How to read your Persona result

The first line of a result names what stands out in it. On the result itself and on a page you share, it is labelled Primary pattern, or Overall pattern when your top patterns are level. Lists of results, such as My results, History and Persona home, say the same in one line. It reads in one of three ways:

• Primary pattern and a pattern's name ("Led by Planning" in lists): one pattern sits above the rest. It is what stands out in this result, not a description of who you are.
• Even profile (labelled Overall pattern; "Even profile: level across Planning and Pace" in lists): your top patterns are level, within 0.5 points of the highest one, so the result names all of them instead of picking one.
• No primary pattern yet ("Not enough answers to name a pattern" in lists): too few questions were answered to lead with anything. Answering more of the test fixes this.

The headline is a summary. The detail is in the patterns below it, so read on before you decide what the result means for you.

A test looks at a few patterns, each on a scale of its own. Where a pattern names its two ends, your result places you somewhere between them: a pattern about planning might run from "Adapts as it goes" at one end to "Plans ahead" at the other. A pattern without named ends shows its position as a percentage instead.

The position comes from your answers. For each pattern, Persona adds up the answers that count toward it and sees where the total falls between the lowest and the highest total those questions allow. The lowest possible total counts as 0 and the highest as 100, so a position in the middle means your answers balanced the two ends.

Some statements are worded the other way round, so agreeing with them moves you toward the opposite end. The scoring takes care of that. You do not need to second-guess the wording: answer each statement as it reads.

A position is not a grade or a share of right answers, because there are no right answers. Someone who plans ahead and someone who adapts as they go can both do good work. Each end has its uses; the position shows which way your answers lean today.

If none of your answers reached a pattern, it shows No score rather than 0. Persona never treats a missing answer as the lowest one.

Each pattern's scale is split into bands, and each band has a name and a short description written by the test's authors. Studio offers a standard set of three bands, which many tests use: 0–34, 35–65 and 66–100. A test can set its own.

The band description says what that range tends to look like in practice. Read it as a description of habits, in the test's own words, rather than a verdict.

Positions keep two decimal places, so one can land between two bands. It then takes the nearer band, and a position exactly halfway, such as 34.5 on the standard set, goes to the higher one.

When your position is within 3 points of the edge between two bands, the result marks it as near a band edge. A small change in how you answer, on another day, could move it into the next band. In that case read both band descriptions: the one that fits you best may be either.

Persona compares your top patterns before it names a leader. When two or more of them are within 0.5 points of the highest one, none of them really leads, so the result says Even profile and lists them, for example "Even profile: level across Planning and Pace".

An even profile is not a weaker result. It says that more than one pattern stands out equally in how you answered. Read each of the level patterns on its own, and notice which situations bring each one forward.

The tie is decided once, where the result is scored, so every page that shows a result agrees on whether it has a primary pattern or reads Even profile.

Every result has a confidence level: Strong, Moderate or Limited. It describes how much evidence sits behind the result, not whether the result is right.

• Strong: you answered at least 85% of the questions you were asked, and at least 8 of them.
• Moderate: you answered at least 50% of them, and at least 4.
• Limited: anything less. Read the result as a first sketch.

A short test can stay at Moderate even when you answered every question, because a few questions give a rougher picture than many; the result says when that is the reason. An adaptive test asks only part of its questions, and its facts line says "Up to" before the number of questions.

A result also lists strengths and watch areas. By default a pattern at 66 or above is a strength and one at 34 or below is a watch area, and a test can set its own lines. Both describe where your answers sit on that test's scale.

A watch area is not a fault. It is a pattern that shows up less in your answers, which may suit the work you do. It is worth working on only if you want it to show up more.

1. Pick one pattern that matters for the work in front of you, not the one with the most extreme position.
2. Read its band description and, if it is near a band edge, the neighbouring band too.
3. Open Grow for practice steps picked by fixed rules from your results. Turning a result into practice explains how to make them stick.
4. Retake the test after a stretch of practice. Your earlier result keeps the scoring of the version you took, so if the test has a newer version, compare the two with that in mind.

How people act changes from one situation to the next, so a result describes a tendency in how you answered, not a fixed trait (Fleeson, 2001). That is also why Persona never turns a result into a type: see Patterns, not types.