Steve’s Book Signing at Advancing Research 2024
I had a fun time signing copies of Interviewing Users, 2nd Edition, and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries, at the Advancing Research conference last week.
Posts tagged “book”
Second edition of Interviewing Users now available for pre-order
It’s been 10 years since I wrote Interviewing Users, and I’m thrilled to announce the second edition! It comes out October 17th and is available for pre-order, at a 15% discount.
In this new and updated edition of the acclaimed classic Interviewing Users, Steve Portigal quickly and effectively dispels the myth that interviewing is trivial. He shows how research studies and logistics can be used to determine concrete goals for a business and takes the reader on a detailed journey into the specifics of interviewing techniques, best practices, fieldwork, documentation, and how to make sense of uncovered data. Then Steve takes the process even further—showing the methods and details behind asking questions—from the words themselves to the interviewer’s actions and how they influence an interview. There is even a chapter on making sure that information gleaned from the research study is used by the business in such a way to make it impactful and worthwhile. Oh, and for good measure he throws in information about Research Operations.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Anyone and everyone who is interested in finding out what makes their business tick, i.e., who their users are.
- Anyone and everyone who wants to learn how to interview and listen to people.
- Anyone and everyone, including CEOs, user researchers, designers, engineers, marketers, product managers, strategists, interviewers, and you.
Bonus: read Chapter 1 here.
Japanese edition of Interviewing Users
Interviewing Users is now available in Japanese!
DDD: Link Roundup
It’s been two months since Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries was released. Here’s links to presentations, podcasts and more stuff related to the book.
The Book
- Buy from Rosenfeld Media
- Buy from Amazon
- Foreword by Allan Chochinov
- Excerpt from chapter 3
- Excerpt from chapter 11
- FAQ
- Testimonials
- Images
Reviews
Podcasts
Interviews
Presentations
Other
What’s New: Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries
My new book comes out today and Lou Rosenfeld has an enthusiastic appreciation and a bit of the back story about the book’s journey.
Read it all here
I dipped into about a dozen of the 60+ field research war stories that make up the bulk of the book. The stories do what stories are supposed to do: engage. And the contributors have been through some experiences that will make you laugh, sweat with fear and discomfort, and—let’s face it—enjoy a bit of schadenfreude. But it’s wrong to see Steve’s new book simply as a compilation of user research war stories. In Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries, Steve comes through: he delivers a broader framework that’s useful for making sense of user research—or, actually, situations with people.
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries available for pre-order
My new book comes out on December 6!
You can pre-order (with a discount) from Rosenfeld Media (or from Amazon). Also coming soon is an audiobook version! Remember, your review on Amazon really helps drive awareness.
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Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries
User Research War Stories
User research war stories are personal accounts of the challenges researchers encounter out in the field, where mishaps are inevitable yet incredibly instructive. Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries is a diverse compilation of war stories that range from comically bizarre to astonishingly tragic, tied together with valuable lessons from expert user researcher Steve Portigal.
The stories Steve Portigal knits together here have an extraordinary and immediate intimacy, like listening in on 66 researchers’ bedtime prayers. Anne Lamott says there are essentially three kinds of prayers: help, thanks, and wow! Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries covers the whole range, with humor and wisdom.
Dan Klyn, information architect, co-founder of The Understanding Group (TUG)
Out and About: Steve in Cambridge
I’ve been at Cambridge a couple of times in the past couple of months (and may be going back next week). Here’s some of the pictures from my visits.
Please do not throw coins in the water. It will negatively affect the fish.
Book sale in Harvard Square, using a Bitcoin-powered honor system for payment.
got tori amos?
Public safety.
Interviewing Users: Link Roundup
Welcome to 2016! The New Year seems a good time to post my occasionally updated roundup of links to various bits connected with Interviewing Users. Of course, if you haven’t already, you should buy a copy here! It would be fantastic if you wrote a quick review on Amazon here.
The Book
- Buy from Rosenfeld Media
- Buy from Amazon
- Foreword by Grant McCracken
- Excerpt from chapter 2
- The cover
- Acknowledgements
- FAQ
- Testimonials
- Images and diagrams
Reviews
- NEW: UX Book Reviews
- Web Designers’ Review of Books
- How To Interview Your Users And Get Useful Feedback by Garrett Moon, Founder of TodayMade
- Reviews on Goodreads
- QRCA (Qualitative Research Consultants Association) Views Magazine (PDF)
- NEW: Reviews on Amazon
- Why You Should Read ‘Interviewing Users’ by Steve Portigal
Interviews
- NEW: Yours Productly
- transcript for Ask the UXperts: Using Insights to Inform Design & Innovation
- transcript for Ask Me Anything
- Tuesday #TechHour
- UX Discovery Session
- Wise Talk
- The eLearning Coach
- UX Magazine
- UX Matters
- UIE Book Corner (audio)
- 33 voices (audio) [summary slidedeck]
- UX Booth part 1, part 2
- Business 901 (audio)
- Huffington Post
- Ethnography Matters (and in Spanish)
- Interview with Denise Lee Yohn (audio)
- The User Experience podcast with Gerry Gaffney
- Steve speaks with Jared Spool about field research
- SpoolCast: Steve Portigal’s Interviewing Tips
Presentations
- Designing for Unmet Needs talk at Warm Gun (slides, audio, sketchnotes)
- Designing the Problem keynote at Interaction South America (video, slides, audio, sketchnotes)
- Denver UX Book Club (video).
