Getting the Most Out of Auggie

Quick Start: Get Value from Auggie in 30 Minutes

The first two pages show you how to run one high-quality customer conversation that surfaces real insight - fast.

1) Set Up for Real Reactions (5 min)

In Discovery, be specific:

• Who the customer is (role, size, constraints)
• What problem you actually solve
• 2-3 real goals (even if they compete)

2) Upload (Optional but Powerful - 2 min)

Share up to 3 files like brand guidelines, marketing materials, or research documents to enrich the persona generation.

3) Sanity-Check Personas (2 min)

Before editing:

• What does each persona care about most?
• What would make them say no?
• Where do they naturally disagree?

Don't edit just to clean up wording. Good personas create tension.

4) Run the Focus Group (10 min)

Start broad apply pressure.

• Read the Pre-defined questions. Ask your own.
• Push deeper
• Ask an individual personas to react to by using "@" to select them
• Ask one persona to react to another persona's feedback
• Upload a specific file you want feedback on
• Force tradeoffs
• Follow the strongest objection

5) End & Decide One Next Step (1 min)

Generate the Insights Report. Look for:

• Repeated objections
• Trust gaps
• Where personas diverge

Decide one thing to test next:

• Messaging change
• Proof point
• Follow-up focus group

Want More Specific Detail and Best Practice Examples? Keep Reading!

Read Sections 1 (Discovery), 4 (Running Focus Groups), and 6 (Insights Report).

Example: Strong Session vs. Weak Session

1. Discovery: Setting Up for Strong Results

The five questions in Discovery directly shape how personas think, speak, and react. Specificity here determines realism later.

Best practices:

1. Website Address (and Additional URLs)

Auggie uses your website(s) to infer positioning, tone, audience sophistication, and proof expectations.

This helps personas react differently to brand story vs. commercial reality.

2. Brand Name + One-Sentence Description

This sentence heavily influences how personas interpret your value.

Why this works:

• Names the audience
• States the problem
• Explains the outcome
• Sets ROI expectations

These are too vague-personas don't know why they should care.

3. Product/Service + Typical Customer

This is where realism is won or lost.

Why this works:

• Defines scale and constraints
• Explains why the product exists
• Sets sophistication level

Personas now understand what resources are limited and what tradeoffs matter.

4. Brand Personality (If Your Brand Were a Person)

This shapes emotional response to messaging.

Why this works:

• Uses contrasts
• Anchors personality to behavior
• Signals tone boundaries

Next-Level: Use personality to set expectations-personas will push back on claims that contradict your stated tone.

5. Main Goals Right Now

Multiple goals create realistic tension.

Why this works:

• Creates competing priorities
• Surfaces different success metrics
• Enables realistic skepticism

2. Uploads: What to Upload (and When to Skip It)

Uploads don't add volume-they add realism. You can run strong sessions without uploads, but the right uploads dramatically improve specificity and pushback.

What Uploads Are Best For

Uploads are most valuable when you want personas to:

• React to real messaging
• Evaluate clarity vs. confusion
• Respond like buyers, not theorists
• Surface objections early

Recommended Uploads (with Examples)

Brand & Messaging Assets (Highly Recommended)

• Brand guidelines or messaging frameworks
• Positioning decks
• Sales or pitch decks
• Website copy docs

Why this works: Anchors tone, reduces generic feedback, helps personas react to how you communicate.

Campaign & Concept Materials (Very Powerful)

• Ad mockups
• Landing page drafts
• Email campaigns
• Product launch narratives

Why this works: Enables first-impression feedback, reveals emotional reactions, highlights intent vs. perception mismatches.

Sales & Product Context (Situational but Valuable)

• One-pagers
• Product overviews
• Feature comparison slides

Why this works: Personas react like evaluators, forcing concrete questions about ROI, proof, and differentiation.

When It's Smart to Skip Uploads Entirely

Skipping uploads is intentional, not a failure. Skip when:

• Exploring early positioning
• Want cold, unbiased reactions
• Testing language before creative exists
• Pressure-testing assumptions, not execution

Uploading During a Focus Group (Advanced Move)

Advanced Move: Upload files mid-session when asking custom questions. Works especially well for:

• "Here's a landing page what's unclear?"
• "Review this email-what would you ignore?"
• "What questions would you ask before trusting this?"

