“The People Pleaser”
We created the “People Pleaser” persona after noticing a consistent pattern: participants often agreed to attend events out of concern for how their decision would be perceived by others. Interviewees described going to social events because they wanted to appear supportive to friends, or because everyone else was going, even when they lacked motivation to attend themselves. We synthesized these behaviors into the “People Pleaser” persona, which represents users whose primary motivation in scheduling commitments — and subsequent lack of follow-through — is tied to social approval.
Behavioral Persona
| Name | Lisa “The People Pleaser” | |
| Activated Role | Student (socially active) | |
| Goal | To stay on good terms with everyone and earn their approval by being accommodating and valuable. | |
| Motivation | Maintain belonging and a positive image in relationships. | |
| Conflict | Lisa says yes to activities or commitments she doesn’t truly want to attend because she is afraid to say no. | |
| Attempts to Solve | Commits to multiple events → Overcommits → Asks herself if she really wants to go → Ignores her true desires and priorities → Ends up stressed, flaky, or resentful | |
| Setting/ Environment | Social environments:
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| Tools | Messages (iMessage, DMs, Whatsapp, Discord, Slack)
Social Media (Instagram, Snapchat, BeReal, Tik Tok) Calendar Notes App |
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| Skills | Reading social cues
Appeasing others Write sweet/apologetic text messages Managing emotions |
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| Routines | Adds social plans to her calendar immediately
Reviews her calendar before attending events Re-reads text messages multiple times before replying Prioritizes events based on external perception |
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| Habits | Smiles or avoids conflict when stressed
Over-apologizing Avoids saying no directly (e.g. “we’ll see”, “I’ll let you know”, “maybe!”) Puts others’ needs over her own Says “yes” by default Feels guilty when choosing her own priorities |
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| More | Lisa trades her time for social approval — ending up burned out, anxious, resentful, and “flaky”. |
Drawing
Journey Map
For a clearer depiction of the persona chart and journey map, see the following link.
AI Disclaimer: I used Generative AI to create the persona illustration and to generate emojis representing emotional states.
