Another gorgeous day here in Northern California. The rain has come, and then the sun comes back. Fingers crossed for the rest of the holiday week!

• Today began early with a conversation with an industry expert who gave us a lot to think about as we prepare to head into the field next Monday AM. We’ve got a few more of those conversations lined up for the rest of the week; meanwhile we’re also in full-on logistics mode, scheduling clients to join us in the field, figuring out parking and meeting locations in different San Francisco neighborhoods, and convening a brief briefing to talk everyone through what to expect when we go in the field.
• Last week we published Sharon’s War Story. I’m not holding my breath for another one this week but it’s possible. A couple of folks are very close!
• Ten years gone: From November 2002 – How (not) to hire a marketing consultant
• What we’re consuming: The Mind of a Chef, Cloud Atlas, Point Blank, Turkey Tips from Alton Brown, The Abbot’s Cellar

Wake up, it’s Monday already! I’m still confused a week after the time changed, but it is indeed Monday.

• While we’re still reaching out to stakeholders and just beginning to connect with industry experts, our recruiter has already set up most of the field visits. It should be a busy time right after Thanksgiving.
• Last week my latest interactions article went live, and another article went through final edits. Hope to see it appear this week.
• Last week we published Jaimes and Aico’s War Story. Today we published Elysa’s story. If things work out, we should get one more this week. And of course, we’re looking for your story, too!
• Local folks, we’ll be at Larry Cornett’s Design Talk on Wednesday. Will you?
• Coming up in December, IDSA Silicon Valley will be hosting me for An Interactive Talk on Improv, Creativity and Design at the Computer History Museum.
• Ten years gone: From November 2002 – Zoloft Norms
• What we’re consuming: Craft & Commerce, Cobra Verde, Alex Jamieson’s Delicious Vitality, Josie’s Global Soul Corner

Welcome to a new week!

• It’s fascinating and challenging at the outset of a project as there’s sometimes more enthusiasm than momentum, and many parallel pieces to get rolling that move by inches instead of miles. At the bullet-point level, we’re in much the same place as we were last week except we realize we need to push our fieldwork til after Thanksgiving so we can have time to get fully immersed in the topics and build a great fieldwork method.
• I’m expecting to see publication of one, if not two, of the articles I’ve been working on lately.
• Last week we published Apala’s War Story. I think a few other people are close; I saw some outlines last week and am excited about what those will turn into.
• Ten years gone: From November 2002 – Fresh Meat at the American Girl Store
• What we’re consuming: Strangers podcast, Cartems Donuterie, Letterpress

Despite early-morning soupy fog, it turns out to be another gorgeous Monday. Here’s what we’ve got going on

• For one project, we’re working hard to both immerse ourselves in a new business area (interviewing experts, scanning the media, planning a walking tour) and charging ahead with project logistics (getting a recruiter lined up, finalizing a screener, setting up briefing meetings on fieldwork best practices, developing participant homework exercises, etc.).
• We’re looking at an innovative combinations of methods this week that we’ll be proposing to a prospective client. Wish us luck in landing the work!
• Last week we published Carla’s War Story. I’ve got a near-final draft for another in my inbox, and have been swapping email with some other folks finalizing their stories, so stay tuned for more.
• I’ll be leading a class on user research for the Industrial Design school at Academy of Art University this week.
• I’ve got a handful of lunch and coffee meetings this week to catch up with different folks, both local and visiting.
• What we’re consuming: underwater dogs, Izakaya Yuzuki, McSweeney’s Issue 41, pumpkins as many ways as possible.

Here’s the scoop for us this week

• Last week’s kickoff was most setting the stage for the project launch. Today we meet the entire team for a work session meant to build consensus, uncover existing hypotheses, and focus our investigation. It was a crucial if surprising moment in last Friday’s meeting when after a couple of months of scope and contract negotiations it became clear that our key project owners don’t have an exact specific focus for the user research and are looking to us to help focus that.
• Beyond that, we’ll be diving into writing a screener, interviewing remote stakeholders, and setting up conversations with experts and thought leaders who will inform the project.
• Last week produced three War Stories (from Elaine, Dennis and Debbie). We’d love yours, too!
• I’ve got a handful of lunch and coffee meetings this week to catch up with different folks, both local and visiting.
• Ten years gone: From October 2002 – a suspicion around DeLorean vs. Miata psychographics
• What we’re consuming: Neil Young Journeys, Looper, KONG Classic, Mitchell’s Caramel Praline ice cream.

