In the spring I spoke at the Awwwards conference in San Francisco. I gave a new talk “Great User Research For Non-Researchers.” The 25-minute video is here, and embedded below. Enjoy!
I was interviewed by Matthew Oliphant about all things research for “We Can Do Better: A Show About Experience Design”. It’s a loose and somewhat wide-ranging conversation. Check it out below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2uSCTcen4c
While I was in Poland last year I was interviewed by Tomasz Skórski about the state of UX and user research.
The audio and video from our conversation is embedded above, available on YouTube here, or on the episode page.
I was interviewed by dscout for their People Nerds blog. Check out Finding the ‘Aha!’ Moment
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Expert user researcher Steve Portigal breaks down why thinking about bias and mistakes is the key to joyful discovery.
Steve Portigal says being a researcher allows him to do things he would never do as his “civilian self.” A self-proclaimed introvert, Portigal recalls the kind of uncanny magic of going to dinner with a friend who’s particularly extroverted. “We joke about all of the service experiences and interactions it unlocks,” he says.
The structure of research work, Portigal says, allows him to have those kinds of interactions, the ones he’d normally feel locked out of in everyday life. It’s why he posits introverts are so common in the research field.
“Introversion’s not about shyness or dislike of people,” Portigal says. “It’s about energy. One of the coping mechanisms for introversion is to play a role. And in a research situation, there’s that kind of structure to talk to strangers and ask them questions and learn about them, and do all of the things you’d never be able to do as your civilian self.”
In case you missed it, Dollars to Donuts, the podcast where I talk to people who lead user research in their organizations, is back with new episodes! So far, I’ve spoken with Leanne Waldal, Marianne Berkovich, and Tomer Sharon. And there are more to come! Check out the podcasts on portigal.com, iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify
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I’m teaching a full-day workshop on Fundamentals of Interviewing Users in New York City on May 20. Indi Young is teaching a workshop the next day. You can register for one or the other or both. It’s part of a series of workshops that also includes Dave Malouf, Kate Rutter, Nathan Curtis, Steve Krug. Spread the word!
Big news! The Dollars to Donuts podcast is back. Check out my brand new episode, a fascinating conversation with Leanne Waldal, Senior Director of Product Research at New Relic.
If you don’t know, in this podcast I talk to people who lead user research in their organization.
You can get Dollars to Donuts in a few places, including
Last year I gave the closing keynote The Designer is Present at NUX7 in Manchester. The video is here, and embedded below, and the slides are here, and embedded below.
While I was in Manchester last year I had a very enjoyable and friendly conversation with Bex and Jonny, the hosts of Tech for Good Live. We talked about the role of the user researcher, the increasingly blurry line between design and research, design ethics, and my favorite stories from user researchers out in the field.
The conversation is posted at Tech for Good Live and embedded below.
I had the pleasure of speaking recently with Chirryl-Lee Ryan about user research and more – we got into outcomes versus deliverables, tipping points for the tech industry, and a few other fun areas. The conversation is now live on This is HCD (including a transcript), and embedded below.
Chi shared her own user research war story
We didn’t have a car. We should have hired a car or we should have had a driver because we had no idea what the traffic was like in Manila. One of the team members went to catch their flight back to Australia and the taxi driver kind of kidnapped them because they didn’t have cash – all the things that you don’t think about when you’re going to do research – they happened to us on that on that particular research trip. And so you know, we got great insights and the client was just amazed but at the same time we sort of went through this wild adventure of our own on the back side of what was actually happening on the trip.