy)." He’s relaxed on the couch, thinking, "I need affordable but professional clothes for class tomorrow or next week," all while listening to background music. In contrast, Maggie’s casual browsing context might be "Commuting/Between Classes," with her phone in hand, headphones in, thinking, "I have a few free minutes, let's scroll!" She's likely to be slightly distracted but still engaged, with the ambient noise of a commute or student chatter in the background. These scenarios give texture to otherwise abstract concepts like "user behavior" and ensure that design choices can speak to actual daily rhythms.
To gather a sense of who Depop users are and how they interact with the platform. Instead of simply stating that young people thrift online, I dug deeper into the values and constraints that guide their choices. For my personas, I created a Persona Family to show how different user mindsets fit together. The family included the Novice Seller, the Trend Hunter Buyer, the Sustainable Shopper, and the High-Volume Reseller. This helped me see that while Eli and Maggie might share some traits, their core motivations place them in different categories.
Identifying Friction Points
Finally, I layered in the tensions; what pushes them toward or away from certain actions. Thinking about these inhibiting factors not only rounds out their stories but also highlights opportunities for improvement within the app. For Eli, high shipping costs or unclear sizing directly threaten the practicality he needs. For Maggie, the frustration looks slightly different: waiting too long for items, seeing them sell out, or getting inconsistent information from sellers.
By grounding my personas in these real-world behaviors and motivations, I created resources that can help guide thoughtful design choices for Depop. It's about moving beyond assumptions to understand that behind every app is a diverse group of human beings with unique stories and needs.
Why the Persona Process Matters
Going through the process of creating these personas was more than just a design exercise, it was a way to bridge research with empathy. By grounding each profile in motivations, behaviors, and challenges, I was able to move beyond abstract data points and picture real people interacting with Depop in meaningful ways. Having one persona built from observation and another drawn from my own lived experience added balance, giving me both an insider’s perspective and an external lens. This dual approach helped me see where personal habits aligned with larger trends and where differences revealed opportunities for better design.
Ultimately, the value of this process lies in its ability to make users feel present in the design conversation. Personas give context to decisions, reminding us that behind every click or scroll is a person with goals, frustrations, and small rituals that shape their journey.
See more on my Comprehensive Personas for Depop
