A persona isn’t real, but a person is. Lean into this when doing your research. Work to understand the perspective of an individual—one prospect—and very often, their personal hopes, needs, and desires will be your most honest and accurate source of information.

In his book The Language of Trust, my partner Michael Maslansky writes about the four Ps, which are the criteria that every successful message must be measured against. Take your new master narrative and ask yourself:

I’m not saying don’t do research—we do research in our studio. But let’s not pretend that the research is in any way scientific, or that it results in objective design. Research can help inform the design and remove some of your own bias, but it does not offer absolute truths (see Principle 53). The person who guides the research and interprets the