Podcast appearances and mentions of steve portigal

types consultants user nn unstructured research consultant steve portigal user interviews

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024

S02E18 (#328). Over ten years have passed since the first edition of Steve Portigal’s legendary book Interviewing Users was released. Together with Steve, we reflect on how user research has evolved during the past decade, and how the importance of user research in order to understand people and their needs is still crucial.

users steve portigal interviewing users

(S4) E041 David Bland on Testing Ideas & Assumptions (and How Leaders Can Help)

Agile Innovation Leaders

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2024 40:37

Bio David is known for his ability to deliver inspiring and thought-provoking presentations that challenge audiences to think differently about innovation and product development. His keynotes and workshops are engaging and interactive, with a focus on real-world examples and case studies. David's message is relevant for entrepreneurs, executives, and organizations of all sizes and industries, and he illustrates concepts live on stage to leave attendees with concrete tools and techniques they can use to drive innovation and growth in their own business. Interview Highlights 02:00 Early Startups 02:45 Dealing with uncertainty 04:25 Testing Business Ideas 07:35 Shifting mindsets 11:00 Transformational leadership 13:00 Desirable, viable, feasible 14:50 Sustainability 17:00 AI 22:50 Jobs, pains and gains 26:30 Extracting your assumptions 27:30 Mapping and prioritisation 28:10 Running experiments Social Media LinkedIn: David Bland on LinkedIn Website: davidjbland.com Company Website: Precoil YouTube: David Bland on YouTube Books & Resources · Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation (The Strategyzer Series): David J. Bland, Alex Osterwalder · Assumptions Mapping Fundamentals Course: https://precoil.teachable.com/p/assumptions-mapping-fundamentals/ · The Invincible Company: How to Constantly Reinvent Your Organization with Inspiration From the World's Best Business Models (The Strategyzer Series): Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, Frederic Etiemble · Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (The Strategyzer Series): Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith, Trish Papadakos · The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses: Eric Ries · Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights- 2nd Edition, Steve Portigal · The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers & Learn If Your Business Is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying to You, Rob Fitzpatrick · Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers (The Strategyzer Series): Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur · The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win: Steve Blank Episode Transcript Intro: Hello and welcome to the Agile Innovation Leaders podcast. I'm Ula Ojiaku. On this podcast I speak with world-class leaders and doers about themselves and a variety of topics spanning Agile, Lean Innovation, Business, Leadership and much more – with actionable takeaways for you the listener. Ula Ojiaku Hello everyone. I'm really honoured and pleased to introduce David Bland as my guest for this episode. He is the best-selling author of the book, Testing Business Ideas, and he's also the Founder of Precoil, an organisation that's focused on helping companies to find product market fits using Lean Start-up, Design Thinking and Business Model Innovation. He's not a newcomer to the world of Agile as well. So, David, it's an honour to have you on the Agile Innovation Leaders Podcast. Thank you so much for making the time. David Bland Yeah, thanks for inviting me on, I'm excited to be here. Ula Ojiaku Right. So, where I usually start with all my guests, because personally, I am interested in the story behind the person - are there any happenings or experiences that have shaped you into who you are today? David Bland Yeah, I think through childhood, dealing with a lot of uncertainty and then ended up going to school for design. I thought I was going to go a different career path and then at the last moment I was like, I want to really dig into design and I think people were sort of shocked by that, with the people around me, and so I really dove into that and then I came out of school thinking, oh, I might join a startup and retire in my mid 20s, because this is a .com craze, everyone was making all this money. Obviously, that didn't happen, but I learned a lot at the startups and I was introduced to Agile really early on in my career at startups because we had to go really fast and we were in a heavily regulated industry so we couldn't break stuff and we had to have kind of processes and everything. I did that for a while and then I realised, wow, there were some people that could learn from my mistakes, and so we kind of switched coasts. So we were near Washington DC for a while, and then we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and I started working with companies there, and I was like, well, let me see if I can just really dig in, help people learn how to apply stuff and coach them through it, and that was around 2010 or 2011 or so, and I've been doing it ever since, and I think why I love it so much is that it kind of helps people deal with uncertainty, gives them a process to deal with uncertainty, and at the same time, I have a hard time with uncertainty. So maybe it's kind of a little bit therapeutic for me to help others deal with uncertainty as well. So yeah, I just love what I do. Ula Ojiaku And so you mentioned you don't like uncertainty, but helping other people deal with uncertainty helps you, that's interesting. Do you want to expand on that? David Bland I mean, I very much like my routines and everything, and I feel like I come at it from a process point of view. So when I'm dealing with uncertainties, like, oh, what kind of process can I apply to that? So I feel a little better about things, even though there's a lot of stuff outside my control, at least I can have kind of a process. So I feel as if, when I'm dealing with people, I feel all of this anxiety, they're working on a new idea, they're not sure if it's going to be any good or not, giving them a process to work through it together, I don't really tell them if their idea is going to be good or not because who am I to judge their ideas most of the time? It's more about, well, here's a process you can apply to all that stuff you're working through and maybe you can come up to some sort of investment decision on whether or not you should go forward with that idea. So I feel as if my demeanour and everything comes off as someone that you're like, oh, I can talk to this guy and he's actually going to respect me, and so I feel like my style plus the uncertainty bit fits together really well. So I have a style where I come into orgs and say, you have a lot of uncertainty, here's a process, you're going to be fine, we're going to work through it together and it tends to work out pretty well. Ula Ojiaku What comes across to me is that you give them tools or a process to help them hopefully come to an evidence-based conclusion without you having to share your opinion, or hopefully they don't have to have personal opinions imposing on whatever conclusion that is. David Bland Yeah, it's just a process. Ula Ojiaku And so what put you on the path to writing the book Testing Business Ideas, I was one of your students at the masterclass you and Alex Osterwalder ran during the covid lockdown, and you mentioned during that session, I don't know if you remember, that you probably went for a retreat somewhere, or you went on a hike as part of the writing process and that Alex gave you a hard time or something, so can you share your version of the story? David Bland Oh yeah, I mean it was a joy writing with him. I think one of the difficult times for me writing that book…So first Alex approached me writing it and eventually, I mean initially it was just going to be me and then I mean he needed to be involved and so he played a big role strategically in helping me kind of think about the book writing process because I've never written a book like this and then also had it published and also did the whole four colour landscape style, very visual book. It's not that you just write an outline and then you start putting in words, it's a very different process. So yeah, he pushed me a little bit during that process, I would say, he would challenge some of my ideas and say like, are you explaining this in a way that where people can understand, you know? And so I feel as if it was a very productive process writing the book with him. It took about a year I would say. I think the way it came about was it was pretty much from my coaching, born out of my coaching, because I was helping companies with a lot of uncertainty, early stage ideas and they would say well we're now going to have interviews and we're going to do surveys and we're to build the whole thing. And it's like, well, there's other things you could do that are beyond interviews and surveys. And so he and I were continuously talking about this, and it's like, well, if people are only comfortable doing interviews and surveys they're not going to address all their risk, they're going to address a part of their risk, but not, you know, there's so much more they can do. And so, we started thinking about, well, is there a book that we could put that together and give people a resource guide? So, it's more like a textbook or almost something you would read in a university. My editor, I just spoke to him a couple weeks ago, he's like, this is required reading at Stanford now, and some other places in the university programs. And so it's very much like a textbook, you know, but the reason we wrote it was, you know, to help people find a path forward, to find a way to go and de-risk what they're working on. And so I felt it was very ambitious to put that all into a book, and of course, it has some flaws, but I think for the most part, it does the job, and that's why it's been really successful. Ula Ojiaku It is, in my experience, very well laid out. It takes a lot of work to distill these ideas into something that seems simple and easy to follow. So I do concur, it's been very helpful to me as well and the ideas. In your book, in the flap, it says, okay, the number one job as an innovator, entrepreneur, a corporation, is to test your business ideas to reduce the risk of failure. And I think you've alluded it, you've kind of touched on that in explaining how your career has gotten you where you are today. But what, in your experience, do you find leaders and organisations missing the most when it comes to testing ideas? David Bland I think it's hard to unwind it all, because it goes back to how do you become a leader. And so, at least in Western, in the United States anyway, where I do some of my work, I feel as if it's very egocentric, it's very about what I can do and what I know. So there's a progression of becoming a leader where you grow up in an organisation because you have the answers, or at least you're able to convince people you know the answers, and then you're promoted and keep being promoted. And so when I'm coming in and saying, well, we might not know the answers, or we might need to test our way through and find the answers, it almost goes against that whole kind of almost like worldview you've built up or someone has built up over the years where it's about me. It has to be more than just about you as a person. It's like how do you enable leaders around you and how do you create more leaders around you and all that. And so I think where there's contradiction is this idea of, okay, I'm promoted to where I am because I have the answers, but now I want to enable people to test their way through things and find answers, and you almost need a feedback loop there of somebody that's willing to say, look, do you understand how you've unravelled some of this or how you've undermined things by saying, well, I know this is a good idea, so build it anyway. Or, that's not the test I would have ran, I would have done this other thing. You give people almost the benefit of your opinion, but they take it as marching orders, whether you realise it or not, and then it becomes this core of, why am I running tests at all because my leader is essentially going to tell me what to build. And so I think there's just some unpacking a bit of, well, I searched for the right answer in school and I was rewarded for that, and I went into business and I was rewarded for the right answer, and now we're telling you, there might not be a right answer, there are multiple right answers, and different paths and choices. And I think sometimes leaders have a hard time with that because it almost contradicts everything they've done in the past to be successful. Ula Ojiaku So, what I'm hearing you say David is that in terms of, even before we get testing the ideas, please correct me if I'm wrong, it's that there needs to be a mindset shift, a paradigm shift of, you know, what leadership is all about, it's no longer going to be about the person who knows the way, who knows all the answers and tells people what to do, but moving from that to saying, hey, I recognise I have limits and I may not have all the answers and I empower you all for us to work together to test our way to find what the right path or direction would be. David Bland Yeah, it's more about your leadership style and accountability. I think you severely limit what an organisation could do if everyone's relying on you for the answers. It's going to be really tough to scale that because if all answers have to come through you, then how do you scale? But also, it goes from transactional to transformational in a way. So transactional is, it's very much like, well, I want you to do something by this date on time, on budget, and on scope, and then basically hold you accountable to doing that, and then there's a very transactional level of leadership there. It's like, I asked you to do this thing, or told you to do this thing, you did this thing, so therefore I trust you. Where I'm trying get a bit deeper is, you know, well can you say, well, how do I empower a team to go find out what needs to be built, or if there's a real problem there, and then have them give me an account of, oh, we're making progress towards that, or you know what, we shouldn't go forward with this because this isn't worth pursuing, nobody has this problem, et cetera, and respecting their wishes or at least having a conversation about that. And so I think it does require a little bit of leadership. Looking at your style, looking at the words you use, looking at how you lead teams through uncertainty, which could be a little different than ‘I need this thing by this date and keep it under this cost and this scope' It's more about, well, we have an idea, we're not sure there's a market for it, can we go test that and see if there is and if it's viable for us and if we can actually do it? And it's a little different leadership style, and I think if you apply a transactional leadership style to trying to lead people through uncertainty, it just backfires, because it's very much like, run these experiments by this date, it doesn't empower the teams to be able to give an account of how they're addressing the risks. It's sort of a learning moment for leaders to say, oh, this leadership style that's worked really well for me in the past may not actually work really well for me here, it may work against me here in trying to drive out the uncertainty of this thing that we're trying to do. Ula Ojiaku So if I may just build on your response to the question. What, in your experience, has helped, or could help, a leader who's used to, and has been in the past up until now rewarded for that transactional leadership, to make the switch to a transformational leadership? David Bland I think asking them what they're worried about. I know people try to project confidence like they have the answers, but they don't, and so being able to be open, even if it's just a one-on-one, to say hey we have this thing where we think it might be a new business line or something that we're working on that's relatively new that we haven't done before, which is a lot of my clients, they're trying to do something that they haven't quite done before. It may not be too far away from what they're good at, but far enough away that they're worried, they're worried that it's not going to work. And so I try to get them and talk about what's keeping you up at night, what is worrying you about this, and then usually in the back of my head I'm saying, okay, what can I map that to? So I love the desirable, viable, feasible framing. I use it a lot from design thinking, user centre design. So if they're worried about the customer or there's not enough, you know, there's not really a job to be done there, I map that back to, okay, he's worried about desirability or she's worried about desirability. And if they're talking about, oh, we don't know if people will pay enough for this, or if we can keep costs low enough, you know, that's like I map it back to viability, right? And then if it's more about, I actually don't know if we're organised well enough as a company to do this and really execute on it and I map it back to feasibility. And then from there, it's more like, well how will we go test that since you're worried about it, rather than just build the whole thing and launch and see what happens. And so I try to kind of, I'd be really careful of the words I'm using and I'm trying to coach them into a moment where it's okay, just let's be open and transparent that it's not just about executing a bunch of things and then we're okay. It's more about, you know, what are we worried about and then how do we go address those worries sooner versus later. And so I try not to come at them with a bunch of canvases and a bunch of mapping tools and a bunch of stuff that would make them feel defensive because one, they probably have not had experience with those, and two, it's like, oh, this consultant's more interested in the tools than helping me, you know. So I try to use words that really kind of get at, what are you worried about and then how can we go test that and then kind of back away into the process from there? Ula Ojiaku Well, it does seem like you apply quite some psychology to the whole approach, because it's really about meeting people where they're at. And I am, just back to your point about viability, desirability and feasibility. There is a school of knowledge, I mean, you are the expert here, so I'm deferring, but there's a school of knowledge that would add also like the sustainability parts to it. Or do you think it's separate from those attributes when you're looking at ideas? David Bland Yeah. Well, I work on a lot of sustainable projects at the moment. Well, even over the last several years I've been working on companies trying to be more sustainable. So companies are manufacturing phones, they want their phones to be all recyclable materials, they want fully recyclable phones let's say. So I'm working on very cutting edge sustainability projects, but I still don't introduce it as another circle because I'm trying to keep it very simple. And so I know there are different flavours of it. I know some people add sustainability, some people add adaptability, some people add ethics, usability. Before I know it, it's just, you end up with seven circles and different themes, so I really try to keep it very simple. Even Alex and I talk about adaptability, because that was a theme that didn't quite make it into the book, but he talks about it in The Invincible Company, which is the book he wrote immediately after the one we wrote together. So I have ways of addressing those things, but I don't necessarily want to add a bunch of extra themes, because I feel like it's already challenging people with a bunch of ‘ility' words. I noticed they get confused even with the three. No matter how well I explain it, I'll see things like, things that are about building it, and reframed as desirability, and I'm like no, no, that isn't about the customer. I mean yes, of course we have to build what they need, but building it is more about feasibility. So even with the three I see people get confused so I just try to stick to the three as best I can, but basically we go into sustainability projects, still using those three, with sustainability top of mind. So I don't really call it out as a separate theme but I certainly take it into consideration when we're working on those projects. Ula Ojiaku Okay, just keeping it simple. Okay, thanks for that, David. So there are some instances where the people will consider probably are outliers to the known proven principles of design thinking, of product development, customer discovery. And I can't remember, I mean, I would have attributed it to the person, but I was just reading a tweet from someone who is known in the product development world and he was saying that if, he wouldn't have guessed that with the advent of or the popularity of Generative AI, that ChatGPT, according to his books, you know, broke all the rules of products, discovery products, development in the sense that there, and I wasn't aware that they were, Open AI was doing lots of market research to say, hey, what do you want from an AI assistant or Generative AI? But within months of releasing it to the public, they gained millions of users. So what's your thought on this? Would you say it was an outlier or is it that there were some principles working in the background that we are not aware of? David Bland I imagine there's a lot going on we're not aware of. It reminds me of the older conversations about the iPhone. There was this air of, Steve Jobs had this single brilliant idea about the iPhone and then willed it into being and then everyone, it was wildly successful, right? But I look at, even like the first iPhone as, in a way it was kind of a minimum viable product. I mean, the hardware was pretty solid, but the software, the OS was not. I mean, it didn't have really basic stuff that we would expect that we had on other things like Blackberries at the time. You couldn't copy and paste, there were some things that were missing and people viewed it as a toy and they kind of laughed at it, you know, and then they iterated on it. I would say it was about iPhone three or four, by the time they really started to get market fit with it, and then you see, you know, people you wouldn't expect with iPhones with their iPhone. You're like, wait a second, that person has an iPhone. But that took a while, you know. And I think with Open AI, it's kind of a, we're still in the early stages of a lot of this, I feel, and I'm not really sure how it's going to shake out, but I imagine, you know, they seem to be very iterative about how they're going about it, you know. So I don't know how they went about the creation of it at first, but I feel as if at least now they're taking feedback. They're not just