Critical: Ask for first reaction before explanation. Once personas understand, you lose their gut response.

3. Personas: How to Read Them (Before You Edit Anything)

Personas are lenses, not answers. Before running a focus group, spend a minute reading the personas-how you interpret them determines every question you ask.

What Personas Actually Are

Personas represent tradeoffs, incentives, and constraints-not demographics. They're designed to:

• Disagree with each other
• Ask for different proof
• React emotionally, not just logically

What to Look For: Each persona should push the conversation in a different direction.

Reading Personas the Right Way

Focus on:

• What they care about first
• What they're skeptical of
• What would make them say "no"
• What proof they'd demand before trusting you

When to Leave Personas As-Is

• They feel realistic, even if imperfect
• They disagree naturally
• They challenge your assumptions

When to Edit Personas

• Two personas feel interchangeable
• A persona contradicts your stated customer reality
• A role or context is clearly wrong

Personas as Question Strategy

Each persona should influence how you ask questions.

Example:

• Persona A: ROI-driven, skeptical -> Ask: "What would make this worth the effort?"
• Persona B: Innovation-oriented -> Ask: "What excites you about this approach?"
• Persona C: Risk-averse -> Ask: "What feels risky or unclear?"

What Good Persona Usage Looks Like

In focus groups:

• Let personas disagree
• Follow up on conflicting reactions
• Ask one persona to respond to another

Example: "You two see this very differently-why?"
Outcome: Insight, tradeoffs, messaging clarity.

Signals You're Using Personas Well:

Look for:

• Personas ask tough questions
• Responses feel slightly uncomfortable
• You hear objections you didn't expect
• Personas disagree without being forced

If that's happening, Auggie is working.

4. Running a Strong Focus Group

Core principle: Insight comes from tension, not agreement. Your role is to shape the conversation-what you ask, how you follow up, and where you apply pressure.

How to Think About Focus Groups

Opening the Session: First Questions Matter Most

Why these work: Invite instinctive reactions, don't assume value, leave room for surprise.

Why these fail: Encourage polite agreement, push toward yes/no answers, skip emotional response.

Asking Better Questions (Mid-Session)

Once personas are engaged, apply pressure thoughtfully.

Emotional & Perceptual Questions

Strong examples:

• "What excites you about this if anything?"
• "What makes you skeptical?"
• "What feels unclear or overpromised?"

Tradeoff & Friction Questions

This is where insight accelerates. Strong examples:

• "What would make this not worth the effort?"
• "What would you have to give up to adopt this?"
• "What's the risk in trusting a tool like this?"

Proof & Trust Questions

Why this matters: Proof questions expose sales friction. Trust is contextual, not declarative.

Using Persona-to-Persona Reactions

You can explicitly ask personas to react to each other. Strong examples:

• "Sophia, what do you think about David's concern?"
• "Angela, do you agree with Michael or see this differently?"
• "Who here disagrees most-and why?"

Directing Questions to Individuals vs. the Group

By default, questions go to all personas-great for patterns. Use directed questions when you want depth:

• You want a specific lens (ops vs. marketing)
• One persona reacted strongly
• You want to stress-test an edge case

Example: "David-from an operations perspective, what breaks first here?"

Knowing When to End the Session

A good session ends with synthesis, not exhaustion. Strong closing questions:

• "What would make this a clear yes?"
• "Who is this not for?"
• "What would you tell a colleague about this?"

What to Look For: You should leave with clear objections, proof gaps, and messaging adjustments.

5. Interpreting Outputs & Deciding What to Do Next

Core principle: Insight lives in patterns, not quotes. Auggie doesn't give you "the answer"-it gives you signals. Your job as a marketer is to interpret them correctly.

What Auggie Outputs Actually Are

Auggie outputs are:

• Directional
• Qualitative
• Designed to inform what to explore next

What to Look For: Repeated reactions, consistent skepticism, and sharp disagreements.

How to Read Persona Responses

Patterns Matter More Than Opinions

Using Disagreement as Strategy

Disagreement is not failure. It's a map.

Turning Insights into Next Steps

Every session should end with at least one concrete action.

