Improv is not "stand-up comedy." It is often presented series of games with rules that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. In these games we bring out quickly-understood-and-communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit. The activities of design (collaboration, creativity, and design research, for starters) have interesting similarities with improv: All have in-the-moment aspects; we learn upon reflection; there’s enormous unspoken interaction and there is often an "aha" moment. Design and improv also have important similarities: the need to collaborate and brainstorm, the importance of breakthrough thinking, the balance between process, structure, and unfettered creativity. Playing with improv can make us more mindful of the power of listening, and can be harnessed to create a more collaborative work culture, as a way to develop one’s own creativity, or to help warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions. In this interactive presentation you will learn more about improv, listening, creativity, and how they all connect together to support one another. No iguanas will be harmed.
The title of this workshop is a reference to The Artist Is Present, a performance art piece by Marina Abramovic. Marina spent months at MOMA sitting silently across from a nearly endless series of museum visitors, some of whom broke into tears.
The notion of presence is a critical idea for those of us in user experience. At the risk of sounding like Yoda, presence is tied to self-knowing. During ten years of writing, lecturing and coaching on “interviewing users”, many of the questions that Steve Portigal receives are about controlling or influencing another person’s behavior. Yet these interactions with others are really about ourselves, what’s inside us, who we are.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves — their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight!
A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them — when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this workshop, you’ll tap into a new level of personal authenticity to unlock a powerful boon. Together, we’ll explore this point of view and participate in a range of exercises to learn more about these ideas — and about ourselves.
In business and in life, we pursue the good stuff and champion people who are known for their good ideas. But when we place too strong an emphasis on just the good, we may neglect to consider the bad ones. In design and in brainstorming, deliberately seeking out bad ideas is a powerful way to unlock creativity. Generating bad ideas can reveal our assumptions about the difference between bad and good, and often seemingly bad ideas turn out to be good ones. Jotly and Cow Clicker were jokes or parodies—that is, not good ideas—that have been surprisingly successful. Neil Young and Crazy Horse have covered folk songs. An action blockbuster features a US president swinging a silver axe against vampires. In this talk, Steve will explore how opening up the bad idea valve can lead unexpectedly to the kind of success we aim for with our good ideas.
Keynote from Interact 15, London.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this interactive talk we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer, a professional, and a person.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this interactive talk we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer, a professional, and a person.
In this interactive session, we'll work together on identifying and developing the interpersonal, creative, and cognitive skill sets that are essential in innovative work cultures.
(from an event at IxDA SF with Dan Szuc and Jo Wong) Driving change is not as easy it sounds. Change is about people and is thus inherently messy. Coping with the mess means we must relate to, engage with and encourage people's thinking, feeling and acting as well as their actions. We already spend a reasonable proportion of our time influencing people we call collaborators, clients, stakeholders, bosses, customers (to name a few), although we may not always be aware we are doing it.
Together we will look at influence in work, question the language used during change and reflect on the various elements of influence that we too often fail to consider in our own aspirations. We will also look at frustrations and barriers that get in the way of the work we would prefer to be doing. Steve, Jo and Dan will lead a small exercise to help make the principles of influence more personally actionable.
Soft Skills Are Hard: A Journey To Healthier WorkSteve Portigal
From IxDA Seattle, part of a series of presentations and workshops done in collaboration with Dan Szuc. Steve speaks about the interpersonal, creative, and cognitive skill sets that are essential in innovative work cultures. Moving beyond tactical skills and overarching processes, the UX community is increasingly focusing on the role of the whole person in design and innovation. Steve describes the "muscles of innovation" that are needed for growth and success.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this workshop we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer and a professional and as a person.
The title of this workshop is a reference to The Artist Is Present, a performance art piece by Marina Abramovic. Marina spent months at MOMA sitting silently across from a nearly endless series of museum visitors, some of whom broke into tears.
The notion of presence is a critical idea for those of us in user experience. At the risk of sounding like Yoda, presence is tied to self-knowing. During ten years of writing, lecturing and coaching on “interviewing users”, many of the questions that Steve Portigal receives are about controlling or influencing another person’s behavior. Yet these interactions with others are really about ourselves, what’s inside us, who we are.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves — their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight!
A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them — when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this workshop, you’ll tap into a new level of personal authenticity to unlock a powerful boon. Together, we’ll explore this point of view and participate in a range of exercises to learn more about these ideas — and about ourselves.
In business and in life, we pursue the good stuff and champion people who are known for their good ideas. But when we place too strong an emphasis on just the good, we may neglect to consider the bad ones. In design and in brainstorming, deliberately seeking out bad ideas is a powerful way to unlock creativity. Generating bad ideas can reveal our assumptions about the difference between bad and good, and often seemingly bad ideas turn out to be good ones. Jotly and Cow Clicker were jokes or parodies—that is, not good ideas—that have been surprisingly successful. Neil Young and Crazy Horse have covered folk songs. An action blockbuster features a US president swinging a silver axe against vampires. In this talk, Steve will explore how opening up the bad idea valve can lead unexpectedly to the kind of success we aim for with our good ideas.