building stuff people are asking for, but they're looking at, well these people are asking for this, but why are they asking for it and what are they trying to achieve and how might we achieve that by releasing something that solves for that. And that's kind of your job, right? It's not just to build what people ask for. It's more about getting to the need behind what they're asking for, and there might be a more elegant way to solve for what they're asking for. But there's also some backlash with AI. So I see some things happening where a lot of my corporate clients have just banned it at the firewall, they don't want their employees even accessing it. They want to keep it within the company walls, so to speak, which is going to be kind of challenging to do, although there are some solutions they're employing to do that. I also see people taking it and, you know, interviewing fake users and saying, I can validate my idea because they asked OpenAI and it said it was a good idea, so I don't have to talk to customers. And it's like, okay, so they're taking some kind of persona from people and kind of building up a thing where you interact with it, and it seems very confident in it. It seems very confident in its statements. Like, that's the thing that I've noticed with OpenAI and a lot of this ChatGPT stuff is that it can be like really confidently wrong, but you find security in that confidence, right? And so I do see people saying, well I don't have to talk to customers, I just typed in ChatGPT and asked them. And I said, this is the kind of customer, what would that customer want? And it can literally generate personas that can generate canvases. It can do a lot that makes you seem like they are good answers. You could also just click regenerate and then it'll come up with really confident, completely different answers. So I think there's still a way where we can use it to augment what we do, I'm still a big believer in that, because I think it's really hard to scale research sometimes, especially if they have a small team, you're in a Startup. I think we can use AI to help scale it in some ways, but I think we just have to be careful about using it as the single source of truth for things because in the end it's still people and we're still, find all the tech problems, still people problems. And so I think we have to be careful of how we use AI in Agile and research and product development in general. Ula Ojiaku Completely agree, and the thing about being careful, because the AI or the model is still trained at the end of the day by humans who have their blind spots and conscious or unconscious biases. So the output you're going to get is going to be as good as whatever information or data the person or persons who trained the model would have. So what I'm still hearing from you if I may use Steve Blank's words would be still get out of the building and speak to real customers. I mean, that could be a starting point or that could be something you augment with, but the real validation is in the conversation with the people who use or consume your products. David Bland I think the conversations are still important. I think where it gets misconstrued a bit is that, well people don't know what they want, so we shouldn't talk to them. I think that's an excuse, you should still talk to them. The teams that I work with talk to customers every week quite often, and so we want that constant contact with customers and we want to understand their world, we want to find new insights, we want to find out what they're trying to do and trying to achieve, because sometimes that can unlock completely new ideas and new ways to make money and new ways to help them. I think this idea of, well, we can't talk to customers because we don't have a solution ready or we can't talk to customers because they don't know what they want, I feel as if those aren't really the reasons you should be talking to customers. With discovery, you're trying to figure out the jobs, pains and gains, test value prop with them, continue to understand them better. And if you pay attention to your customers, there's this great Bezos quote, right. If you pay attention to your customers and your competitors are paying attention to you, you're going to be fine because you are, they're getting lagging information, right? You're really deeply connected to your customers, and so I just think we've somehow built this culture over time where we can't bother customers, we can't confuse them, we can't come to them unless we have a polished solution and I think that's becoming less and less relevant as we go to co-creation. We go more to really deeply understanding them. I think we have to be careful of this culture of we can't bother them unless we have a polished solution to put in front of them, I don't think that's where we're headed with modern product management. Ula Ojiaku And someone might be saying, listening to, whilst I've gone through your masterclass, I've read your book, but someone might say, well, do you mean by jobs, pains and gains with respect to customers? Could you just expand on those, please? David Bland Yeah, if you look at the, so my co-author Alex Osterwalder, if you go back to the book before Testing Business Ideas, there's a Value Proposition Design book where we have the value prop canvas. If you look at the circle in that book, so the tool kind of has a square and a circle, and we usually start with a circle side, which is a customer profile. And with the profile, you're really trying to think of a role or even a person, you're not trying to do it at the org level, you're trying to think of an actual human being. And in that, we kind of break it down into three sections. One is customer jobs to be done. So you can think about, you know, one of the functional, usually functional jobs that tasks are trying to do, you could also weave in, you know, social jobs, emotional supporting, it can get really complicated, but I try to keep it simple. But one way to find out those jobs is by talking to customers, right? Then next are the pain points. So what are the pain points that customers are experiencing, usually related to the jobs they're trying to do. So if they're trying to do a task, here's all the stuff that's making it really hard to do that task. Some of it's directly related, some of it's tangential, it's there, it's like these impediments that are really, you know, these pains that they're experiencing. And then the third one is gains. So we're looking for what are the gains that can be created if they're able to either do this task really well, or we're able to remove these pains, like what are some things that they would get out of it. And it's not always a one to one to one kind of relationship. Sometimes it's, oh, I want peer recognition, or I want a promotion, or, you know, there are some things that are tangential that are related to gains, so I love that model because when we go and we start doing discovery with customers, we can start to understand, even in Agile right. If we're doing discovery on our stories, you know, we're trying to figure out what are they trying to achieve? And then is this thing we're about to build going to help them achieve that? You know, what are the pains we're experiencing? Can we have characteristics or features that address these big pain points they're experiencing? And then let's just not solely focus on the pains, let's also think about delighters and gains and things we could do that like kind of make them smile and make them have a good day, right? And so what are some things that we could do to help them with that? And so I love that framing because it kind of checks a lot of the boxes of can they do the task, but also, can we move the pains that they're experiencing trying to do it and then can we can we help create these aha moments, these gains for them? Ula Ojiaku Thank you, and thanks for going into that and the definitions of those terms. Now, let's just look at designing experiments and of course for the listeners or people if you're watching on YouTube, please get the book, Testing Business Ideas, there's a wealth of information there. But at a high level, David, can you share with us what's the process you would advise for one to go through in designing, OK yes, we have an idea, it's going to change the world, but what's the process you would recommend at a high level for testing this out? David Bland At a high level, it's really three steps. The first is extracting your assumptions. So that's why I like the desirable, viable, feasible framing. If you have other things you want to use, that's fine, but I use desirable, viable, feasible and I extract. So, what's your risk around the market, the customer, their jobs to be done, the value prop, all that. Viability is what's your risk around revenue, cost, can you keep cost low enough, can you make money with this in some way, make it sustained? And then feasibility is much more, can you do it, can you execute it, are there things that prevent you from just executing on it and delivering it? So that step one is just extracting those, because this stuff is usually inside your head, you're worried about it, some of them might be written down, some of them might not be. If you're in a team, it's good to have perspectives, get people that can talk to each theme together and compromise and come together. The second part of the process is mapping and prioritisation. So we want to map and focus on the assumptions that we've extracted that are the most important, where we have the least amount of evidence. So if we're going to focus experimentation, I want to focus on things that make a big difference and not necessarily play in a space that's kind of fun to play in and we can do a bunch of experiments, but it doesn't really pay down our risk. And so I like focusing on what would be called like a leap of faith assumption, which I know Eric Ries uses in Lean Startup, it also goes back to probably like Kierkegaard or something, and then Riskiest Assumption is another way you can frame it, like what are the Riskiest Assumptions, but basically you're trying to say what are the things that are most important, where we have least amount of evidence. So that's step two, prioritisation with mapping. And then step three is running experiments. And so we choose the top right, because we've extracted using the themes, we have desirable, viable, feasible. We can use that to help match experiments that will help us pay down the risk, and so I always look for mismatch things. Like you're not going to pay down your feasibility risk by running customer interviews, that doesn't help you whether or not you can deliver it. So making sure that you're matching your risk, and that's kind of where the book plays in mostly because we have 44 experiments that are all organised by desirable, viable, feasible, and then we have like cost, setup time, runtime, evidence, strength, capabilities. There's like a bunch of kind of information radiators on there to help you choose, and so we basically run experiments to then go and find out, you know, are these things that have to be true, that we don't have a lot of evidence to prove them out, are they true or not? And so we start then using this process to find out and then we come back and update our maps and update our artefacts, but that's kind of the three step process would be extract, map and then test. Ula Ojiaku Thank you. Would you say that there is a time when the testing stops? David Bland I would say it never completely stops, or at least hopefully it doesn't completely stop. Even if you're using discovery and delivery, I find that usually in the beginning there's a lot of discovery and maybe a little bit of delivery or almost no delivery, and then as you de-risk you have kind of like more delivery and then a little bit less discovery. And then maybe if you're in a kind of repeatable mode where you're trying to scale something there's a lot of delivery and a little bit of discovery, but where I get really nervous are teams that kind of have a phase or a switch and they say, okay, we've done all the discovery now we're just going to build and deliver. I feel as if that constant contact with customers, being able to constantly understand them, their needs are going to change over time as you scale, it's going to change things, and so I get really nervous when teams want to just kind of act like it's a phase and we're done with our testing, right, we're done with our discovery. And I feel great organisations are always discovering to an extent. So it's just really finding the balance with your teams and with your orgs, like how much delivery do you have to do? How much discovery do you need to kind of inform that delivery? So ideally it doesn't stop, but the percentage of discovery you're doing in testing will most likely change over time. Ula Ojiaku So in the world of Agile, Agile with a capital A in terms of the frameworks that originated from software development, the role of the Product Owner/Product Manager is typically associated with ensuring that this sort of continuous exploration and discovery is carried out throughout the product's lifecycle. Do you have any thoughts on this notion or idea? David Bland I think there's always some level of risk and uncertainty in your backlog and in your roadmaps. So people in charge of product should be helping reduce that uncertainty. Now, it's usually not on their own, they'll pair with a researcher, maybe a designer. They might even be pairing with software developers to take notes during interviews and things like that to socialise how they're paying down the risk. But I think if you look at your backlog, you're kind of looking at middle to bottom and saying, oh, there's a lot of uncertainty here, I'm not really sure if you should even be working on these. So part of that process should be running discovery on it, and so I try to socialise it. So if you're in your Standups, talk about some of the discovery work you're doing, if you're in planning, plan out some of the discovery work you're doing, it's just going to help you build this overall cohesive idea of, well, I'm seeing something come in that I have to work on, but it's not the first time I've seen it, and I kind of understand the why, I understand that we did discovery on it to better understand and inform this thing and shape what I'm about to work on, and so I think it helps create those like touch points with your team. Ula Ojiaku Thank you for that, David. So let's go on. There is, of course, your really, really helpful book, personally I have used it and I've taken, I've not done all the experiments there, but definitely some of the experiments I have coached teams or leaders and organisations on how to use that. But apart from Testing Business Ideas, are there other books that you have found yourself recommending to people on this topic? David Bland Yeah, I think there's some that go deeper, right, on a specific subject. So for example, interviews, that can be a tool book itself, right, and so there's some great books out there. Steve Portigal has some great books on understanding how to conduct interviews. I also like The Mom Test, well I don't like the title of the book, the content is pretty good, which is basically how to really do a customer interview well and not ask like, closed-ended leading bias questions that just get the answers you want so you can just jump to build, you know. So there are some books I keep coming back to as well. And then there's still some older books that, you know, we built on, foundationally as part of Testing Business Ideas, right? So if you look at Business Model Generation from Alex Osterwalder, Value Prop Design, the Testing Business Ideas book fits really well in that framework. And while I reference Business Model Canvas and Value Prop Canvas in Testing Business Ideas, I don't deep dive on it because there's literally two books that dive into that. A lot of the work we've built upon is Steve Blank's work from Four Steps to the Epiphany and I think people think that that book's dated for some reason now, but it's very applicable, especially B2B discovery. And so I constantly with my B2B startups and B2B corporations, I'm constantly referring them back to that book as a model for looking at how you go about this process from customer discovery to customer validation. So yeah, there are some ones I keep coming back to. Some of the newer ones, there are some books on scaling because I don't, I'm usually working up until product market fit, you know, and I don't have a lot of growth experiments in there. So there are some books now starting to come out about scaling, but I think if you're looking at Testing Business Ideas and saying, oh, there's something here and it kind of covers it, but I want to go a lot deeper, then it's finding complimentary books that help you go deeper on a specific thing, because Testing Business Ideas are more like a library and a reference guide and a process of how to go through it. It would have been like two or three times in length if we'd gone really, really deep on everything, so I think 200 pages of experiments was a pretty good quantity there. And so I'm often, I'm referring books that go deeper on a specific thing where people want to learn more. Ula Ojiaku Thank you for that. So if the audience, they've listened to what you have to say and they're like, I think I need to speak with David, how can they reach you? David Bland Yeah, I mean, davidjbland.com is a great place to go, that's me, you can read about me, you can watch videos on me presenting. I have, you know, videos of me presenting at conferences, but also, there's a YouTube channel you can go to where I have some of my webinars that are free to watch as well, and just little coaching videos I make where I'm like, hey, I have a team that's really struggling with this concept and I just kind of make a quick YouTube video helping people out to say this is how I'm addressing this with, you know, with a team. Also Precoil, P-R-E-C-O-I-L, that's my company, and so there's a lot of great content there as well. And then just in general social media, although I have to say I'm pulling back on social media a little bit. So, I would say for the most part LinkedIn is a great place to find me, I'm usually posting memes about customer discovery and videos and things just trying to help people, like make you laugh and educate you, and so LinkedIn, surprisingly, I don't think I'd ever say like, oh, come check me out on LinkedIn, you know, five or ten years ago, but now that's where I spend a lot of my time, and I feel like that's where my customers are and that's where I can help them, so yeah, I end up spending a lot of time on LinkedIn too. Ula Ojiaku Yeah, some of your memes there like, I mean, how do I put it, just gets me up in stitches. Yeah, I don't know how you find them or do you commission actors to do some of them, but yeah, it's good. So yeah, so LinkedIn, social media is the main place, and your websites, those would be in the show notes. I also heard you do have a course, an online course. Can you tell us about that? David Bland Yeah, this summer, I finally found some space to put together my thoughts into an Assumptions Mapping Course. So that is on Teachable. I'm going to be building it out with more courses, but I've just had enough people look at that two by two and read the book and say, I think I know how to facilitate this, but I'm not sure, and so I literally just went like step by step with a with a case study and it has some exercises as well where you can see how to set up the agenda, how to do the pre work for it, who you need in the room for it, how to facilitate it, what traps to look out for because sometimes, you know, you're trying to facilitate this priority sort of exercise and then things go wry. So I talked about some of the things I've learned over the years facilitating it and then what to do a little bit after. So yeah, it's a pretty just like bite-sized hands-on oh, I want to learn this and I want to go try with the team or do it myself. So yeah, I do have a new course that I launched that just walks people step by step like I would be coaching them. Ula Ojiaku OK, and do you mind mentioning out loud the website, is it precoil.teachable.com and they can find your Assumptions Mapping Fundamentals Course there? David Bland Correct. It's on precoil.teachable.com Ula Ojiaku OK, and search for Assumptions Mapping Fundamentals by David Bland. Right, so are there any final words of wisdom that you have for the audience, David. David Bland Try to keen an open mind when you're going through a lot of this work. I feel as if the mindset is so important, you know. So if you're taking this checkbox mentality, you're not going to get the results out of following any of these processes, right. So, I think being able this idea of, oh, I'm opening myself to the idea that there's some assumptions here that may not be true, that I should probably test. It shouldn't be an exercise where you're just checking the box saying, yep, I wrote down my assumption and then, yeah, I ran an experiment that validated that and then move on, you know. It's more about the process of trying to, because your uncertainty and risk kind of move around. So, this idea of mindset, I can't stress enough that try and keep an open mind and then be willing to learn things that maybe you weren't expected to learn, and I think all these great businesses we look at over the years, they started off as something else, or some form of something else, and then they happened upon something that was an aha moment during the process, and I think that's, we have to be careful of rewriting history and saying it was somebody, it was a genius and he had a single brilliant idea, and then just built the thing and made millions. Very rarely does that ever occur. And so I think when you start really unwinding and it's about having an open mind, being willing to learn things that maybe you didn't anticipate, and I think just that mindset is so important. Ula Ojiaku Thanks. I don't mean to detract from what you've said, but what I'm hearing from you as well is that it's not a linear process. So whilst you might have, in the book and the ideas you've shared, you know, kind of simplifying it, there are steps, but sometimes there might be loops to it too, so having an open mind to know that's something that worked today or something you got a positive result from, might not necessarily work tomorrow, it's, there's always more and it's an iterative journey. David Bland It's quite iterative. Ula Ojiaku Yeah. Well thank you so much David for this, making the time for this conversation. I really learned a lot and I enjoyed the conversation. Many thanks. David Bland Thanks for having me. Ula Ojiaku My pleasure. That's all we have for now. Thanks for listening. If you liked this show, do subscribe at www.agileinnovationleaders.com or your favourite podcast provider. Also share with friends and do leave a review on iTunes. This would help others find this show. I'd also love to hear from you, so please drop me an email at ula@agileinnovationleaders.com Take care and God bless!

