An Introduction to Personas and How to Create Them
http://www.uigarden.net/english/an-introduction-to-personas-and-how-to-create-them

Calabria, Tina
uiGarden
2005

Abstract:

There are many ways to identify the needs of users, such as usability testing, interviewing users, discussions with business stakeholders, and conducting surveys. However one technique that has grown in popularity and acceptance is the use of personas: the development of archetypal users to direct the vision and design of a web solution.