There are only two questions:
- users: who will use your design?
- task: what will they accomplish?
Of course, I have an entire army of heroes that I admire and try to emulate, including Bill Verplank, Laurie Vertelney, Kate Gomoll, Bill Buxton, Ben Schneiderman, JoAnn? Hackos, Bill Horton, Ed Tufte, Nick Usborne, Gerry McGovern?, Nathan Shedroff, Derek Powazek, Kim Goodwin, Alan Cooper, Stu Card, Peter Pirolli, and Ed Chi are the first people who come to mind.
Jarred Spool