This seminar will present the case for using user personas in mainstream higher education curriculum and pedagogic development projects. User personas are a tool used in service design and are archetypes of actual users, often defined by their goals. Personas have a name and face and a backstory of relevant characteristics, interests, behaviours and aims, which inform the design process and facilitate an empathetic understanding of the users. We argue that user personas can be a valuable addition to the repertoire of methods available to educators in HE in pursuing goals such as student-centred learning, engagement and student satisfaction.