Great book on deeply understanding how to put together and utilize personas in a design project. Great information with detail, but still clear and very understandable. Really helpful for anyone trying to make the best use of this design tool.
Probably best book or written material for that matter on using quantitative data to craft personas very rigorous approach (great for skeptical environments). You will be a better designer/strategist for reading AND applying what's in this text. And yes that means I liked it.
This is an old book now, and one I read it in it's year of publication. Much of it is still valid in retrospect, and you can fly through the breezy prose in no time at all.
I will say with confidence that this is one of the best books about personas out there. The reason is that the approach described in the book is very practical, and every aspect of personas is shared in the context of business, marketing, and sales operations.
Read this book to understand how to uncover three types of personas: qualitative, qualitative personas with quantitative validation, and quantitative personas (also called mixed-method personas as the process involves a blend of qual and quant methods). The process of persona development is mapped out in detail so you won't get lost. Later chapters will explain how to not let your personas die, how to get a buy-in from the team, how to socialize personas, and how to apply personas to all major decisions a business has to make.
I really recommend this book as a starting point of your persona development process.