The idea of personas is fairly simple to grasp: Create fictitous user characters based on research and other information sources, use those characters to inform design, assessment and deployment of new products. However, it is apparent that it has connections with virtually every aspect of "user-centered design." Pruitt and Adlin present an overwhelming collection of methods, techniques and arguments for using personas in professional development contexts. How-to tips sit next to overviews of related techniques, chapters by invited guest authors on more or less related concepts, and testimonials on persona use in a variety of settings. Very thorough, bordering on the inaccessible, but certainly a solid reference.