This comprehensive guide to personas was written by Kate Kaplan of Nielsen Norman Group, a leading user experience research firm. The article provides an overview of personas, defining them as fictional user profiles that promote empathy and inform design. 

Kaplan then offers a curated selection of NN/g’s most useful resources on personas, categorized into three sections. The first defines personas and compares them to related concepts like jobs-to-be-done and archetypes. The second covers how to create personas, including different approaches and tips to avoid common pitfalls. 

Finally, the third section explores ways to apply personas throughout the design process. It suggests how personas can be leveraged for ideation, prioritizing features, segmenting analytics, and more. Related topics like scenario mapping and Agile integration are also touched on.

In addition to the detailed article content, the page provides helpful extras like related courses and a list of additional persona-focused articles from NN/g. This comprehensive guide serves as an excellent starting point for understanding personas and how to incorporate them into user-centered design work.