Stories make the world go round. As people who do user research, we love stories. At its simplest, our job is to gather stories and to retell them. War stories about contextual user research and the inevitable mishaps that ensue are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic, and generally astonishing. Drawing from years spent gathering war stories and his book Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries, Steve Portigal shares some of the best stories he’s collected, examining the patterns and lessons they reveal. Steve’s collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community: sharing what can go wrong in the real world. For a practice that is not always well understood or trusted, there’s pressure to only speak to the successes, but examining the human messiness of this work can help develop our skills and our community.

1. 1
Doorbells, Danger,
and Dead Batteries
User Research War Stories
Steve Portigal
@steveportigal

2. 2
It’s All Going To Burn

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Sameer Chavan
Connecting Through War Stories

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Click to edit Master title style“We’re wired for story. In a culture of scarcity and
perfectionism, there’s a surprisingly simple reason we
want to own, integrate, and share our stories of
struggle. We do this because we feel the most alive
when we’re connecting with others and being brave
with our stories.” Brené Brown, Rising Strong

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www.portigal.com/
category/series/
warstories

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Click to edit Master title styleDoorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/
Interviews with in-house user research leaders
portigal.com/podcast/
Interviewing Users
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users/

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Survivorship Bias

8. 8
Cracking
the
Code

9. 9
Footloose
David Hoard
"Typical Japanese Entryway" (CC BY
2.0) by Debs (ò‿ó)♪

10. 10
Prepare for the experience of the interview
Consider your assumption about the
environment
Be present in your surroundings
Include the rich data from the environment
Learn from your mistakes

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Control is an Illusion

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Click to edit Master title styleThey Call Me Mister
Elaine Fukuda
touchtons.wordpress.com

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It's okay to walk away
Call a timeout
Use the breaks you are given
The unexpected can reveal new truths
Improvise

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Judging and Learning

15. Portigal
To Research Is
To Be Human

16. Portigal
“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the
courage to show up and be seen when we have no
control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness;
it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
Brené Brown, Rising Strong

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Thank you!
@steveportigal
www.portigal.com