Keynote from Interact 15, London.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this interactive talk we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer, a professional, and a person.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this interactive talk we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer, a professional, and a person.
In this interactive session, we'll work together on identifying and developing the interpersonal, creative, and cognitive skill sets that are essential in innovative work cultures.
(from an event at IxDA SF with Dan Szuc and Jo Wong) Driving change is not as easy it sounds. Change is about people and is thus inherently messy. Coping with the mess means we must relate to, engage with and encourage people's thinking, feeling and acting as well as their actions. We already spend a reasonable proportion of our time influencing people we call collaborators, clients, stakeholders, bosses, customers (to name a few), although we may not always be aware we are doing it.
Together we will look at influence in work, question the language used during change and reflect on the various elements of influence that we too often fail to consider in our own aspirations. We will also look at frustrations and barriers that get in the way of the work we would prefer to be doing. Steve, Jo and Dan will lead a small exercise to help make the principles of influence more personally actionable.
Soft Skills Are Hard: A Journey To Healthier WorkSteve Portigal
From IxDA Seattle, part of a series of presentations and workshops done in collaboration with Dan Szuc. Steve speaks about the interpersonal, creative, and cognitive skill sets that are essential in innovative work cultures. Moving beyond tactical skills and overarching processes, the UX community is increasingly focusing on the role of the whole person in design and innovation. Steve describes the "muscles of innovation" that are needed for growth and success.
Therapists, as part of their education, must go through therapy themselves. They are expected to achieve a certain level of insight about themselves – their biases, their discomforts, and so on. While we are not therapists, we go out and study people without that level of self-insight! A lack of self-insight sometimes manifests itself as passion, commitment, or being driven by a mission. While those have their place, it’s easy to become blinded by what we can’t let ourselves see. Sometimes this shows up as discomfort at the micro level, when we react to something a user might tell us about themselves; sometimes it’s a macro issue, when we’re uncomfortable with people who hold different values, preferences, or beliefs than ourselves. And it crescendos as know-it-all douchebaggery, when we think our job is to tell other people what’s best for them – when phrases like “frictionless sharing” fall from our lips as naturally as “what time is dinner?”
In this workshop we will delve into the concepts of presence and mindfulness and develop an understanding of how this informs how you engage with the world around you, as a designer and a professional and as a person.
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War StoriesSteve Portigal
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 are stories about contextual user research (research out in the field) and the inevitable mishaps that ensue. These stories are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic and generally astonishing.
Steve’s collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community; to share what can go wrong, because that’s the reality. For a practice that is not always well-understood or trusted, there’s pressure for us to only speak to the successes, but examining the human messiness of this work can help develop our skills and our community.
In this presentation, drawn from years of gathering war stories and his book “Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries”, Steve will share some of the best stories, examine the patterns revealed by the stories, and articulate the different lessons revealed by this large collection of stories.
Yes, My Tuatara Loves to Cha-Cha Improv, Creativity and DesignSteve Portigal
From UX New Zealand 2015 - Improv is not ‘stand-up comedy’ but a series of games that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. During improv, we bring out quickly-understood-and-communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit.
Design and improv have important similarities. Both practices involve collaboration and brainstorming; an emphasis on breakthrough thinking; in-the-moment aspects and ‘Aha!’ moments; a balance of process, structure, and unfettered creativity; an enormous unspoken interaction; and the need to learn upon reflection.
Playing with improv can help us to be more mindful of the power of listening, to create a more collaborative work culture, to develop our own creativity, and to warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions.
In this interactive presentation, you’ll learn about improv, listening, and creativity, and how each supports the others. No tuataras will be harmed.
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha: Improv, Creativity and CollaborationSteve Portigal
Improv is not "stand-up comedy." It's a series of games with rules that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. In these games we bring out a lot of basic, quickly understood and communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit. The activities of design (collaboration, creativity, and design research, for starters) have interesting similarities with improv: All have in-the-moment aspects; we learn upon reflection; there's enormous unspoken interaction and there is often an "aha" moment. Design and improv also have important similarities: the need to collaborate and brainstorm, the importance of breakthrough thinking, the balance between process, structure, and unfettered creativity.
Playing with improv can make us more mindful of the power of listening, and can be harnessed to create a more collaborative work culture, as a way to develop one's own creativity, or to help warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions. In this interactive presentation you will learn more about improv, listening, creativity, and how they all connect together to support one another. No iguanas will be harmed.
EuroIA14 - Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We’ve long heard the lament “Well, we got this report and it just sat there. We didn’t know what to do with it.” But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative. That means that designers are increasingly involved in using contextual research to inform their design work.