united states god founders world business ai leadership talk running washington dc western ideas leaders iphone startups jobs testing chatgpt os sustainability shifting stanford products jeff bezos b2b game changers steve jobs openai epiphany mapping agile san francisco bay area transformational assumptions design thinking teachable visionaries lean startups four steps kierkegaard customer centric desirable extracting viability eric ries business model canvas blackberries alan smith steve blank mom test standups business model innovation alex osterwalder business model generation create products interview highlights yves pigneur steve portigal lean start value proposition design david bland bio david lean innovation testing business ideas uncover compelling insights

E57: Technikum Wien Academy Lehrgangsleiter Benedikt Salzbrunn über den User Experience Management Lehrgang

UX Heroes

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2024 43:50

Mein heutiger Gast ist Benedikt Salzbrunn. Benedikt ist Leiter des Master-Lehrgangs UX Management an der Technikum Wien Academy. Der Lehrgang verbindet die Themen Design, UX-Methodik, Psychologie mit Management auf Masterniveau und ist im deutschsprachigen Raum einzigartig. Neben Lehr- und Forschungstätigkeit ist Benedict auch seit mittlerweile 15 Jahren auch für das Usability Labor der Fachhochschule verantwortlich. Das Labor berät Projekte aus verschiedensten Fachbereichen, von mobilen Apps aus dem Finanzbereich bis zu komplexen Medizinprodukten, bezüglich Usability & UX und bietet auch Eyetracking-Studien an.Ich spreche mit Benedikt über die Inhalte des UX Management Lehrgangs, was UX Management eigentlich genau bedeutet und er erklärt wie die umfangreichen Test-Tage ablaufen an denen Studentinnen Produkte aus der Praxis auf Herz und Nieren testen.Benedikts LinksBenedikts LinkedInUX Management LehrgangBenedikts BuchempfehlungenThe Inmates Are Running the Asylum - Alan Cooper100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (2nd Edition) - Susan WeinschenkUsability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set ...Test! (2nd Edition) - Carol M. BarnumMeasuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting UX Metrics (3rd Edition) - Bill AlbertSponsorSponsor dieser Folge ist die uxcon vienna. Sie findet 2024 bereits zum vierten Mal statt und versammelt 600 UX professionals aus 40 Ländern. Mit dabei sind internationale Top Speaker wie Steve Portigal, Indi Young oder Vitaly Friedman und super spannende Brands wie Bumble, Netflix oder Zalando. Teilnehmer:innen können aus über 50 Sessions ihre individuelle Agenda zusammenstellen und jene Talks und Workshops besuchen, die für sie besonders relevant sind. Egal ob Research, Design, neue Technologien oder Selbstentwicklung, es ist für jeden etwas dabei. Neben dem dichten Programm mit Content für alle experience levels gibt es auch jede Menge Social Events, am Vortag sowie während und nach der Konferenz. uxcon vienna hat sich in den letzten Jahren zu einem der wichtigsten europäischen UX Events entwickelt und ihr solltet das Ganze keinesfalls verpassen. Termin ist der 19 & 20 Sept. und Location ist wieder die Expedithalle in Wien. Mit dem Code „uxconheroes“ erhaltet ihr 10 % Rabatt beim Kauf eurer Tickets auf uxcon.at.Ich hoffe, ihr fandet diese Folge nützlich. Wenn ihr auch die nächsten nicht verpassen wollt - abonniert UX Heroes doch auf Spotify, Apple oder eurem Lieblingspodcaster - ihr könnt uns dort auch bis zu 5 Sterne als Bewertung dalassen.Ihr findet ihr mich auf LinkedIn unter Markus Pirker. Bis bald bei UX Heroes.UX Heroes ist ein Podcast von Userbrain.

38. User Interviews (feat. Steve Portigal, Research Consultant and Author)

NN/g UX Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2024 45:43

In this episode, we dive into User Interviews with Steve Portigal, discussing their critical role in product development and design research. User interviews, a qualitative method, involve conversations with users to gather insights about their experiences, behaviors, and needs. We discuss the benefits of this approach, such as deep user empathy and informed decision making, alongside common challenges like bias and recruitment. Join us in understanding when to use user interviews and how to get the most out of them. NN/g Articles & Training Courses User Interviews (full-day/2 half-day UXC course) User Interviews 101 (free article) The 3 Types of User Interviews: Structured, Semi-Structured, and Unstructured (free video) When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods (free article) 5 Facilitation Mistakes to Avoid During User Interviews (free article) ⁠Learn more about Steve Portigal Interviewing Users (2nd Edition) 20% discount code: interviewing

Episode 280: User Interviewing Techniques with Steve Portigal

UI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product Strategy

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2024 50:30

Ready to learn tricks of the trade from professional user researchers? Our guest today is Steve Portigal, user research consultant and author of Interviewing Users. You'll learn how to prepare for a user interview, what your interview guide should contain, behavior cues to look out for, and more.Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Podcasts.Show NotesInterviewing Users — Steve's bookCheck out Steve's websiteDollars to Donuts — Steve's podcastConnect with Steve on LinkedInUse the code UIBREAKFAST to get 20% off the book from Rosenfeld MediaThis episode is brought to you by UC San Diego. Thinking about diving into the dynamic world of UX design, but not sure where to start? Explore UC San Diego Extended Studies' UX Design Certificate. Master essential skills to build a standout portfolio that will help you land your dream job. Enroll today in Principles of UX and get 10% off as our listener. Head over to DiscoverUX.ucsd.edu and use code DISCOVERUX to apply the discount.Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.Leave a ReviewReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

head master thinking principles stitcher google podcasts user ux enroll uc san diego podcast connect book check steve portigal user interviews interviewing users

62. How do you uncover the most compelling insights when interviewing your users?: Author Steve Portigal

Understanding Users

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2024 66:52

Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher who helps organisations to build more mature user research practices. He is principal of Portigal Consulting, and the author of two books: Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries and Interviewing Users, the second edition of which is now out. He's also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast. In this episode, Steve and I discuss the latest edition of his classic book 'Interviewing Users'. Some highlights from this episode: > 05:20 - How user research has evolved in the last 10 years and the genesis of the second edition of the book > 11:00 - Remote research and the impact of COVID > 17:22 - Developments in user research tooling > 23:40 - Emergence of ResearchOps as a career path > 31:40 - Navigating challenges in running user research > 39:37 - Steve's own key takeaway from the book > 45:11 - Feedback loops and ways of building rapport with users > 50:35 - The joy and privilege of researching and learning > 57:25 - The impact of AI on research as a discipline I hope you will find plenty here that's thought-provoking to consider in the context of your own work :) And there's a SPECIAL LISTENER OFFER: until 4 March 2024, you can purchase Steve's new book with a 20% discount here with the code understandingusers. :) Thanks for listening! Mike Green @ Researchable FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HIGHLIGHTS TRANSCRIPT

covid-19 ai navigating danger remote uncover dollars users donuts compelling developments emergence doorbells dead batteries steve portigal interviewing users researchops portigal consulting

The Evolution of User Research with Steve Portigal

new york dogs writing evolution queens comparing shifts plug gleaning user research kenji lopez alt rosenfeld media steve portigal advancing research

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2024 39:15

Author, researcher, speaker, and frequent Rosenfeld Review guest Steve Portigal joins Lou for a chat on the state of the user research industry – where we've been, where we are, and where we're headed. If the field of research was once a lonely desert, today it's a jungle. It was once a field where researchers could get lost and forgotten. Today, the field is teaming with life—so much so that you could get eaten alive. Gleaning lessons from the past, Steve doesn't want us to forget the desert. But he has no desire to return there. In his chat with Lou, they look back, and they look ahead. They discuss shifts in community and networking, and how research agencies are being replaced by in-house research teams. Finally, the two discuss Steve's role in the upcoming, in-person Advancing Research conference in Queens, New York. What you'll learn from this episode: How the world of user research has evolved over the last 25 years from a widely-respected industry expert How the research industry has shifted from agency-based work to in-sourcing About Steve's work, career, and books About the upcoming, in-person Advancing Research Conference About Steve's role in past Advancing Research Conferences Quick Reference Guide: [0:00:29] Introduction of Steve [0:02:50] “Dog fooding”, preparation, and collaboration that happens before conferences [0:09:30] Comparing the user research field and community now to how it was 25 years ago. [0:16:22] The evolution of networking, connections, and community [0:23:09] Shifts and pivots Steve has seen over the last 25 years in the user research field [0:30:32] Writing it down and moving on [0:35:13] Plug for Advancing Research Conference, including Steve's role [0:36:27] Steve's gift for listeners Resources and links from today's episode: Steve Portigal's Rosenfeld Media books: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/people/steve-portigal/ Advancing Research Conference (March 25-27): https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/2024/ Steve's website: https://Portigal.com The Wok: Recipes and Techniques by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt: https://www.amazon.com/Wok-Techniques-J-Kenji-L%C3%B3pez-Alt/dp/0393541215

135 - “No Time for That:” Enabling Effective Data Product UX Research in Product-Immature Organizations

Experiencing Data with Brian O'Neill

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2024 52:47

This week, I'm chatting with Steve Portigal, who is the Principal of Portigal Consulting and the Author of Interviewing Users. We discuss the changes that prompted him to release a second version of his book 10 years after its initial release, and dive into the best practices that any team can implement to start unlocking the value of data product UX research. Steve explains that the key to making time for user research is knowing what business value you're after, not simply having a list of research questions. We then role-play through some in-depth examples of real-life experiences we've seen from both end users and leadership when it comes to implementing a user research strategy. Thhroughout our conversation, we come back to the idea that even taking imperfect action towards doing user research can lead to increased data product adoption and business value. Highlights/ Skip to: I introduce Steve Portigal, Principal of Portigal Consulting and Author of Interviewing Users (00:38) What changes caused Steve to release a second edition of his book (00:58) Steve and I discuss the importance of understanding how to conduct effective user research (03:44) Steve explains why it's crucial to understand that the business challenge and the research questions are two different things (08:16) Brian and Steve role-play a common scenario that comes up in user research, and Steve explains an optimal workflow for user research (11:50) The importance of provocation in performing user research (21:02) How Steve would handle a situation where a member of leadership is preventing research being done with end users (24:23) Why a consultative approach is valuable when getting buy-in for conducting user research (35:04) Steve shares some of the major benefits of taking imperfect action towards starting user research (36:59) The impact and value even easy wins in user research can have (42:54) Steve describes the exploratory nature of user research and how to maximize the chance of finding the most valuable insights (46:57) Where you can connect with Steve and get a copy of v2 of his book, Interviewing Users (49:35) Quotes from Today's Episode “If you don't know what you're doing, and you don't know what you should be investing effort-wise, that's the inexperience in the approach. If you don't know how to plan, what should we be trying to solve in this research? What are we trying to learn? What are we going to do with it in the organization? Who should we be talking to? How do we find them? What do we ask them? And then a really good one: how do we make sense of that information so that it has impact that we can take away?” — Steve Portigal (07:15) “What do people get [from user research]? I think the chance for a team to align around something that comes in from the outside.” – Steve Portigal (41:36) On the impact user research can have if teams embrace it: “They had a product that did a thing that no one [understood], and they had to change the product, but also change how they talked about it, change how they built it, and change how they packaged it. And that was a really dramatic turnaround. And it came out of our research, but [mostly] because they really leaned into making use of this stuff.” – Steve Portigal (42:35) "If we knew all the questions to ask, we would just write a survey, right? It's a lower time commitment from the participant to do that. But we're trying to get at what we don't know that we don't know. For some of us, that's fun!" – Steve Portigal (48:36) Links Interviewing Users (use code DATA20 to get 20% off the list price): https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/ Personal website: https://portigal.com Publisher website: https://rosenfeldmedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stRosenfeld Mediaeveportigal/

personal data product principal organizations quotes ux no time enabling immature ux research steve portigal interviewing users portigal consulting

Episode #105: Steve Portigal - User Research Expert, Author, Rolling Stones Enthusiast

Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2024 37:35

Steve Portigal of Portigal Consulting has been doing User Research since the days our software all came in a box. He has written a seminal book on the topic, “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights,” recently released in a 2nd edition available through Rosenfeld Media.Steve shares his journey from the nascent years of user research through today and his take on where user research is headed. We discuss his book and how studying creative writing has informed his approach. Steve also tells the story of building a community of Rolling Stones enthusiasts – pre-World Wide Web! - that is still alive and kicking (just like Keith Richards).[Visit rosenfeldmedia.com to find Steve's book and use the code ‘rocknroll' for a 20% discount m/]

rolling stones enthusiast world wide web keith richards user research expert author rosenfeld media steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights portigal consulting

471: How product managers best interview users

Global Product Management Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2024 35:00

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you the next episode of... Product Mastery Now with host Chad McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode: As a product person, you know or at least have heard how important it is to talk with customers. Also, if you are not a complete newb, you also know you can't simply ask the customer what they want. Instead, what do you ask them—how do you conduct a customer interview? We are about to find out from the go-to person on customer interviews, Steve Portigal. Rich Mironov, past guest and CPO of CPOs, said that Steve is the go-to veteran for field research and interviewing users. Steve is an experienced user researcher and consultant who helps organizations to build more mature user research practices. He's also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. His work has informed the development of professional audio gear, wine packaging, medical information systems, design systems, video-conferencing technology, and music streaming services. You may already be familiar with Steve's highly regarded book Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. He has recently updated this book, creating the second edition.

phd dollars users donuts product managers stand out product management product development cpo innovation management new product development cpos steve portigal interviewing users rich mironov uncover compelling insights chad mcallister

92 — Beyond the Surface: Navigating the Depths of User Research with Steve Portigal

GreenBook Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2024 42:53 Transcription Available

What does it take to turn conversations into compelling user insights?In this engaging episode of the Greenbook Podcast, esteemed user researcher and author Steve Portigal joins us to discuss his book "Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights." He delves into the evolution of user research, highlighting the critical distinction between business challenges and research questions, and the importance of adapting to societal shifts such as the rise of remote user research. Steve shares invaluable insights and practical tools from his book that aid researchers in effectively capturing and analyzing data, and emphasizes the significance of driving impactful research across organizations. Use the code Greenbook for 20% off of your copy of his book!You can reach out to Steve on LinkedIn. Many thanks to Steve for being our guest. Thanks also to our producer, Natalie Pusch; and our editor, Big Bad Audio.Mentioned in this episode:Free registration for IIEX Health here: https://hubs.ly/Q02fNTWC0

navigating surface depths green book user research steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights

Episode 188: Talkin' Shop w/Steve Portigal

The World of UX with Darren Hood

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2023 71:08

In this episode, Darren talks shop with Steve Portigal, a noted UX consultant and the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. During the session, Steve also provided a discount code for his book when purchased through Rosenfeld Media.Check out the new World of UX website at https://www.worldoux.com.Visit the UX Uncensored blog at https://uxuncensored.medium.com. #ux#podcasts#cxofmradio#cxofm#realuxtalk#worldofux#worldoux#talkinshop

world shop danger ux customer experience user experience cx doorbells rosenfeld media steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights

