Who Will Actually Use Quantum Computers? Study Identifies 11 User Types

Researchers identified 11 distinct quantum software user personas, suggesting the industry may need different interfaces and levels of technical detail for different users. Business users and early adopters generally favor high-level tools focused on results, while algorithm designers, HPC engineers and embedded developers require deeper access to hardware and system details. The study is exploratory, drawing on a quantum software expert group and nine practitioner interviews, and the researchers say the personas should be refined through broader future user studies. Quantum computing might have a user problem as well as a hardware problem, according to a new study that identifies 11 types of people likely to interact with quantum software. The researchers also found that that these different users can require much different ways of accessing the technology. The study, posted on arXiv and scheduled for the ACM/IEEE 29th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, or MODELS Companion 2026, attempts to determine who will actually use quantum computers, a question that could become increasingly important as quantum computers move toward practical applications. Researchers from institutions including the Technical University of Applied Sciences Regensburg, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, the…