The questions

What the questions mean.

Every question in the Persona Builder exists because a frozen table scores it. Here is what each one means, what the options look like in real life, and which lens it feeds – so you're describing the customer you actually have, not guessing at ours.

Age band

FeedsBoth lenses – lightly. Age suggests context; it never defines motivation.

18–34: younger adults – renters and first-time buyers skew here.
35–54: the family-and-mortgage heartland.
55–74: established owners, often mortgage-free or close.
75+: the oldest households – most likely to own outright.

Tenure

FeedsThe British segments strongly; the archetypes only lightly. Owning shapes what you CAN do, not what you want.

Owns outright: no mortgage left – the freest hand on big home decisions.
Mortgage: owns with a loan – committed, but budgeting around repayments.
Private rent: renting from a landlord – limited control over the fabric of the home.
Social rent: renting from a council or housing association.

Where they live

FeedsThe British segments only.

City centre: dense urban living – flats, terraces, transit.
Town or suburb: the middle of British life – most people live here.
Village or rural: smaller places, bigger properties, longer drives.

Property type

FeedsThe British segments – lightly.

Detached: standalone houses – the classic village and market-town stock.
Semi or terrace: the majority of British homes.
Flat: apartments and maisonettes – common in cities and among renters.

Financial security

FeedsThe British segments only. Money NEVER scores the archetype lens – that is rule one of the engine, published on the method page.

Comfortable: bills are not a worry; discretionary spending is real.
Managing: getting by – careful, but coping.
Struggling: under genuine pressure – trade-offs every month.

Media diet

FeedsBoth lenses. This is about the overall diet, not single outlets.

Traditional print and broadcast: BBC, ITV, broadsheets, local press and radio – regulated legacy media. A mixed diet still counts as traditional.
Social-first: news arrives through feeds, creators, and independent voices – includes challenger broadcast like GB News.
Avoids news: switched off deliberately – a real and growing position, not apathy.

What they already have

FeedsThe archetypes, and the Transition Headroom read.

EV or solar already: the big visible kit – one or both in place.
Smart home kit: smart thermostat, plugs, automation – beyond just a smart meter.
Design-led visible upgrade: a proper renovation done well – appetite proven, carbon steps not yet.
Nothing yet: the starting position – and most of the country.

Trust in institutions

FeedsBoth lenses – one of the strongest signals in the engine.

Low across the board: politicians, media, companies, experts – none of them trusted. A defining position for a fifth of Britain.
Low in politics, high in civic: no faith in Westminster, but real trust in the NHS, universities, charities, and courts – a very common British combination.
Relatively high: broadly trusts the system to work – rarer than you would think.

What they say matters (pick up to three)

FeedsThe archetypes – the strongest single signal, because it is the customer's own words. Each option is one archetype's core motivation in plain English; picking it is confirming it.

Control, no lock-ins, own timing: The customer says it themselves: they want to be in charge of the decision, on their own schedule, with no trapdoors.
Proof, numbers, payback: Evidence-led – they want the figures, the payback, the case proven before they move.
The tech itself, what it can do: Motivated by the capability – the technology is the reason, not a means to an end.
What people like me are doing: Social proof – moves when peers move; the herd is the signal.
Done beautifully, people notice: Status and craft – the upgrade has to look the part and be seen to look the part.
My own footprint down: Self-stated environmental motivation – the customer frames it as their own footprint.
Cheapest sensible win: Value first – the lowest-cost sensible step, nothing speculative.
Getting others moving, making it normal: Civic motivation – wants to move the market, not just themselves; making it normal is the reward.

Every weight behind these questions is published, cited, and frozen – the tables changed only through written adjudication after a five-model cross-examination. The working is on the method page.

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