Steve Portigal on Writing, part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2023 37:07 Transcription Available

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve and I both have new books, so we thought it'd be fun to compare notes on writing non-fiction. In this, the second of two episodes on the subject, we focus on the process of writing. If you haven't done so already, listen to our previous conversation, which focused on our motivations.Show notesSteve PortigalSteve Portigal - LinkedInPortigal ConsultingInterviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (2nd edition) by Steve PortigalDoorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve PortigalDuly Noted: Extend Your Mind Through Connected Notes by Jorge ArangoLiving in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places by Jorge ArangoInformation Architecture for the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge ArangoScrivenerTinderboxThe Informed Life episode 99: Mark Bernstein on TinderboxFreeform on the App StoreShitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott (PDF)Jack Kerouac - WikipediaThe Informed Life episode 2: Gretchen Anderson on WritingShow notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links.If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

amazon apple writing web danger doorbells dead batteries steve portigal interviewing users peter morville uncover compelling insights gretchen anderson

Steve Portigal on Writing, part 1

Content Strategy Insights

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2023 39:03 Transcription Available

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve was previously on the show last year, talking about research skills. This conversation is a bit different: both of us have written new books, and we thought it'd be fun to compare notes about the process. We decided to split our conversation into two parts. This episode focuses on the motivations for writing, and the second part will focus on processes.Show NotesSteve PortigalSteve Portigal - LinkedInPortigal ConsultingInterviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (2nd edition) by Steve PortigalDoorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve PortigalThe Informed Life ep. 92 - Steve Portigal on Research SkillsLouis RosenfeldInformation Architecture for the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge ArangoBloggerThe Informed Life ep. 118 — Maggie Appleton on Digital GardeningMaggie AppletonAbout Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design (4th edition) by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, and Christopher NoesselWrite Useful Books by Rob FitzpatrickObsidianBuilding a Personal Knowledge Garden (Information Architecture Conference 2022 workshop)Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links.If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

amazon apple writing web danger doorbells interaction design dead batteries alan cooper steve portigal interviewing users peter morville uncover compelling insights

Making Sure You Make an Impact through User Research (with Steve Portigal, User Research Consultant & Author ”Interviewing Users”)

One Knight in Product

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2023 45:35

Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher and author of two books, "Interviewing Users" and "Doorbells Danger, and Dead Batteries". Steve is a passionate advocate for the value of user research, and ensuring that people can find out compelling insights from their users. He's recently re-released a 10th-anniversary edition of "Interviewing Users", and we spoke about some themes from the book and how to make an impact with user research. Episode highlights: 1. Some people are still wary of user research, or think they don't need it, but it remains as important as ever It can be tempting for founders to think they know exactly what they need, rely on feedback from customer-facing teams, or not speak to anyone until they've already built the thing they want to build. Feedback from sales teams and founders is an incredibly important vector, but should only be the start of the discussion never the end. 2. Continuous discovery and point-in-time research both have a place in a researcher's armoury There are methodological constraints to continuous research, alongside the difficulty of finding the time and buy-in to do it but, on the other hand, it can be incredibly impactful to have rapid research tightly coupled to the product team. On the other hand, well-planned up-front research can still help you to find truly disruptive insights for your company. Do both! 3. We all have cognitive biases - we should accept that and be honest with ourselves about their effects People look at the word "bias" and worry about the negative connotations, but "bias" just represents how our brains are wired. Cognitive biases will affect how we interview people, and we should do our best to counteract their effect and improve on getting better (even if we're not perfect). 4. The best research has a tangible impact rather than being research for research's sake It can be a heavy burden to bear if all of your well-planned and well-executed research ends up having no effect on decision-making at all. It's important not to get downhearted, and work out ways to build actionable, accessible repositories to enable your stakeholders to make the best decisions possible. 5. There are a lot of similarities between good user research and improv We don't need to be able to create 45-minute plays off the cuff, and knowing when to stick to our interview plans and when to deviate from the script, enables us to get to the real generative insights that we need from our users and find out what we don't know we don't know. Buy "Interviewing Users (2nd edition)" "Interviewing people is a skill that most professionals who do research assume they already possess. But not everyone knows how to ask questions well. Expert researcher Steve Portigal updates his classic Interviewing Users to provide fresh guidance on interviewing techniques, as well as new content. This edition includes a new foreword by Jamika D. Burge and features two new chapters: one about analysis and synthesis and sharing research results, and another about ensuring that your user research efforts will have an impact on your organization. There are seven new short essays (we call them sidebars) from guest contributors. Plus, you'll find updated examples, stories, and tips for leading interviews, and new sections about bias, remote research, ResearchOps, planning research, and research logistics. You'll move from simply gathering data to uncovering powerful insights about people." My listeners can get 20% off with promo code KNIGHT on the Rosenfeld Media website. This code is valid until 21st December, 2023. Alternatively, check it out on Amazon. Contact Steve You can catch up with Steve on LinkedIn or visit Portigal.com.

amazon interview consultants knight expert users cognitive continuous alternatively make an impact user research burge dead batteries research consultant rosenfeld media steve portigal interviewing users researchops

Steve Portigal | Exploring UX Research: The Second Edition of 'Interviewing Users' | Season 3 #5

UX Research Geeks

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2023 41:19

In this episode of "UX Research Geeks," Tina interviews Steve Portigal, an acclaimed user experience researcher and author. They discuss the updated second edition of his book "Interviewing Users." Steve talks about the challenges of revising his book, highlighting changes in the user experience research field, including new focuses like cognitive biases, the rise of remote research practices, and the development of research operations as a profession. He also addresses the shift towards in-house research teams and the democratization of user research. The conversation underscores the importance of evolving skills and adapting to the dynamic nature of user research, with Steve's book serving as a guide for both experienced researchers and newcomers to the field.

christmas san francisco danger dollars users ux donuts second edition doorbells ux research rosenfeld media steve portigal interviewing users portigal consulting

CXChronicles Podcast 215 with Steve Portigal, UX Research & User Experience Expert

CX Chronicles Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2023 42:47 Transcription Available

Hey CX Nation,In this week's episode of The CXChronicles Podcast #215 we welcomed Steve Portigal, Principal at Portigal Consulting based in Montara, CA. Steve works with organizations in two key ways: i) he uncovers key insights about users and customers to help drive decisions about product, service, technology, and strategy and ii) he works with leaders to build a more mature user research practice. In this episode, Steve and Adrian chat through how he has tackled The Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process & Feedback and shares tips & best practices that have worked across his own customer focused business leader journey.**Episode #215 Highlight Reel:**1. Understanding the core of a user's experience and how its originally designed 2. Investing in user research operations to help scale your business 3. Prioritizing what you need to learn about your users & how you can take action 4. Mapping the iceberg of your customer and user experience 5. Getting your team to prioritize the key CTAs that will drive innovation & growth Huge thanks to Steve for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his work and efforts in pushing the customer experience & customer success space into the future.Click here to learn more about Steve PortigalClick here to learn more about Steve's new bookIf you enjoy The CXChronicles Podcast, stop by your favorite podcast player and leave us a review today.You know what would be even better?Go tell one of your friends or teammates about CXC's content, CX/CS/RevOps services, our customer & employee focused community & invite them to join the CX Nation!Are you looking to learn more about the world of Customer Experience, Customer Success & Revenue Operations?Click here to grab a copy of my book "The Four CX Pillars To Grow Your Business Now" available on Amazon or the CXC website.For you non-readers, go check out the CXChronicles Youtube channel to see our customer & employee focused video content & short-reel CTAs to improve your CX/CS/RevOps performance today (politely go smash that subscribe button).Contact us anytime to learn more about CXC at INFO@cxchronicles.com and ask us about how we can help your business & team make customer happiness a habit now!Huge thanks to our newest CXCP sponsor Glance. Visit their website today at https://www.glance.cx/cxchroniclesSupport the showSupport the showContact CXChronicles Today Tweet us @cxchronicles Check out our Instagram @cxchronicles Click here to checkout the CXC website Email us at info@cxchronicles.com Remember To Make Happiness A Habit!!

Steve Portigal: Interviewing Users

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2023 30:57

To conduct a good research-focused interview, you need to cultivate a professional interviewing mindset. Steve Portigal has been doing this for years, and he has written a book to help other researchers and designers conduct better interviews. Now in its second edition, Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, covers interviewing techniques, of course, but also research best practices, how to document your work, and how to make sense of your discoveries. https://ellessmedia.com/csi/steve-portigal/

interview users content strategy steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights

Creating Insights through Analysis and Synthesis with Steve Portigal

design digital mind danger designing survey user user experience jeff johnson everyday things aging populations lcl steve portigal

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2023 35:59

Believe it or not, Steve Portigal's UX research classic Interviewing Users came out ten years ago, back in 2013. A few things about user research have changed since then, to put it mildly, so we at Rosenfeld did two things: we convinced Steve to write a second edition (coming out October 17), and to join us on the Rosenfeld Review to discuss all the things that have changed. In addition to being an author, Steve is a user researcher, consultant, and teacher. He helps companies grow their businesses, culture, and brands by interviewing users. He also helps companies build more mature in-house research practices. Having been on both sides of the interviewing process – as both interviewer and interviewee – Steve can empathize with both roles. Over the last decade, he has seen user research evolve from a focus on consumer products to company culture and supportive technologies in the B2B space. Effective research, in addition to data gathering, involves analysis and synthesis. Steve defines analysis as breaking bigger things into smaller things and synthesis as putting what was broken down back together into a new framework, or insight. This is where the magic of research happens. A chapter dedicated to the art of analysis and synthesis is one of the profound additions to this latest edition of his book. What you'll learn from this episode: - About Interviewing Users and what's new in the second edition - About Steve's work as a researcher, author, and consultant and how his work has shifted over the last decade - Changes in the research field and why most of us are researchers to one degree or another, even if it's not in your title or job description - How analysis and synthesis are different and why both are needed for insights - About the “We already knew that” response many researchers get and what it really means Quick Reference Guide [0:00:19] Introduction of Steve Portigal [0:04:30] Experience on both sides of the interview process [0:08:06] Shifts in language and jargon Steve has noted over the last decade [0:12:13] The evolution of user research – less with consumers and more within businesses or B2B [0:15:10] Speculation on where the leading edge of user research will be – or perhaps more importantly, who will be doing it – in another 10 years [0:19:02] Rosenfeld Media Communities [0:21:17] What's new in the 2nd Edition version of Interviewing Users – analysis, synthesis, and insights [0:28:38] “We already knew that” phenomenon that researchers often encounter [0:32:20] Steve's gift for listeners Resources and links from today's episode: Interviewing Users (2nd edition) by Steve Portigal https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/ Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve Portigal https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/ “How-to with John Wilson” on HBO https://www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-wilson

hbo danger b2b shifts speculation ux synthesis doorbells rosenfeld john wilson steve portigal quick reference guide interviewing users

Are we really doing research? With Steve Portigal | Good Morning UX

DesignTeam

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2022 45:37

We usually have this life training to ask questions, but it doesn't make us researchers, to be honest. Especially when we are talking about learning from users, customers, stakeholders, etc. As designers and researchers, we have this kind of “power” to help companies to avoid mistakes, bad ideas, and guesses. It has been becoming a huge differential in the industry of digital products, but to really take advantage of this ability is important to have some points in perspective. This show will pass through some questions like: Are we doing research well with a real impact on the business? How a designer can be prepared to do it in the real world, in a short time but with quality? Is there a difference between leaders with research or design backgrounds? For this, we invited Steve Portigal a researcher who has interviewed hundreds of people and with a huge experience working in telecommunications, banking, media, energy, and e-commerce industries. He is the author of some important books and host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast. He helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. —---------- The past year we decided to start this new project called Good Morning UX, an extension of another show called Bom Dia UX, with such special-international guests. Actually, we invited a lot of professionals who are references for us and that have so much history in our industry. Follow Portigal on these links: https://portigal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dollars-to-donuts/id956673263 https://medium.com/@steveportigal Portigal's book: Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (English Edition) https://amzn.to/3aDsf5S Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories (English Edition) https://amzn.to/3P5uYEr Related Links: https://vimeo.com/174801774 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApLf47S4Xjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK5RJMeZqkQ https://www.userzoom.com/blog/interview-steve-portigal-on-user-research-war-stories/ ----------------------------- This is the Bom Dia UX, a live show produced and launched on the Design Team channel every Wednesday at 7 am, in the Brazilian time zone. Follow us: Rodrigo Lemes Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodrigolemes Twitter: https://twitter.com/rodrigolemes Rafael Burity Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelburity Twitter: https://twitter.com/rafaelburity Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rafaelburity

research danger brazilian dollars donuts good morning design teams steve portigal interviewing users

Episode #9: User Experience and Design (LCL Audio)

Linguistics Careercast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2022 39:49

“User experience is a team sport.” This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2021; the presenter is Nancy Frishberg, one of the LCL organizers. In this session, Nancy provides a historical perspective on the intersection of linguistics and user experience and design. She addresses questions such as: What is design? Who is a designer? What do we mean by user research? What is the difference between art and design? And how do your skills as a linguist translate to user design? Nancy Frishberg on LinkedIn Nancy Frishberg on Quora Link to slides presented in this session Books and other resources to learn about design, user experience and user research Don Norman's Design of Everyday Things https://jnd.org/tag/book/ Jeff Johnson's Designing with the Mind in Mind http://uiwizards.com/ Jeff Johnson & Kate Finn's Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population http://uiwizards.com/ Christian Rohrer's https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/ (2017, rev 2022) Carolyn Jarrett's Surveys That Work https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/surveys-that-work/ Steve Portigal's Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries (User Research War Stories) https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/userresearch-war-stories/ UXPA: User Experience Professionals Association https://uxpa.org Topics covered: – Design – Digital design – User research – Survey design – Methodologies Download a transcript here (Word doc) courtesy of Luca DinuThe post Episode #9: User Experience and Design (LCL Audio) first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

Steve Portigal on Research Skills

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2022 33:33 Transcription Available

Steve Portigal is a consultant who helps organizations build more mature user research practices. He's the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He's also the host of the Dollar to Donuts podcast about research leadership. In this conversation, we discuss the skills required for conducting successful interviews with users.Show notesSteve Portigal (portigal.com)Steve Portigal (linkedin.com)Portigal ConsultingInterviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights by Steve PortigalDoorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve PortigalDollars to Donuts podcastDale CarnegieDunning-Kruger effectShow notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

amazon danger dollar donuts doorbells steve portigal interviewing users research skills uncover compelling insights

Ep. 072, Metaphysical Kitchen

Underserved

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2022 30:03

Episode 072 of Underserved features Brian Durkin, Sr. Group Manager & Head of User Experience, Data & Analytics at BNY Mellon. Brian leveraged his art degree into some web design work but found his true passion was in information architecture. He came to this realization in the middle of an interview, which he politely asked to terminate. Instead, he was offered a new IA job the next day! Also covered: World IA Day, getting fintech to understand IA, and the fun parts of working for Nickelodeon. Charles Zicari, Brian's first real IA mentor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-zicari-90798/ IxDA: https://ixda.org/ UXPA Boston: http://uxpaboston.org/ World IA Day, Brian started the one for Boston: https://worldiaday.org/ Some of the past speakers of World IA Day Boston: Peter Morville - https://www.linkedin.com/in/morville Steve Portigal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ Josh Seiden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jseiden/ Abby Covert - https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbytheia/ Aaron Irizarry - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaroni/ Todd Zaki-Warfel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zakiwarfel/ Dana Chisnell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-chisnell/ Christina Wodtke - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinawodtke/

technology kitchen sr ia nickelodeon user experience data analytics metaphysical underserved bny mellon syrinx josh seiden christina wodtke steve portigal ixda abby covert peter morville dana chisnell brian durkin aaron irizarry world ia day

#279 War Stories with Steve Portigal (UXP Classic)

guide ceos identifying rapid axis user research steve portigal

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2021 33:49

For a number of years Steve Portigal has been collecting user research war stories. The stories describe experiences researchers have had whilst doing fieldwork. Awkward, morally challenging, painful, unsuccessful. We talk to Steve about the benefits of sharing our stories – good and bad – and the ethically challenging situations that field research can place... The post #279 War Stories with Steve Portigal (UXP Classic) appeared first on UX Podcast.