When to Run Another Session

Run another focus group when:

• You uncovered new objections
• You changed messaging or positioning
• You want to test a narrower hypothesis

Don't rerun sessions hoping for better answers to the same questions.

6. Using the Insights Report

Core principle: Turning conversation into confident decisions. When you end a focus group, Auggie generates a multi-section Insights Report. Each section serves a different purpose.

Report Overview: What Each Section Is For

Perception Summary

What it is: The "headline," not the verdict-a compressed synthesis of how the group collectively perceives the brand or concept.

How to use it:

• You read: "Cautiously optimistic... value resonates... trust is fragile..."
• You conclude: "We're directionally right, but trust and validation are the gating issues."
• You use it to: Frame internal discussions, Set context for leadership, Guide what to explore next

Themes & Tensions

What it is: The strategic core repeated friction points that matter to users.

How to use it:

• You see: "Variance over averages", "Validation before trust", "Low tolerance for false confidence"
• You treat these as: Inputs into positioning, Constraints on product adoption, Signals for what messaging must address

Opportunity Signals

What it is: Hypotheses, not marching orders-what might unlock value if explored further.

How to use it:

• You read: "Expose connector health and lineage..."
• You think: "Trust visibility may matter more than new analytics."
• You respond by: Testing messaging, Designing follow-up focus groups, Prototyping lightweight validation concepts

Key Findings

What it is: What survived the conversation-the most defensible takeaways, supported across multiple personas and examples.

How to use it: Treat Key Findings as: Inputs to prioritization, Anchors for internal alignment, Guardrails for roadmap discussions.

Remember: These are qualitative findings-powerful, but not statistically representative.

Recommendations

What it is: Directionally useful, not prescriptive synthesized insights into suggested next steps.

How to use it: Read recommendations as: Strategic guidance, Hypotheses for pilots, Ideas to pressure-test.

Ask: "Which of these would most reduce adoption risk?"

Moderator Reflection

What it is: How much weight to give the session-tells you how the session behaved, not what users said.

How to use it: You use it to: Judge confidence level, Spot where follow-ups are needed, Understand session dynamics.

Example: "Highly pragmatic... preferred manual validation..."
You infer: "This group prioritized operational realism-future sessions should include live demos."

Why It Matters: Explains why certain insights surfaced and whether they're likely to generalize.

Full Chat Transcript

What it is: Evidence, not output-your source of truth, not your takeaway.

How to use it: You use it to: Validate interpretations, Pull direct quotes, Understand edge cases, Resolve internal debates.

The Report Is a Lens

The Insights Report doesn't tell you what to build. It tells you where clarity exists, where risk lives, and what to explore next. Used correctly, it:

• Sharpens positioning
• Reduces go-to-market risk
• Makes follow-up research smarter

7. How to Give Us Great Beta Feedback

We're building Auggie to help marketers make faster, more confident decisions. Your feedback directly shapes the product.

What We're Specifically Testing

Persona realism:

• Do personas feel like real people with real constraints?
• Do they disagree in ways that mirror your actual customers?
• Do their objections surface blind spots you hadn't considered?

Question flow:

• Do the predefined questions help you get started?
• Where did you want more guidance on what to ask?
• Were there moments you wanted to probe deeper but weren't sure how?

Report clarity:

• Did the Insights Report surface actionable takeaways?
• Were any sections confusing or less useful than others?
• Did you feel confident using the findings to make decisions?

What's Still Rough (Don't Report These)

We're actively improving:

• Discovery Form UX: We know the five questions can feel dense. We're testing a guided wizard flow.
• Transcript length: For sessions with 10+ questions, the transcript gets long. We're exploring collapsible sections and inline filtering.
• Persona editing: The edit interface works but isn't as smooth as we want. We're redesigning it.

Do report these:

• Personas feeling too agreeable or generic
• Moments where you wanted guidance on what to ask next
• Any friction in the focus group flow itself

How to Share Feedback

After your session:

• Share your Insights Report link with us along with:
  • What you were trying to learn
  • What worked
  • What you wish had happened differently

In our debrief: Schedule a debrief with us so we can run through your feedback live.

We're especially interested in:

• Moments that surprised you
• Where personas felt too agreeable
• Where you wanted to push deeper but couldn't
• Questions you wished Auggie suggested