The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > For Technology, No Small World After All

"For its part, Intel relies on a cycle of design that begins with high-level prognostication about potential markets. Then ethnographers like Dr. Bell and market researchers are sent to meet those people. The resulting information is incorporated into portraits of individual users. These portraits, called personas, describe a person's life."

Intriguing article-- thanks for the pointer, Zap.