strategy design digital web seo awkward user ux interaction war stories steve portigal ux podcast

User research - what to do when your company doesn't get it / Steve Portigal / Episode #127

Service Design Show

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2021 59:15

Everything in service design starts with user research. But as you've probably experienced often it's challenging to get the time and resources to do proper research. And when research is already being done by an organisation it's often not the type of research that we'd like to see. It can be frustrating to see that user research isn't making the difference you know it can. So what does it take to push user research beyond it's current limitations? Author and industry icon, Steve Portigal has been thinking about this topic for some time now. I invited Steve (back) on the Show to share his thinking and together explore what it takes to take user research to the next level. And also ask the question: What is that next level in the first place? Without proper user research you can't do good service design. So it's our job to make it more relevant and impactful. This episode will show you how. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 127 04:10 Who is Steve 05:00 Rapid fire question round 10:15 The need for user research maturity 14:45 Where is this coming from 19:00 What does progress look like 26:30 Opening the conversation 29:00 Who owns this 33:15 You need leadership 40:45 Being in demand 43:15 Setting up for success 45:00 Axis of maturity 48:15 Identifying opportunities 51:30 Where are we heading 57:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ * https://portigal.com/podcast/ * https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users/ * https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/ * https://uxdesign.cc/the-organizations-design-research-maturity-model-b631471c007c --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course

Nodes of Design#67: User Interviews by Steve Portigal

Nodes of Design

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2021 37:57

Steve Portigal helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. Over the course of his career, he has interviewed hundreds of people and helped many organisations to understand their users. He’s also the Dollars to Donuts podcast host, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. He is also the author of two famous titles - Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights & Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He has been a keynote speaker on various occasion like CHI, IxDA, Lift, SXSW, UIE, UPA, UX Australia, UX Hong Kong, UX Lisbon, and WebVisions. In this episode, Steve shared wonderful insights on user interviews and why we do user interviews in design; we then discussed the framework of interviews using which we can gain great insights from users and few tips on actively listening and note-taking during interviews. In the latter part, steve recommended five do's and don'ts that designers/researchers must avoid while doing user interviews. We then concluded the show by steve recommending few tips on how could we combine all the insights and convey them into a narrative across teams that can create an impact. Takeaways - What are user interviews, Meaning of insights, Combining insights to narrate a story. Books by Steve - https://portigal.com/books Dollars to Donuts - https://portigal.com/podcast Resources shared by Steve Portigal The organization’s design research maturity model-Chris Avore The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket - Benjamin Lorr It Chooses You - Miranda July Communicating the New: Methods to Shape and Accelerate Innovation - Kim Erwin Thank you for listening to this episode of Nodes of Design. We hope you enjoy the Nodes of Design Podcast on your favourite podcast platforms- Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more. If this episode helped you understand and learn something new, please share and be a part of the knowledge-sharing community #Spreadknowledge. This podcast aims to make design education accessible to all. Nodes of Design is a non-profit and self-sponsored initiative by Tejj.

spotify books design meaning danger shape apple podcast google podcasts lift dollars user sxsw donuts nodes doorbells upa new methods design podcast steve portigal ixda interviewing users groceries the dark miracle uncover compelling insights uie

039: How to build robust user-research practices with Steve Portigal

IoT Product Leadership

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2021 50:45

Understanding user’s needs continues to be one of the top challenges for enterprise and industrial product leaders. And although the practice of user research has been around for a while, most of the information out there seems to focus on B2C products. This is why I’m very excited to be joined by Steve Portigal joining us on the show today! My guest today is Steve Portigal, an experienced user researcher, author, and consultant who helps organizations build more mature user research practices. In our conversation, Steve shares how he approaches B2B research and we discuss the complexities of doing user research in a B2B context, the challenges of getting access to users, the need to focus on understanding customers’ pain (as opposed to only focusing on usability), and how to influence your organization to conduct more research. Steve also shares his advice on how to build a practice that encourages ongoing user research. This is a very important episode that no product leader should miss! Episode Details: Build more mature user-research practices with Steve Portigal: “If you’re just testing the usability and not the desirability or the usefulness, then you’re not going to uncover the fundamentals flaws that may exist in those initial assumptions.” — Steve Portigal About Steve Portigal: Steve Portigal is a consultant who helps organizations to build more mature user research practices. Over the past 20 years, he has interviewed hundreds of people, including families eating breakfast, hotel maintenance staff, architects, radiologists, home-automation enthusiasts, credit-default swap traders, and rock musicians. His work has informed the development of mobile devices, medical information systems, music gear, wine packaging, financial services, corporate intranets, videoconferencing systems, and music accessories. Steve is the author of two books, Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. Additionally, he is the host of the podcast, Dollars to Donuts. Topics We Discuss in this Episode: Steve’s career background and the work he does today as an experienced user researcher What a user researcher does and why it is important Invaluable tips for user researchers Why companies struggle to understand their customers’ challenges How a company can become more user-centered How to enable a culture that empowers everyone Why you may want to bring on a user researcher or an external expert The nuances of being a team player and contributing to the success of the company How to challenge baseline assumptions in order to move forward and grow as a company The differences between B2C and B2B user research The challenges of user research (and how to overcome them) Why user research is not only incredibly invaluable but needs to be figured out for your company Why culture is critical to research How to support leaders in helping transform the organization’s mindset into a customer-centric culture Proactive vs. reactive research Product Leader Tip of the Week: Keep in mind, user research is a skill. You can read about it, take classes, listen to podcasts, but you also have to practice. Practice can include: knowing when to do research, knowing what research to do, how to go about actually doing the research, learning how to leverage the research that you’ve done, and learning how to help others understand the research. And be sure to give yourself the chance to get better. All of this takes time. Be compassionate and understand that research is not just binary; there are many, many facets of it. To Learn More About Rob Tiffany: Steve Portigal’s Website Podcast: Dollars to Donuts Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, by Steve Portigal Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories, by Steve Portigal Related Resources: com/Template — Download Daniel’s free IoT Product Strategy Template here! Want to Learn More? Sign up for my newsletter atcom/Join for weekly advice and best practices directly to your inbox! Visit com/Podcast for additional information, show notes, and episodes. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts so you don’t miss out on any of my conversations with product and thought leaders!

practice danger practices b2b dollars proactive donuts b2c robust invaluable doorbells user research related resources steve portigal interviewing users week keep uncover compelling insights

Steve Portigal

Brave UX with Brendan Jarvis

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021 77:47

Why should researchers stop focusing on problems and start focusing on people? What is important for user researchers to know about bias (their bias)? And why does Steve have a museum of foreign groceries in his home? In this episode we take a deep-dive with Steve Portigal into how he thinks about research, the struggles he sees internal research teams going through, and how he's adapting to changes in the industry. Steve is one of the most experienced, effective and well known user researchers on the planet. In his 20+ years as Principal of Portigal Consulting, he has run research studies - interviewing hundreds of people - for organisations such as eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Nike, PayPal, and Sony. Steve's a regular blogger and podcaster, as well as the author of two widely praised books on user research - “Interviewing Users” and “Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries”. ====== Find Steve here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ Website: https://portigal.com/ Blog: https://portigal.com/blog/ Medium: https://medium.com/@steveportigal Twitter: https://twitter.com/chittahchattah Listen to Seve's podcast - Dollars to Donuts: https://portigal.com/podcast/ Treat yourself to a copy of Steve's books… Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights https://bit.ly/2YVPEG9 Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories https://bit.ly/2MwhxCs ====== Thank you for tuning in! If you liked what you saw and want more ... ... please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listened). You can also follow us on our other social channels for more great UX and product design tips, interviews and insights! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/ ====== Host: Brendan Jarvis https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/

microsoft blog sony danger medium principal paypal ebay dollars ux donuts hewlett packard doorbells seve dead batteries steve portigal interviewing users portigal consulting

Why UX? 30# Steve Portigal // User Research War Stories

Why UX? Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2020 28:53

Steve Portigal, the author of 'Interviewing Users' and 'User Research War Stories', has become a human confessional for user researchers and their stories about the crazy and unpredictable things they experience in the field. Steve has facilitated and encouraged knowledge sharing between research professionals from even before he wrote a book about the subject. Now the book and his website have taken a life of their own where stories are getting shared across the world. Thanks to Pavel Bavtra and Simon Dybdal for making this episode!

passion design research writer book club user ux user experience war stories user research steve portigal

Understanding Customers: Research, Insights, and Storytelling with Steve Portigal — DT101 E48

Design Thinking 101

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2020 57:47

Steve Portigal is the Principal of Portigal Consulting and an experienced user researcher who helps companies harness the strategic power of insights. He is the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. He also wrote Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. We talk about interviewing people, customer research, and storytelling with Dawan Stanford, your podcast host. Show Summary Steve started out in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), in the days before the World Wide Web and before the formal idea of user experience (UX) existed. He had a brief exposure to design as a profession through an article about industrial product design, and to the idea of bringing together people from many different disciplines to collaborate and create solutions to problems via another article about a project trying to determine how best to find a way to demarcate dangerous locations, like nuclear waste sites. These ideas planted seeds leading to his interest in design. Steve graduated with his Masters in HCI, had a summer internship in Silicon Valley, and eventually found a job in an industrial design consultancy to work on what was essentially proto-UX design with their software. At the same time, this company was exploring ideas surrounding ethnographic research and the idea of uncovering product opportunities, and Steve managed to apprentice himself with the team, where he learned about organizing and finding connections within data. He also had the opportunity to develop his initial interviewing skills, which he continued to hone as he started his own consultancy focused on user research. Steve was one of the first people in the early 90's to develop design processes for user experience and research. We talk about Steve's excitement for and interest in spending more time with stakeholders within a client's organization. He has learned why a stakeholder's perspective is essential in relation to the success of a project. He talks about creating “learning-ready” moments, how he helps people have these moments, and how learning and sharing the journey of learning affect learning retention. Listen in to learn: How Steve and others developed the design processes in the early stages of user experience and research How Steve's skills, interests, and the work he does for his clients has evolved over the years When Steve knows he's found a great client Why he believes that learning together is when change can happen Why understanding stakeholders gives better results with clients Being able to embrace realistic expectations of what you can accomplish Our Guest's Bio Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher who helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is principal of Portigal Consulting and the author of two books: the classic Interviewing Users: How To Uncover Compelling Insights and, Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He's also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. Steve is an accomplished presenter who speaks about culture, innovation, and design at companies and conferences across the globe. Show Highlights [02:09] Steve talks about his origin story and his introduction to the ideas of design and user experience. [06:15] Steve's first job at an industrial design consultancy. [08:15] Steve's apprenticeship with the team exploring a nascent practice in what was basically user experience. [09:58] Many companies were exploring and experimenting with these new ideas around user research in the 90s, and how that led to the development of best practices and processes around the work. [13:05] Steve's litmus test for a new client. [13:37] How Steve's role and work started to shift and change. [15:40] The way in which Steve sets up expectations with new clients and spending time with the stakeholders in a client's organization. [16:20] The value in spending as much time with stakeholders as with users to gain a deep understanding of their motivations and perceptions. [19:03] Repetitive patterns and questions Steve sees with clients. [22:28] Using storytelling to help explain concepts and share information, and to help move clients through shared experiences and discussions. [24:04] Separating the value of the research from any action that may take place. [28:15] The importance of the “Why” of user research. [30:39] How Steve's practice has evolved and the scope of his work today, now that many companies have in-house user research and design teams. [35:05] Steve's specialized “master classes” for design teams. [38:52] What Steve wishes everyone knew about user research and what you can do with it, both personally and organizationally. [41:24] Steve's reflections on a few of his learning experiences. [44:55] His experience with one of the experts he used in his consulting work. [48:35] What Steve might add to a new book about interviewing users and UX, should he decide to write one. [54:00] Where you can find out more about Steve and his work. Links Portigal Consulting Steve Portigal on LinkedIn Steve Portigal on Medium Steve Portigal on Twitter Find Out More About Steve's Books Dollars to Donuts Episode 30: Laith Ulaby of Udemy Dollars to Donuts Episode 27: Colin MacArthur of the Canadian Digital Service Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Problem Spaces, Understanding How People Think, and Practical Empathy with Indi Young — DT101 E6 Public Sector Design + Outcome Chains + Prototyping for Impact with Boris Divjak — DT101 E26 The Evolution of Teaching and Learning Design with Bruce Hanington — DT101 E39 ________________ Thank you for listening to the show and looking at the show notes. Send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Free Download — Design Driven Innovation: Avoid Innovation Traps with These 9 Steps Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Take your innovation projects from frantic to focused!

masters teaching evolution impact storytelling silicon valley danger principal customers dollars ux donuts san francisco bay area separating world wide web repetitive doorbells hci learning design research insights steve portigal human computer interaction hci dawan interviewing users uncover compelling insights portigal consulting

Understanding Customers: Research, Insights, and Storytelling with Steve Portigal — DT101 E48

Design Thinking 101

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2020 57:47

Steve Portigal is the Principal of Portigal Consulting and an experienced user researcher who helps companies harness the strategic power of insights. He is the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. He also wrote Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. We talk about interviewing people, customer research, and storytelling with Dawan Stanford, your podcast host. Show Summary Steve started out in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), in the days before the World Wide Web and before the formal idea of user experience (UX) existed. He had a brief exposure to design as a profession through an article about industrial product design, and to the idea of bringing together people from many different disciplines to collaborate and create solutions to problems via another article about a project trying to determine how best to find a way to demarcate dangerous locations, like nuclear waste sites. These ideas planted seeds leading to his interest in design. Steve graduated with his Masters in HCI, had a summer internship in Silicon Valley, and eventually found a job in an industrial design consultancy to work on what was essentially proto-UX design with their software. At the same time, this company was exploring ideas surrounding ethnographic research and the idea of uncovering product opportunities, and Steve managed to apprentice himself with the team, where he learned about organizing and finding connections within data. He also had the opportunity to develop his initial interviewing skills, which he continued to hone as he started his own consultancy focused on user research. Steve was one of the first people in the early 90’s to develop design processes for user experience and research. We talk about Steve’s excitement for and interest in spending more time with stakeholders within a client’s organization. He has learned why a stakeholder’s perspective is essential in relation to the success of a project. He talks about creating “learning-ready” moments, how he helps people have these moments, and how learning and sharing the journey of learning affect learning retention. Listen in to learn: How Steve and others developed the design processes in the early stages of user experience and research How Steve’s skills, interests, and the work he does for his clients has evolved over the years When Steve knows he’s found a great client Why he believes that learning together is when change can happen Why understanding stakeholders gives better results with clients Being able to embrace realistic expectations of what you can accomplish Our Guest’s Bio Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher who helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is principal of Portigal Consulting and the author of two books: the classic Interviewing Users: How To Uncover Compelling Insights and, Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He's also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. Steve is an accomplished presenter who speaks about culture, innovation, and design at companies and conferences across the globe. Show Highlights [02:09] Steve talks about his origin story and his introduction to the ideas of design and user experience. [06:15] Steve’s first job at an industrial design consultancy. [08:15] Steve’s apprenticeship with the team exploring a nascent practice in what was basically user experience. [09:58] Many companies were exploring and experimenting with these new ideas around user research in the 90s, and how that led to the development of best practices and processes around the work. [13:05] Steve’s litmus test for a new client. [13:37] How Steve’s role and work started to shift and change. [15:40] The way in which Steve sets up expectations with new clients and spending time with the stakeholders in a client’s organization. [16:20] The value in spending as much time with stakeholders as with users to gain a deep understanding of their motivations and perceptions. [19:03] Repetitive patterns and questions Steve sees with clients. [22:28] Using storytelling to help explain concepts and share information, and to help move clients through shared experiences and discussions. [24:04] Separating the value of the research from any action that may take place. [28:15] The importance of the “Why” of user research. [30:39] How Steve’s practice has evolved and the scope of his work today, now that many companies have in-house user research and design teams. [35:05] Steve’s specialized “master classes” for design teams. [38:52] What Steve wishes everyone knew about user research and what you can do with it, both personally and organizationally. [41:24] Steve’s reflections on a few of his learning experiences. [44:55] His experience with one of the experts he used in his consulting work. [48:35] What Steve might add to a new book about interviewing users and UX, should he decide to write one. [54:00] Where you can find out more about Steve and his work. Links Portigal Consulting Steve Portigal on LinkedIn Steve Portigal on Medium Steve Portigal on Twitter Find Out More About Steve’s Books Dollars to Donuts Episode 30: Laith Ulaby of Udemy Dollars to Donuts Episode 27: Colin MacArthur of the Canadian Digital Service Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Problem Spaces, Understanding How People Think, and Practical Empathy with Indi Young — DT101 E6 Public Sector Design + Outcome Chains + Prototyping for Impact with Boris Divjak — DT101 E26 The Evolution of Teaching and Learning Design with Bruce Hanington — DT101 E39 ________________ Thank you for listening to the show and looking at the show notes. Send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Free Download — Design Driven Innovation: Avoid Innovation Traps with These 9 Steps Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Take your innovation projects from frantic to focused!