- Interviewing Users at HOW Interactive Design (slides, Vimeo, YouTube).
- IXDA Los Angeles/LA UX Meetup – slides, video, alternate video, tweetstream
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #1
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #2
- A 5-minute talk about The Power of Silence
Other
- Tweets from 32 Awesomely Practical UX Tips
- Summary by Bree Straayer-Gannon of key takeaways from Interviewing Users (and other books).
- Epic FAIL – Takeaways from the War Stories Project (slides, audio, sketchnotes)
- All our 2013 writing about Interviewing Users.
- New York book launch party
- San Francisco book launch party
- Answers to questions from readers of the Usabilla blog
- NEW: War Stories
- Susan Dray’s reflections on the impact of the War Stories
Interviewing Users: Link Roundup
It’s been well over a year since Interviewing Users came out. Below is a roundup of links to various bits connected with the book. I’ll republish this occasionally with accumulated updates. If you haven’t already, get your copy here! And if you have, it would be great if you wrote a brief review on Amazon here.
The Book
- Buy from Rosenfeld Media
- Buy from Amazon
- Foreword by Grant McCracken
- Excerpt from chapter 2
- The cover
- Acknowledgements
- FAQ
- Testimonials
- Images and diagrams
Reviews
- Web Designers’ Review of Books
- How To Interview Your Users And Get Useful Feedback by Garrett Moon, Founder of TodayMade
- Reviews on Goodreads
- QRCA (Qualitative Research Consultants Association) Views Magazine (PDF)
- New: Reviews on Amazon
- Why You Should Read ‘Interviewing Users’ by Steve Portigal
Interviews
- New: Tuesday #TechHour
- UX Discovery Session
- Wise Talk
- The eLearning Coach
- UX Magazine
- UX Matters
- UIE Book Corner (audio)
- 33 voices (audio) [summary slidedeck]
- UX Booth part 1, part 2
- Business 901 (audio)
- Huffington Post
- Ethnography Matters (and in Spanish)
- Interview with Denise Lee Yohn (audio)
- The User Experience podcast with Gerry Gaffney
- Steve speaks with Jared Spool about field research
- SpoolCast: Steve Portigal’s Interviewing Tips
Presentations
- IXDA Los Angeles/LA UX Meetup – slides, video, alternate video, tweetstream
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #1
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #2
- A 5-minute talk about The Power of Silence
Other
Interviewing Users: Link Roundup
Interviewing Users is now available. Get your copy here!
Hi! If you’ve read the book and found it beneficial, it would mean a lot if you would contribute a brief review on Amazon here.
It’s been eleven months Interviewing Users came out! Below is a roundup of links to various bits connected with the book. I’ll republish this occasionally with accumulated updates.
The Book
- Buy from Rosenfeld Media
- Buy from Amazon
- Foreword by Grant McCracken
- Excerpt from chapter 2
- The cover
- Acknowledgements
- FAQ
- Testimonials
- Images and diagrams
Reviews
- Web Designers’ Review of Books
- How To Interview Your Users And Get Useful Feedback by Garrett Moon, Founder of TodayMade
- Reviews on Goodreads
- QRCA (Qualitative Research Consultants Association) Views Magazine (PDF)
- New: Reviews on Amazon
- Why You Should Read ‘Interviewing Users’ by Steve Portigal
Interviews
- The eLearning Coach
- UX Magazine
- UX Matters
- UIE Book Corner (audio)
- 33 voices (audio) [summary slidedeck]
- UX Booth part 1, part 2
- Business 901 (audio)
- Huffington Post
- Ethnography Matters (and in Spanish)
- Interview with Denise Lee Yohn (audio)
- The User Experience podcast with Gerry Gaffney
- Steve speaks with Jared Spool about field research
- SpoolCast: Steve Portigal’s Interviewing Tips
Presentations
- IXDA Los Angeles/LA UX Meetup – slides, video, alternate video, tweetstream
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #1
- recording of O’Reilly webinar #2
- New: a 5-minute talk about The Power of Silence
Other