It’s another week of gorgeous fall weather but with lots and lots and lots of coastal fog. Here’s our week

• Hail Ants! I came back into the office today after a great few days in Ottawa (the talks were very well received; the people were super engaged and had a lot of good thoughts and comments) to have Beth point out a whole lotta ants in the kitchen. A trip to the hardware store is imminent.
• We’re excited to kick off a new project on Friday and in the meantime are diving into an exhaustive briefing document the team put together for us.
• I’ll be spending another day this week focusing on edits for the book.
• I’ve got a War Story in hand to publish as soon as I can; a few more folks have told me they are working on theirs, and we had a great conversation this morning about a story that Beth is working on.
• Ten years gone: From October 2002 – Musical potty
• What we’re consuming: Suzy Q donuts, The Group of Seven, OneFortyThree – our project home (and stuff we make for it)

Hello, week, and happy Thanksgiving, Canada! This is our story for the next few days…

• The waiting is indeed the hardest part. We have an exciting new project that was supposed to start last week. We had hoped for this week. Now we’re looking at next week (at least that’s our assumption). We’re shifting our focus to other endeavors and are awaiting The Word so we can revise schedules for the next couple of months.
• Four presentations this week: Design research basics for the Wisconsin School of Business, Design Thinking for Business Class, improv and creativity at Carleton University, Muscles not Methods at Carleton University, and the closing keynote at UX Camp Ottawa, The Power of Bad Ideas. Whew.
• I’ve made some great progress on the next draft of the book, really enjoying the detailed questions and tweaks from the editors. And, we’ve got a finalized title: Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights!
• Ten years gone: From October 2002 – shuttle bus encounters, faucet innovations, cleaning a telemarketer list.
• What we’re consuming: Mozzeria, A Tree With Roots, Anki.

Happy Monday! It’s October in the Bay Area and so it’s the nicest day of the year! Here’s the scoopage.

• Awesome new team member! Say “Howdy” to Beth Toland!
• While it’s more complex than a single bullet-point can convey, our largest project is now abruptly wrapped up, ultimately done in by some daunting challenges our client encountered in setting up site visits.
• We’re waiting on the final contract to be signed before we kick off our newest project, in a totally new (to us) category. We expect this to launch Any Day Now!
• Last week’s WebVisions travel and a weekend project to finish up an editorial have meant very little progress in book chapter revising. Soon!
• We’ll be at tomorrow’s german design – shaping the future today event in San Francisco.
• Ten years gone: From October 2002 – Googlism, Steve hates CSI, translation fail.
• What we’re consuming: Songza, Philz, Allen Ruppersberg: No Time Left to Start Again.

Awesome news here today as we welcome Beth Toland to the Portigal team!

Beth is a recent transplant from New York City, where she was leading user experience for the Economist Group’s B2B global offering. In addition to research in China, she developed products for the Middle East, the UK, and the US. Before that Beth worked in hospitality and healthcare, setting up research practices at Marriott and Revolution Health. She’s still surprised to find herself here in the Bay Area, saying “Holy Cow, I’m on the west coast!” As she normalizes to her new environment, she has this topline summary: “The east coast is about survival. The west coast is about enjoyment.” She’s stoked about returning to more active, hands-on participation in the design research community.

Welcome, Beth!

Welcome to the beginning of another work week!

• I’m meeting with the editor and publisher today to talk about the book: we’re revisiting the title, and thinking about the foreward and that sort of stuff. Meanwhile, I’m hoping that somewhere I’ll find some time to dive into the editor feedback on the manuscript itself.
• We’re assembling the jury for the first phase of the IxD13 Student Design Challenge. We should get that assembled in the next week or so, but it’s looking great!
• I’m off to Chicago on Wednesday for my WebVisions presentation.
• Next week I’ll have an announcement about the Portigal team, so just some last-minute preparations to get that all ready to roll.
• What we’re consuming: Fizbo the Clown, The Melt, songs vs. performances

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