Learning from Customers is "Messy," with Steve Portigal

Shift

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2020 56:11

Steve Portigal, Author, Speaker, and Customer Research Expert, shares how to drive innovation using the power of strategic customer insights. He reminds us that learning from customers is “messy” because we are complex beings. In order to go deep while interviewing customers, you should have clarity about what is uncomfortable for you versus what is uncomfortable for customers and not conflate the two. His provocation, “No One Cares,” highlights the risk of magnifying the significance of our solutions in a customer’s life and missing the opportunity to focus on things that customers care about.

learning innovation speaker customers strategic messy no one cares steve portigal

Louis Rosenfeld on Virtual Conferences

lessons steve portigal user experience research user experience researcher

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2020 31:03 Transcription Available

My guest today is my friend Lou Rosenfeld. Besides publishing books — including my own Living in Information — Lou and his team at Rosenfeld Media organize and manage industry conferences. In this episode, we talk about how they transitioned the recent Advancing Research conference from an in-person to a fully virtual event. Listen to the full conversation Show notes Louis Rosenfeld Rosenfeld Media @louisrosenfeld on Twitter The Informed Life Episode 1: Louis Rosenfeld on Managing Advancing Research 2020 Conference Some lessons learned from producing a virtual conference by Louis Rosenfeld Zoom Video Webinars Vimeo Cheryl Platz Abby Covert Steve Portigal Natalie Hanson Mailchimp Mural Slack The Brady Bunch title screen Living in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places by Jorge Arango Hopin IxDA Berlin The User's Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love by Donna Lichaw Meld Studios Enterprise Experience Conference 2020 DesignOps Summit Doctor's Note (Andy Polaine's newsletter) Power of Ten (Andy Polaine's podcast) Informa(c)tion (Jorge Arango's newsletter) Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Read the full transcript Jorge: Lou, welcome to the show. Lou: Thanks, Jorge. Glad to be here – again. Jorge: Yeah. Usually I start episodes by asking guests to introduce themselves, but you not only have the distinction of having been our first-ever guest on the show, you now have the double distinction of being the first-ever repeat guest on the show. Lou: Well, Jorge, I'm glad to be a Guinea pig in any of your experiments, so thank you. The remote Advancing Research Conference Jorge: The reason that I thought it would be interesting for us to have another conversation now is that the coronavirus pandemic has driven all sorts of changes in our society, in our economies, and in the way that we work. And among those changes, we are meeting differently, and we are doing things like conferences differently. And you and your team organize conferences and had the experience recently of having to very quickly restructure an event that was scheduled to be live and in-person. And you had to switch it to have it be all online. And I've heard nothing but good things about that experience, and I was hoping that you would tell us how you did it. Lou: Aw, well, thanks. I'm glad you're hearing good things. I mean, the general response among attendees and speakers and sponsors, actually, seem to have been very positive and I'm really grateful for that. I think it's really important that when you say how you did it, that's a… going to be a collective you, not an individual you, because it was really like a Herculean effort. I mean, I call it a moonshot, where we had like a couple of weeks that involved our speakers, our curators, our internal team, a lot of vendors. It was massive. The conference was Advancing Research, and actually it's the first time we've done it. We were going to do it in New York City, and it was programmed, and it was actually sold out five weeks in advance. And then suddenly everything hit the fan or started to, and at first we were going to create a hybrid event of in-person and virtual because New York City was still open for business, and you know, it's still seemed like a lot of people wanted to come in person, and the venue was assuming we were coming, they weren't going to refund our money, or even a part of it – a lot of moving parts. And then ultimately, we went into a new mode where you could not have people in-person at any scale, and, at least some force majeure clauses kicked in and, you know, we still financially took a big bath, but we had a great program. We felt very strongly that people wanted us to continue with it. The speakers had prepared at that point for probably about four months. Because we do extensive program design and then months of speaker preparation once the program is in place, and we didn't feel it was right to cancel for them. Nor did we feel like it was right to cancel for attendees if we could do a virtual event. Changes to the conference So, what did we do? We decided we had to stick to the original two-day schedule for the main program, just single track. And two days was not ideal in terms of keeping people engaged. You know, you're basically running nine hours a day. But we felt like we kind of had to stay true to that on behalf of the attendees. We didn't think it was going to be easy for them to adjust their schedules at that late point now, two, three weeks before the event. So, we kept that together. We'd have also inconvenienced many speakers to change it. And so, I wrote a little article in Medium if people are interested. They can probably just find me by searching my Twitter ID, @louisrosenfeld. I wrote some of the ideas up, but I will tell you a few highlights. One is that it's hugely important to prep speakers for the remote experience. Our speakers were already prepped from a content perspective. They were in great shape, had fantastic talks. But we did two rounds of tech checks to speakers, one the day of, but more importantly, one during the week prior. And you will see, if you're doing a virtual event of any type, that speakers, if they're new to this, they don't know where to stand or sit. You may want to do one or the other. Their faces aren't close enough to the camera in many cases. Their technology is problematic. And so we actually, gave them a credit to order their own equipment. Go get a better mic, that type of thing. At that point, it wasn't always possible for Amazon to turn it around very quickly, but we did our best. Things like lighting, things like what they wore, and also getting them comfortable with the technology. In our case, we used Zoom Webinar. But, not so simple, we actually then streamed a livecast version from Zoom to Vimeo, and then we embedded… it's a little Rube Goldberg, but we embedded the Vimeo stream onto a password protected webpage on our website, conference website. So, we made the content and the livestream exclusive to paid attendees. Not surprising. Having the speakers in Zoom Webinar was comfortable for them. They were mostly comfortable with presenting in Zoom. But when we did the those tech checks, we made sure they were comfortable because I can tell you firsthand that, when I presented remotely, especially early on when Zoom was new for me, I didn't always know where to find that “share screen” button when the, you know, I had that deer-in-the-headlights moment. You may be very experienced in Zoom but there still may be things that you don't have much experience with as a presenter in Zoom. So, we got them comfortable with that. It was nice in Zoom, to not have the attendees there. Attendees are all experiencing things through the livecast. And that made it easier to manage the Zoom space as a space for speakers and curators and the MC. We also found that the signal actually worked pretty well for people consuming the livecasts. There were surprisingly few technical problems. They were almost exclusively due to poor local bandwidth, which is often correctable by plugging into a router directly or getting closer to the router or turning off background apps that suck bandwidth up and just using the right browser. We found that Chrome didn't work well, it didn't play well with Vimeo, surprisingly. Establishing contingencies So, we also put in place like a huge number of contingencies. Like, I got to tell you, the thing that kept me up at night the most was what if… what if Zoom goes down, what if Vimeo goes down? What if our website goes down? What if the speaker's local connection goes down? And we came up with contingency upon contingency. And we only had one problem technically, with one speaker having to go to the contingency because they're local connectivity was suffering. So, I can get into some of those if you like. I will just say this. I would not rely on a recording as a backup. I don't think that's necessary; I don't think it's very good for the speakers, I don't think it's very good for the attendees. I think just having something as simple as the speaker dialing in to Zoom on their phone, or at least using a phone connection with the Zoom client on their phone. Muting that connection, having it ready to go to unmute should their computer crap out and having us ready to run the slides for them was a much better backup plan than having a recording ready to go. So, there's just like a whole bunch of these little persnickety things that we had to learn in two weeks' time. About the team We also had a fantastic MC, Cheryl Platz, who we already had lined up to be our MC. And we got so lucky because she was someone who was very comfortable with being an MC remotely. And she did it like making sure speaker number one got out of the way while she chatted up speaker number two and made sure speaker number two had their screen shared before she went away. So, she was just a fantastic, fantastic MC. Our curators, Abby Covert, as you mentioned, and Steve Portigal, and Natalie Hanson, all did a wonderful job. Our team did a wonderful job operating the whole thing. And it basically allowed the program to really stand up for itself, and the technology didn't get in the way. The sponsor experience I do want to mention one more thing though. We're a company that puts conferences on that really try to appeal to our sponsors. So, I will say, we never let our sponsors call the shots in our program. We've never done pay-for-play. The integrity of our programming efforts is tantamount, critical for us. That said, we want to have sponsors participate. And when we do an in-person conference, we have an expo and sponsors get involved in other ways. In this case, we went to our sponsors two weeks before the show and said, listen, we'll work with you, and we're going to develop a platform for a secondary program of sponsor-led events that would happen before and after the conference each day and during breaks. And we will basically create a webpage and essentially a platform and some support for sponsors. You are the sponsors, here are some ideas. This is your chance to step up, show your support for the community, your thought leadership, highlight your really great ideas, your great content. And Jorge, they really did step up to the plate. In fact, in a way, we had too many sponsor-led activities. We had something like 43 sponsor-led activities over two days. And they were fantastic. Like we've had people saying, I want to get a recording of that great session that MailChimp did or that Mural did, or whatever, and I don't know if you see that happen very much in an in person event that that people are dying for the sponsor's content. And again, it's because you're doing it virtually, the sponsors are pushed in effect to make sure what they're doing is engaging and not just a pitch or no one's going to come. And we opened the sponsor events to our broader community. We have, each of our conferences has an associated community of thousands of people that can participate. So, the sponsors ended up getting better turnout and better engagement than normal because they did, you know, we opened it up, but they also did a great job with their content. Flattening of hierarchies And a lot of our attendees found that the interaction in Slack – this is where the discussion went on – was superior than the interaction they might have in person. The hierarchy was flattened in many cases, introverts were able to ask questions, even of speakers, and interact with each other… Ultimately, in many respects it was a better experience than people might ordinarily get. And the time zones are an issue, but we always make our recordings as well as our sketchnotes and our trip notes and other materials available to attendees after the event, and that was part of the exclusive deal. They got all that content. So, if they missed something, or slept in or didn't want to stay up late, they could go back to it. So, it was a fantastic experience. But now that we have that under our belt and we have two more conferences we're doing this year and some partially clean slate with one and a fully clean slate with the other, we're really excited to try some new ideas out, as well as folding in the experience we had with Advanced Research. Jorge: I want to touch on something that you said there towards the tail end. I'm actually going to mix two things that you said. So, one was about the flattening of hierarchies, because one of the things that I've observed in participating in remote meetings of all sorts, I have noticed that flattening of hierarchy, where all of a sudden it's like there's no place in the physical room where the person is standing in, and this is the speaker, and you are the audience and sitting over here. All of a sudden, everyone is kind of on the same plane literally, everyone's got a little thumbnail, and you are one of many little thumbnails. And I know that when it's a webinar on something like Zoom, you don't see the “Brady Bunch screen, ” but it's almost like everyone's on the same playing field, more so than they are in a physical space. So that's one thing that I wanted to follow up on, particularly in the context of the sponsor experience, because I was super intrigued when you said that sponsors got more… I don't think I'm going to do service to what you said, but the way that I interpreted it is they got more traction on their presentation somehow from folks. And I'm wondering if the fact that in a physical conference, you have space set aside for sponsors – they have their tables, and that's where the sponsors live – and then you have the presentations, which usually happen in some kind of auditorium-like space. But now, everyone's using the same technologies to communicate, and there is this blurring, this potential… I mean, you made the disclaimer. It's like we've always been, you know, very serious about not letting sponsors drive the program. And it strikes me that there's an opportunity here for potentially blurring the lines between those that doesn't exist in the real world just by the very nature of the places where we're meeting, no? Lou: Well, yeah. I think that's a really good point, and it makes me think of sponsored search results versus organic ones and how you differentiate them. We, as you might expect that we would always err toward being clear:** here are sponsor-led activities. They're optional. They're part of the program in a sense, but they're not. These are not the speakers we've spent the last four or five months prepping, but this has a role and this helps make things feasible for us as a business and you know, one of the really interesting things about this, though it comes back to actually you, Jorge, and the book you wrote for us Living In Information, because I thought a lot about the metaphor of designing place, especially as we put together these sponsor places. Zoom Lounges Zoom already has, like, we did the sponsor events in Zoom, but with Slack channels – and we're going to take a slightly different approach in the future – but, regardless, we got kind of mucked up by Zoom's sort of uneven use of the place metaphor. I mean, you have Zoom rooms and you have Zoom, I don't know, events, and Zoom spaces… Honestly, they're not really clear, and I find that a lot of people, myself included, abuse the terminology that Zoom would like us to use because it doesn't really make sense. I want to call these things Zoom Rooms, but that's a product, that's a specific product. So, we ended up calling the sponsor Zoom areas, “Zoom Lounges,” which are places, they're places that are part of the bigger place, namely the entire conference – I'll come back to that term in a minute – but they had a different flavor. A lounge is not a place that you will necessarily have to… it's a place that you can relax in a way you can still learn and still interact. Some of the sponsor activities were completely interactive, some were, happy hours, and a trivia contest but they were not classrooms and they were not auditoriums. I was actually, you know, along these lines, looking at the Hopin platform last week, because I was a sponsor at IXDA Berlin, and they used the Hopin platform as Zoom alternative. And that's been designed around the place metaphor for events much more concretely, and they have an expo area that we were in, and they have a number of other uses that really kind of run ahead with the place metaphor and there's a bunch of problems with it – we can get into that if you like – but I really thought a lot about your ideas when we were putting this together and it's the second time one of our books has really resonated well for us in conference design. The other is Donna Lichaw's A User's Journey and trying to have a narrative arc to how the events unfold over time. Navigating uncertainty Jorge: Another thread that I wanted to pull on in what you said has to do with how you and the amazing team that helped you put this conference on, how you navigated this period of uncertainty. I'm placing myself back to that time, which seems like a long time ago, even though it wasn't that long ago. Lou: Another world, Jorge. Jorge: Yeah. Well, it was the moment when we were starting to step through this weird portal that we've stepped through or are stepping through still. Right? And it was a moment where we didn't know…. there was a lot of uncertainty. Like we didn't know if people are going to be able to fly. We didn't know if people in this city over here are going to be dealing with it differently than those of us over here, right? I have family abroad. And I talk with them every week and I can compare notes with how they're dealing with the situation and how we're dealing with the situation. And I could tell that everyone was coming to the same conclusions, but not everyone was coming to it at the same times. And when you're trying to coordinate an event that is going to rely on people traveling, I would expect that it would have been tremendously stressful. And I'm wondering if there are any tools, processes, approaches that helped you and your team come to the decision eventually to transition to a fully online conference, even though I don't think it was a given perhaps at the time when you were starting those conversations no? So, can you think back to what it was like making that decision? Lou: About that pivot? Oh, I don't know that there was any one thing that guided us. I think that was part of the difficulty, was this sensation of the sand shifting under your feet every 15 minutes. So to give you an example of that, while we were still in the assumption that we were going to run a hybrid event, last month, and not go fully virtual, there were about three or four days in a row where I drafted a communication to our attendees who had already registered, explaining to them what was going to happen and how it was going to work. Before I could send it, that would change, and then it changed again. And then finally, all right, we're going to go full virtual. We have no choice now. Change again, and it was exhausting. It was just, oh my God, we don't even, we can't keep up with these changes. So, that was the hard part, psychologically. I think once we knew we could only do a virtual event, we were committed to doing it for the reasons I mentioned earlier that, you know, attendees had already booked it, although not all of them want to go forward with the virtual event. I think, 90 or 85% still wanted to do it. And the speakers have already done all their work. It didn't feel like it was fair to them, and we felt like it was just going to be a fantastic event programmatically, which it was, to be honest. So, at that point it was, okay, we don't really have to think, we have to do. It's not an emotional thing anymore. We have a point on the calendar we have to be ready for, and let's just work weekends and nights and we'll get it done. And we did. I'd say, if it was a day earlier, it would have been a lot harder. It just seemed like maybe that's the psychology of how you use your time, and we just managed to get it in, in the nick of time. I don't know. Maybe it's just the way these things work, no matter how much time you have. I was talking with Steve Baty and I probably am mispronouncing her first name, Janna DeVylder at Meld, in Sydney, and they were putting on one of their events, not UX Australia, but a different one, and I think they had one or two days and they pulled it off. Well, here's one of the stressors. So, I also know people who were doing events in May. I would rather not have had one or two days to pull it off because you won't learn as much. You're just going to throw it in Zoom and hope for the best. And they did a great job, but there was very little they could do in terms of trying new things and thinking it through. Or you do it you know, where there's… we're talking about back in March, if you have a May horizon, by time May rolls around, the expectations are going to be much higher and the economics remain uncertain. So, I'm really glad our event wasn't in May or April for that matter. We had just enough time pull it off and still keep our attendees. Jorge: So, what I'm hearing there is that folks may have been more forgiving because they knew how short of a timeframe you had to pull things together. Lou: Yes Tweaks for future events Jorge: So, with that in mind, do you have thoughts on what aspects of the experience you're going to tweak for the next events? Because those are happening further in the future, right? Lou: Right. So, the next one we have is Enterprise Experience used to be known as Enterprise UX. This'll be the sixth one, and it's taking place August 31st through September 3rd. It was originally going to be in San Francisco, and now it is virtual of course. And the program has already been created, it was originally designed, like most of our main programs, two-day, single track. We're now going to have it as a four-day, shorter days, each day, it's like a mini conference, each day has a very strong theme. And we'll allow people to go to one, two, three, or four days. And you know, so there's a lot of sort of how you take something that was designed to flow over two days and make it flow over four days. And that's where things like the narrative arc are really important to consider. How do you keep people engaged? Not just in the middle, but in the beginning and the end, and hopefully they register for all four days. The other conference we have is Design Ops Summit. It'll be the third one of those… no, the fourth one of those. And that's going to be in October. Again, it'll be virtualized. It was originally going to be here in New York. And we're just starting that from scratch. So, we get all three scenarios, something that we can't really change, something that's been programmed, but we can move the sessions around, and then something that has a complete clean slate. The thing that we're going to really work on with both of them, there's a few little things, like having attendee troubleshooting tech check sessions before the conference starts a couple of different times to make sure they can get in so they're not late for the conference because they're having a problem getting in. More importantly though, is working in a different mode with sponsors to emphasize quality over quantity in their engagement. So not 43 sessions, but maybe 15 really high-quality sessions. And not that there was anything low quality, but at a certain point there's too much. So, you want to really focus on, you know home runs for every session that sponsors do. We also are going to be experimenting with a mode for, again, taking your concept of designing digital places, and create a place or a series of rooms for attendees to attend the conference the whole time together, and to do so based on a number of big ideas. So, it could be affinity groups. We'll have to assemble them in advance. You're all from the same industry, or you're working on the same type of problem, and we'll put you together with people like you and with a facilitator. Or, it's your team from your organization who wants to attend together, or you just want to be matched with random people. Either way, they will all be facilitated, you'll get together before the conference kicks off, you'll have an opportunity to meet the other people in your room and you will, together with your facilitators, help figure out what are the things you want to learn over the coming days. And you may check in during each conference and at the very end of the conference, you'll get back together with your crew in your room. And it could be you be figuring out what you learned, figure out what you might not have learned, and see if there's anything you want to do together after the conference. So, we're building an infrastructure to help people do that. It's not too complex, but it's not simple. The easy part is the technology. The hard part will be figuring out who to connect with whom and to make sure they're well facilitated. But that's like, so exciting, like we can then take that model and take it to the in-person events. In fact, you know, one of the things we'll do in the future, I don't think we're ever not going to have a conference that's virtual. I do think we're going to have hybrids, and I'm really also excited by the models we're coming up with to make a hybrid in-person and virtual event work even if we're still in the age of social distancing come 2021. Closing Jorge: That sounds super exciting Lou. Where can folks go to find out more about the upcoming events? Lou: Oh, just go to RosenfeldMedia.com. And, if they really are interested in our three events and want to either first to know when tickets go on sale, especially the cheap tickets or apply for scholarships or even pitch a talk, the way we communicate those is through the corresponding communities we've created for each of our conferences. For those reasons alone, we think you'll want to join whether you're interested in enterprise experience, advancing research, or design operations. But each of those communities, besides having those kinds of connections to the conferences, each has a monthly video conference call where we have a guest presenter or facilitator. And we get some amazing people to lead discussions because we're trying to keep the conversation going between the annual events, the other 360-odd days a year. And so, we have these fantastic, like we had a session with Kamdyn Moore and Kristin Skinner and Alison Rand for Design Ops community. I think it was about two, three weeks ago… we had 240 people participate. That's fantastic. Laura Klein, we had I think 110 people for the Enterprise Experience conversation we had a week or so ago. We do one a month for each community and it's all free. Go to RosenfeldMedia.com, check out communities. You'll see them and, Hey! We love this model; it makes really great sense at this stage of pandemic. And so, we're ramping up to do more. Jorge: Well, fantastic. Lou. I'm going to include links to those in the show notes. Thank you so much for being with us today. Lou: Hey, it's my pleasure. And I'm so happy not only that you bothered to have me on not once, but twice, but that you're doing this. It's one of the… you and Andy Polaine are doing two of the most interesting newsletters and also podcasts. And I just find what you guys are up to so interesting, and it's hard work. I know you put a lot into both the newsletter and the podcast, and I just want to thank you for doing it. Even if you didn't have me on it, I would be grateful. It's just wonderful information you're putting together and making available to the world, and I hope everyone is smart enough after I pitched it to at least sign up for your newsletter if they haven't already. And obviously they're already listening to the podcast, so they know that's great. Thanks again, Jorge, glad to be part of it. Jorge: Thank you Lou, I appreciate that.

