Personas: Setting the Stage for Building Usable Information Sites
http://www.infotoday.com/online/jul03/head.shtml

Head, Alison J.
Online Magazine
2003

Abstract:

Personas are hypothetical archetypes, or 'stand-ins' for actual users that drive the decision making for interface design projects. Personas are not real people, but they represent real people throughout the design process. Personas are not 'made up'; they are discovered as a by-product of the investigative process.