Episode 6: User Experience Research Lessons from Steve Portigal.

Life with Dumss

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2020 40:33

On this week’s episode, Dumss shares a bit about doing user experience research and how to do quality research. Dumss got a chance to chat with a well known User Experience Researcher and Specialist (Steve Portigal) and shares what she learnt from her conversation from him.

Bias Is The Context We're In

UX Cake

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2019 32:24

Ep 40: Since I started asking users questions as part of my design process over 20 years ago, I’ve often asked myself, how could I ask better questions. Am I asking the right questions? What bias am I bringing into the interaction? As we progress in our research practice and go beyond the 101 lessons like avoiding leading questions, asking questions that are open-ended, leaving silence in the spaces to allow participants to talk more, learning to interpret actions and expressions not just words… those are all important, that’s where we start, but how can we go beyond that. at some point we might begin to look inward as researchers, and the part we as individuals are playing in the outcome, our biases, assumptions, our own values and life experiences.Who better to have this conversation with, I asked myself, than Steve Portigal, an author and expert on the subject of asking questions. Steve wrote the book Interviewing Users which is a great place to start for those who are newer to asking users questions, and he also wrote Doorbells, danger and dead batteries, with stories from practiced user researchers that deals with some of these questions of bias. We had a great conversation with lots of great advice for researchers at any level.Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/Medium https://medium.com/@steveportigalSteve’s Dollars to Donuts podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dollars-to-donuts/id956673263Twitter https://twitter.com/steveportigalAbout Steve PortigalSteve Portigal helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. His work has informed the development of professional audio gear, wine packaging, medical information systems, design systems, videoconferencing technology, and music streaming services. He’s also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. Steve is an accomplished presenter who speaks about culture, innovation, and design at companies and conferences across the globe.STEVE'S BOOKSInterviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling InsightsDoorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War StoriesFROM THE SHOWPurchase the Cognitive Bias Codex InfographicSlack channels:Go to this GREAT list of slack channels for UX including UXR********If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twitter - like and reshare our postssubscribe to the newsletter for updates and bonus contentshare this episode, or any of our episodes, with a friend. rate & review us on Apple Podcast or iTunes on desktop!Listen Apple | Spotify | Google | WebsiteConnect with UX Cake!uxcake.co | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

danger medium apple podcast context bias dollars ux donuts doorbells steve portigal interviewing users

Researching the Researchers: From 721 responses to 5 personas to a new conference

new york city conference consultants researchers responses personas researching tableau steve portigal user experience researcher advancing research abby covert lou rosenfeld

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2019 26:40

Four members of our Advancing Research curation team join Lou to discuss the research they did to help shape our inaugural Advancing Research conference (New York City; March 30-April 1, 2020). The team analyzed over 700 survey responses (including about 10,000 answers to open-ended questions!) to learn about user and customer researchers, their learning behaviors, and what they want from conference experiences. Read their summary of the results here: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research-community/archive/who-does-research-and-how-do-they-learn/ ; you can also explore the study’s quantitative data yourself via Tableau: https://public.tableau.com/profile/lou.rosenfeld.rosenfeld.media#!/vizhome/WhoDoesResearchandHowDoTheyLearn/StoryDraft1 Podcast guests: Abby Covert (principal investigator), Staff Information Architect at Etsy Sean Oslin, Consultant at Aventine Hill Partners Rocio Werner, Senior User Experience Researcher at ZS Patricia Thommi, User Experience Researcher at ZS The rest of the team: Johan Sarmiento, Steve Portigal, Natalie Hanson, Lou Rosenfeld

Episode 2 - What Do You Do When There's No Time to Research?

Afternoon Answers

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2019 5:52

What do you do when you're given a UX design project with no time to research it? Each weekday morning at 8 AM Eastern, UX leader and influence Doug Collins posts a UX-related question on his Twitter profile using the hashtag #uxtalk, and each morning industry professionals and experts from around the world take a moment to answer his question in 280 characters or less. Each afternoon Doug takes the best answers from yesterday’s #uxtalk discussion,and makes it into a quick, five-minute listen to help you keep your UX juices flowing in the second half of the day.Today we look at this question and get answers from Nick Fink, Sarah Doody, Steve Cohn, Steve Portigal, Brian W. Reaves, Becca Kennedy, and Don Hill.If you enjoyed the podcast please do me a favor and drop by your podcasting platform of choice (or Apple Podcasts, the purple icon on you iPhone, if your preferred podcasting platform doesn't have a ratings system) and leave me a 5-star review and some message - you can say anything you’d like, this isn’t for my ego, just to feed the weird algorithms that decides podcast rankings. And if you REALLY want to be an awesome human being, feel free to leave me a donation on my Patreon page, patreon.com/dougcollinsux.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/dougcollinsux)

design research iphone ux no time user experience reaves doug collins steve portigal sarah doody don hill

Ep. 228 - Steve Portigal - Trends in User Experience & Market Research, and How They are Driving Success

Happy Market Research Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2019 44:59

My guest today is Steve Portigal, Founder of Portigal Consulting. Established in 2001, Portigal Consulting helps organizations bring insights about their users into their design and development processes. Additionally, he has also authored two books: "Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories," and "Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights." And, Steve hosts Dollars to Donuts which has 24 episodes with remarkable guests including head of User Experience Research at Pinterest, Airbnb, Mailchimp, Goldman Sachs, and IBM. Find Steve Online: LinkedIn Website: portigal.com Find Us Online: Social Media: @happymrxp LinkedIn Website: happymr.com This Episode’s Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by HubUx. HubUx reduces project management costs by 90%. Think of HubUx as your personal AI project manager, taking care of all your recruitment and interview coordination needs in the background. The platform connects you with the right providers and sample based on your research and project needs. For more information, please visit HubUx.com. [00:00] On Episode 228, I'm interviewing Steve Portigal, founder of Portigal Consulting, but first a word from our sponsor. [00:11] This episode is brought to you by HubUx. HubUx is a productivity tool for qualitative research. It creates a seamless workflow across your tools and team. Originally, came up with the idea as I was listening to research professionals in both the quant and qual space complain about and articulate the pain, I guess more succinctly, around managing qualitative research. The one big problem with qualitative is it’s synchronous in nature, and it requires 100% of the attention of the respondent. This creates a big barrier, and, I believe, a tremendous opportunity inside of the marketplace. So what we do is we take the tools that you use; we integrate them into a work flow so that, ultimately, you enter in your project details, that is, who it is that you want to talk to, when you want to talk to them, whether it’s a focus group, in-person, or virtual or IDI’s or ethnos; and we connect you to those right people in the times that you want to have those conversations or connections – Push-Button Qualitative Insights, HubUx. If you have any questions, reach out to me directly. I would appreciate it. Jamin@HubUx.com [01:36] Hi, I'm Jamin, and you're listening to the Happy Market Research Podcast. My guest today is Steve Portigal, founder of Portigal Consulting. Established in 2001, Portigal Consulting helps organizations bring insights about their users into their design and development processes. Additionally, he has authored two books: Doorbells, Danger and Dead Batteries, User Research War Stories. I actually am ordering that one as soon as we are off this call. It's on my list of things to do today, by the way, and then I've already ordered the Interviewing Users - How to Uncover Compelling Insights. Holy Moly, that is going to be super interesting. And Steve hosts what is now my number one listened to podcast for the last two weeks. In fact, I've got a six-hour or eight-hour road trip coming up this Wednesday. All the episodes are downloading. I believe I'm going to be caught up at the end of that road trip. He's got 24 episodes with remarkable guests, including head of user-experience research at Pinterest, Airbnb, MailChimp, Goldman Sachs, IBM, and the list goes on. Steve, it is an honor to have you on the Happy Market Research Podcast today. Thank you. [02:47] I'm happy to be here. [02:48] I'd like to start out with a quick kind of assessment of, from your point of view... You grew up in a different area than the Bay Area. Tell us a little bit about your parents, your upbringing, and how that informed who you are today and what you're doing. [03:03] Yeah, I was raised by a single parent. My mom raised me and my sister in southern Ontario.

founders success ai driving danger airbnb ontario pinterest bay area ibm dollars goldman sachs established donuts user experience mailchimp market research doorbells jamin holy moly idi dead batteries steve portigal user experience research interviewing users uncover compelling insights portigal consulting happy market research podcast

025 – Steve Portigal

Nie Tylko Design

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2019 26:52

W dzisiejszym, krótszym odcinku wideo rozmawiam ze Stevem Portigalem o badaniach. Pytam go, jaki sens mają badania w 2018 roku, czy badania formatywne są potrzebne w epoce big data i jak technologia wpływa na świat badaczy. [notification type=”alert-success” close=”false” ]Sponsorem tego odcinka jest Ultimo Studio, organizator Product Camp 2019 oraz kursu [...] Artykuł 025 – Steve Portigal pochodzi z serwisu Podcast: Nie tylko design.

artyku pytam steve portigal

Making Friends With… Steve Portigal

Tech for Good Live

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2019 60:00

Welcome to “Making Friends With…” - a new special series where the Tech for Good Live team sit down for an in-depth interview with someone who is doing exceptional work in the tech industry. In this episode, Bex and Jonny chat with user research extrordinaire Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Dangers and Dead Batteries. They talk about the role of the user researcher, the increasingly blurry line between design and research, design ethics, and Steve’s favourite stories from user researchers out in the field. We hope you enjoy the episode. Please drop us a review on iTunes, and if you’d like to hear more interviews and conversations like this, let us know who you’d recommend we interview. Send thoughts, suggestions and feedback on Twitter @techforgoodlive. Thanks!

tech dangers making friends doorbells bex dead batteries good live steve portigal interviewing users

Steve Portigal 'Symbolic Lab Coats, ASMR and Coke-Fueled Lap Dances: More User Research War Stories'

This is HCD - Human Centered Design Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2018 47:12

Hello and welcome to another episode of This is HCD. I'm your host Chi Ryan, and in this episode, I'm speaking to researcher Steve Portigal. Steve is the Principal of Portigal Consulting and the author of two books: Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, and Doorbells Danger and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. Based outside San Francisco, Steve helps companies to think and act strategically as a result of human insights. Steve has his own podcast, Dollars to Donuts, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. Throughout his career, Steve has interviewed hundreds of people including families eating breakfast, hotel maintenance staff, architects, rock musicians, home automation enthusiasts, credit default swap traders, and radiologists. His work has informed the development of mobile devices, medical information systems, music gear, wine packaging, financial services, corporate internet and video conferencing systems. Wowsers - Steve has really done a lot of things! Exclusive discount The following 20% discount code for 'Doorbells, Dangers and Dead Batteries'. Expires on December 31, 2018: HCD2018 Resources Doorbells, Dangers and Dead Batteries Interviewing Users Portigal Consulting Rosenfeld Media Steve Portigal on LinkedIn Vox Media Dollars to Donuts podcast This is HCD is brought to you by Humana Design Follow This is HCD us on Twitter Follow This is HCD on Instagram Sign up for our newsletter Join the This is HCD Slack Channel Follow us on Medium Support the show.

stories san francisco design research principal dangers asmr dollars coke ux fueled donuts expires service design user research hcd lap dances lab coats steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights portigal consulting chi ryan

Steve Portigal - Stop Solving Problems

UX Australia

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2018 38:30

Steve Portigal - Stop Solving Problems by UX Australia

solving problems steve portigal

UX AUSTRALIA 2018 INTERVIEW WITH STEVE PORTIGAL ON USER RESEARCH AND INTERVIEWING USERS

UX Australia

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2018 13:57

UX AUSTRALIA 2018 INTERVIEW WITH STEVE PORTIGAL ON USER RESEARCH AND INTERVIEWING USERS by UX Australia

australia users user research steve portigal

How To Unlock The True Power Of User Research / Steve Portigal / Episode #52

Service Design Show

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2018 36:56

By now we all know that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in the service design toolbox. But can we also use storytelling to actually improve our own practice? Steve Portigal thinks so and he explains why in this episode. And how well aware are you of your own biases, beliefs and assumptions when you go into a project? Learning to better listen to ourselves might be a key to get more meaningful work done. Finally we discuss why the value of deep research is still often not aligned with the value we put on designing solutions. For this we dig into some economic fallacies that might have to do with this. The big question of this episode is: When has storytelling worked for you (and when did it fail)? Send me a message on LinkedIn if you enjoyed this episode. I would love to hear from you! ---------------------------------------- [EPISODE GUIDE] 02:34 - The first encounter with Service Design. 04:50 - How can we use storytelling as a valid tool for developing our practice? 15:30 - What if we were better at listening to ourselves? 24:45 - When will we value researching the problem as much as designing the solution? 34:05 - Big question: When has storytelling worked for you? ---------------------------------------- [DISCOUNT CODE] Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories Save 20% off the regular price by using "servicedesign18-20" during checkout (valid until June 30, 2018). https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/ ---------------------------------------- LINKS FROM THE EPISODE * Steve on LinkedIn ➜ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/3x-el * Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories (book) ➜ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/e530i * https://www.portigal.com/ * https://medium.com/@steveportigal * https://rosenfeldmedia.com/expert/steve-portigal/ MORE EPISODES Enjoyed the show? Take a look at some of the other episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/podcast YOUTUBE CHANNEL Every episode of the Service Design Show is also available as via the official YouTube channel. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/youtube FACEBOOK PAGE Check the Facebook page where you'll find more content and can discuss the episodes. https://go.servicedesignshow.com/facebook ---------------------------------------- [FREE COURSE] HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN Learn how you can get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are! https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course

learning ceos danger unlock true power doorbells service design user research steve portigal service design show

Building a Group Mind with Steve Portigal

The Conversation Factory

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2018 79:40

It's always such a pleasure to get to sit down with one of your heroes...and it's especially wonderful when they are just warm, wonderful people. Steve Portigal is a prominent author of two excellent books on user research ( Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories, linked below) and Steve also speaks prolifically on the conference circuit. And while he maintains a solo practice on the west coast, he somehow makes time to also give a lot of his knowledge away, blogging, podcasting...When I was coming up in the design world, Steve's writing was always clear and helpful. And when we first met, he was approachable and human. Steve is a model for the kind of design thought leader we need more of! Sitting down with Steve for this episode was an interesting risk, though. We ran into each other in SF and talked about the possibility of an episode grounded in a topic Steve is an expert in, but indirectly. Let me explain. Steve is a User Researcher, heart and soul. And he talks and writes about it, fluently. Facilitation is something that he *has to do* in order to bring people together. He's an extremely reflective practioner about research, but about facilitation, less so. For me, it's fascinating to see that divide. I think there are a lot of people where facilitation is a means to an end. Steve illustrates something I coach people on often - you have to be your own kind of facilitator. I can be theatrical and energetic. Steve is more introverted and centered. My way of solving for group work isn't Steve's : he's adapted his own approach that feels natural and gets the job done. There are a few key insights I got out of this conversation that I want you to look out for: Treating Workshops as a series of games with clear rules and goals Steve breaks his time with groups up into "beats" or "scenes" just like an improv person would. Each scene has a focus, an outcome and rules. It breaks the time up and keeps energy moving. Narrow Ranking 0, 1, 2: If you're going to get participants to rank things solo before comparing, make the structure simple. 0 is meh, 2 is awesome. 1 is good. That's it. Too much granularity confuses things. Direct vs indirect facilitation Steve talks about comedic scolding of groups, pushing teams but using humor, vs letting them do their own thing, watching and listening…and stopping the room to call attention to something worthwhile that group is doing. One way might be called extroverted or direct facilitation and the other introverted or indirect facilitation. Steve says that the extroverted practice of calling people out, using names is "not in my energy." Facilitation is about using what feels natural to you. Being conscious of your choices as a facilitator What are you doing, when? And is it working for you? Why or why not? What to absorb or drop? I know that facilitation is a means to and end for most people, but taking time to reflect on your practice can provide significant dividends The "chef's roll" of facilitation Bringing what you really need into the room. The tools make it go smoothly. Some people love 3 X 5 stickies, others want black, or manage color in other ways. I hate pop-up notes with an undying, smoldering passion. The tools matter. Insights generate energy and clarity by making things simple Steve tells a story about how one woman's insights infused the room with energy and clarity. My feeling is that insights pull multiple threads together, grouping complex behaviors into a simple narrative core. Is it the management of too many mental/narrative threads that's exhausting? And the reduction of threads that gives cognitive release? Expand the frame of your work Steve is a researcher, but he doesn't let his work stop there. He knows nothing will happen with the research unless he pulls the work forward into the org. Running ideation or concepting workshops can tip the energy of the team forward and shift the momentum Links: Steve on the Web Steve on Twitter Steve's Podcast: The Episode with EBay's Pree Kolari Interviewing Users Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies on WikiPedia and the App I use! (android) DSchool Facilitation Guide The McDonald's Theory

running theory danger sitting wikipedia ebay expand sf facilitation doorbells oblique strategies steve portigal user researcher interviewing users group mind uncover compelling insights

049: User Research War Stories with Steve Portigal

User Defenders: UX Design and Personal Growth

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2018 93:39

Steve Portigal challenges us to enjoy the silence when interviewing people. He teaches us the importance of rapport-building, and offers sage advice on how to do it. He shows us how sticking with an interview even when it’s not going well can sometimes bring forth the best data. He also reveals how a little empathy can go a long way in field research. Secret Identity (8:08) Origin Story (12:19) What drives your curiosity? (24:53) Roberta 'call me Bert's war story (29:28) What's Ethnography (the "E-word") (38:32) Rapport-building tips (46:51) Brian's war story (55:21) UX Superhero Name (66:28) Habit of Success (75:06) Steve's Corset War Story (78:39) Best Advice (84:53) Contact Info (88:33) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen’s astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/049 This episode is brought to you by InVision Studio (userdefenders.com/studio): The world's most powerful screen design tool Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

success psychology habit audible cancel origin stories ux rapport best advice war stories ux design ucd secret identities hci user research steve portigal invision studio

Episode 60: Steve Portigal On Using A Classic Improv Game To Uncover More Customer Insights

Helping Sells Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2017 30:47

Steve Portigal has interviewed everyone from high-finance traders to rock musicians, regular families to medical professionals, all in search of finding out how to make products better. "Great leaders are not territorial," he said in this episode of Helping Sells Radio. "They're looking for everything and anything that can help make their products better." In his book, Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, Portigal starts off by stating that "you are not the user". That is, that interviewers are not the users of the product and so shouldn't be involved in the user research experience. "The whole purpose of the interview is to understand someone else's point of view, belief structure, the language they use, etc. in order to embrace their perspective," says Portigal. Get on the email list at helpingsells.substack.com

uncover customer insights improv games steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights helping sells radio

Episode 14 with Steve Portigal

Aurelius Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2017 58:44

Aurelius podcast episode 14 with Steve Portigal Full show notes here: https://goo.gl/WN2NBJ - Why you should be doing [more] user research - How to convince your stakeholders that user research is important - 3 approaches to building brilliant products and features (and which one is best) - Convincing your stakeholders and leaders to do (more) user research - What is a user research process to make sure you’re learning the right things - The difference between research analysis and research synthesis

convincing aurelius steve portigal

EP38- Portigal Consulting Founder, Steve Portigal, on User Research

Product Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2017 26:28

Founder of Portigal Consulting, Steve Portigal, talks about user research, books, and how much there is to learn about people on today’s episode. Located just outside of San Francisco in Pacifica, CA, you'll find Steve's consultancy. Here, he aims to help companies harness the strategic power of user research. In this episode, Steve provides his expertise and thoughts on how to uncover compelling insights with customers. He mentions how important it is to leave your worldview at the door when you’re studying other people. Steve also explains the “art” of asking the right question and how it’s both a science and art form. Finally, you’ll hear practical product manager career advice to get you to the next level. Click the link to find out more about Steve’s most recent book Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. Use coupon code: PTCfriends for 20% off at checkout. To get more user research advice, or to connect with Steve, visit his website http://www.portigal.com/ or find him on Twitter.

founders san francisco danger doorbells pacifica user research steve portigal portigal consulting

Master The Art Of Listening

Product Mindset

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2017 35:26

In this Topical Zoom episode, I speak with Steve Portigal, Principal at Portigal Consulting to talk about the art of listening, user interviews how you should listen to users. Listening is a very important skill for people who serve other people. As product managers and user experience researchers / experts, we are in the job […]The post DYT 121: Master The Art Of Listening | Steve Portigal appeared first on .

principal master the art steve portigal dyt portigal consulting

Problem Space vs. Solution Space

Product Mindset

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2017 32:40

In this Topical Zoom episode, I speak with Steve Portigal, Principal at Portigal Consulting to talk about Problem Space vs. Solution Space, UX Muscle and more. Problem Space vs. Solution Space is a topic that every product manager or user-centric product maker comes across every now and then. There is a lot being talked about, […]The post DYT 120: Problem Space vs. Solution Space | Steve Portigal appeared first on .

space solution principal steve portigal dyt portigal consulting

Steve Portigal — User Research War Stories

Non Breaking Space Show

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2017

Steve Portigal is the founder and principal of Portigal Consulting, a boutique firm that brings together user research, design and business strategy. Steve is the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories.

interview technology design tech web danger war stories doorbells user research steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights portigal consulting

For a number of years Steve Portigal has been collecting user research war stories. The stories describe experiences researchers have had whilst doing fieldwork. Awkward, morally challenging, painful, unsuccessful. We talk to Steve about the benefits of sharing our stories – good and bad – and the ethically challenging situations that field research can place... The post #149 War Stories with Steve Portigal appeared first on UX Podcast.

strategy design digital web seo awkward user ux interaction war stories steve portigal ux podcast

Stories from the field: An interview with Steve Portigal

UXpod - User Experience Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2016 49:09

Ethnographic researchers share their experiences in Steve's new book, "Doorbells, Danger and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories."

stories field danger doorbells ethnographic steve portigal

Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: A Chat with Steve Portigal

danger doorbells dead batteries steve portigal

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2016 26:10

A couple of researchers walk into a bar. After a few drinks, they fess up their most embarrassing tales of research gone wrong. In this podcast, Steve Portigal talks about how that one night at the bar (and cat pee) sparked the idea for his book Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Learn why Steve believes in the value of failure stories, and how he convinced a skeptical Lou to publish the book. Follow Steve Portigal on Twitter: https://twitter.com/steveportigal Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

Steve Portigal on active listening & leaving your world view at the door

Getting2Alpha

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2016 33:18

Steve Portigal a world-class expert in customer research, and the author of Interviewing Users, a practical handbook oh how to get the most value from customer interviews. In this podcast, Steve pulls back the curtain on his professional journey and shares powerful insights about who to talk with - and what to listen for - when you’re interviewing users.

leaving worldview active listening steve portigal interviewing users

Steve Portigal on the Art of Interviewing Users

Yours Productly

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2015 69:38

Steve Portigal in this interview shares insights from his very popular book Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. For all our listeners, there is a 20% discount on purchasing a copy of Steve’s book if you purchase through Rosenfeldmedia.com. Here's the link: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users

users steve portigal interviewing users uncover compelling insights

#112 Brain food with Steve Portigal, Pete Trainor & Anjan Chatterjee

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2015

Our first of two shows featuring interviews from Interact London 2015 has a bit of a brain-related theme to it. We talk to Steve Portigal about mindfulness, self-insight and presence and how these impact on your work as a designer.

brain food trainor steve portigal anjan chatterjee

Insight at Scale: Steve Portigal and Lou Rosenfeld discuss user research in the enterprise

The eLearning Coach Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2015 15:46

Steve and Lou dig into the challenges of learning about people who engage with enterprises—how to gather data, and how to synthesize that data to get to something like true insight. Insight at Scale is a major theme at the upcoming Enterprise UX 2015 conference (San Antonio, May 13-15), where Steve will dig deeper into the subject along with Kelly Goto, Christian Rohrer, and Chris Chapo.

scale san antonio enterprise user research steve portigal lou rosenfeld enterprise ux kelly goto

ELC 013: Best Practices For Interviewing Your Audience

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2013 42:13

Improve your designs by interviewing your learners and users. Steve Portigal shares best practices.

audience best practices el c steve portigal

Interviewing Users

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2013 32:06

33voices interviews Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users.

users steve portigal interviewing users

Steve Portigal’s “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights”

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2013 17:12

Steve’s book is a distillation of his years of experience conducting research with users. Somehow existing as both a handbook of sorts and as a casual conversation with one of the sharpest minds in the field, it’s a must-have for anyone thinking about the research side of things. Steve breaks down interactions with users to illustrate when, and how, to ask the right questions to uncover valuable insights.

users steve portigal uncover compelling insights

Steve Portigal’s “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights”

UIE Book Corner

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2013 17:12

users steve portigal uncover compelling insights

Episode 16: James and Per have done all this research

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2012

It’s the end of day 2 here at UXLx and that means that we’ve finished the workshop part of the conference. This afternoons workshops were We’ve done all this research, now what? with Steve Portigal and Accessibillity for UX Designers with Derek Featherstone. (Listening time: 13 minutes)

research ux designers steve portigal derek featherstone

Steve Portigal - Immersive Field Research Techniques

immersive conducting field research steve portigal

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2011 36:45

You can’t ask people what they want. They can’t tell you. The answer is almost always narrow in focus, concerned with the here and now rather than the future. How do you get them to give you the observations you need to design what they will want? Conducting field research to actually learn about your users can lead to innovative new ideas. Steve knows that going out into the field provides real opportunities to see what the world surrounding your product is like.

User research interviews: An interview with Steve Portigal

UXpod - User Experience Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2011 43:02

Gerry Gaffney interviews Steve Portigal about conducting interviews for user research. For a transcript of this and other episodes, visit www.uxpod.com.

user research steve portigal

Steve Portigal - You’ve Done All This Research... Now What?

research conducting steve portigal

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2011 23:44

Conducting research and gathering data are crucial parts in the process of creating great design. But once you have all of the data, what do you do with it? How do you know you’re extracting the right conclusions and not leaving anything important on the table? Steve Portigal discusses the methods of synthesis and ideation to approach this crucial next step.

Steve Portigal’s Deep Dive Interviewing Tips Revisited