Ongoing acceptance of design research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting user research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn’t immediately seem actionable. This workshop gives people the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation themselves by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
Championing Contextual Research in Your OrganizationSteve Portigal
More and more design organizations actively embrace a range of user-centered methods, including ways of getting input from users: surveys, A-B testing, focus groups, usability testing. But for many teams, when it comes to leaving the office environment and going out to meet and observe customers, there is significant resistance.
In this talk, Steve Portigal draws from his 17 years of selling contextual research into organizations, as well as primary research he's conducted with internal champions and change agents to break down the cultural, resource, and other factors that inform this resistance.
Steve will suggest ways to address these challenges and look at how you can maximize the result of every small victory, turning every fieldwork experience into an opportunity to do more!
Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We've long heard the lament "Well, we got this report and it just sat there. We didn't know what to do with it." But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative. That means that designers are increasingly involved in using contextual research to inform their design work. Ongoing acceptance of design research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting user research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn't immediately seem actionable. This workshop gives people the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation themselves by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
Some of the most effective ways of understanding what customers want or need – going out and talking to them – are surprisingly indirect. Insights produced by these methods impact two facets of innovation: first as information that informs the development of new products and services, and second as catalysts for internal change. Steve discusses methods for exploring both solutions and needs and explores how an understanding of culture (yours and your customers) can drive design and innovation.
Interviewing Users: Spinning Data Into GoldSteve Portigal
Interviewing is undeniably one of the most valuable and commonly used user research tools. Yet it's often not used well, because
* It’s based on skills we think we have (talking or even listening)
* It's not taught or reflected on, and
* People tend to "wing it" rather than develop their skills.
Results may be inaccurate or reveal nothing new, suggesting the wrong design or business responses, or they may miss the crucial nuance that points to innovative breakthrough opportunities.
In this day-long session, we'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
Yes, My tuatara loves to cha-cha: Improv, creativity and designUX New Zealand 2015
Speaker: Steve Portigal
Improv is not ‘stand-up comedy’ but a series of games that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. During improv, we bring out quickly-understood-and-communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit.
Design and improv have important similarities. Both practices involve collaboration and brainstorming; an emphasis on breakthrough thinking; in-the-moment aspects and ‘Aha!’ moments; a balance of process, structure, and unfettered creativity; an enormous unspoken interaction; and the need to learn upon reflection.
Playing with improv can help us to be more mindful of the power of listening, to create a more collaborative work culture, to develop our own creativity, and to warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions.
In this interactive presentation, you’ll learn about improv, listening, and creativity, and how each supports the others. No tuatara's will be harmed.
Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
From Bolt|Peters' User Research Friday, November 2010. Steve Portigal and Julie Norvaisas, show you how designers and researchers can work with user research data to create action for businesses. One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. As designers increasingly become involved in using contextual research to inform their design work, they may find themselves holding onto a trove of raw data but with little awareness of how to turn it into design.
The emphasis in this workshop (including a pre-work exercise in the days and weeks leading up to User Research Friday) will be on strengthening the creative link between "data" and "action." By the end, participants will have developed a range of high-level concepts that respond to a business problem and integrate a fresh, contextual understanding of that problem.
SXSW - Diving Deep: Best Practices For Interviewing UsersSteve Portigal
While we know, from a very young age, how to ask questions, the skill of getting the right information from users is surprisingly complex and nuanced. This session will focus on getting past the obvious shallow information into the deeper, more subtle, yet crucial, insights. If you are going to the effort to meet with users in order to improve your designs, it's essential that you know how to get the best information and not leave insights behind. Being great in "field work" involves understanding and accepting your interviewee's world view, and being open to what they need to tell you (in addition to what you already know you want to learn). We'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
[Slides and the accompanying audio posted at http://www.portigal.com/blog/designing-the-problem-my-keynote-from-isa14]
Too often we assume that doing research with users means checking in with them to get feedback on the solution we've already outlined. But the biggest value from research is in uncovering the crucial details of the problem that people have; the problem that we should be solving.
As the design practices mature within companies, they need to play an active role in driving the creation of new and innovative solutions to the real unmet needs that people have. In part, driving towards this maturity means looking at one's own culture and realizing the value of being open-minded and curious, not simply confident. This is a challenge to each of us personally and as leaders within our teams and communities.
I will speak about the importance of this evolution and offer some tips to help guide the changes.
[Slides and the accompanying audio posted at http://www.portigal.com/blog/designing-for-unmet-needs-my-presentation-from-warm-gun]
Don’t be surprised if Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users, invites himself to your family breakfast or follows hotel maintenance staff to the boiler room. For more than 15 years, he’s led hundreds of interviews that help clients understand customers and turn insights into design opportunities.
Steve knows that our success depends on letting the unmet needs of our audience shape our designs. Okay—but how do we hit a target we can’t see? How do we design for people who aren’t us? How do we solve for the complexity of those people?
Dig into the details, ditch the guesswork, and join Steve to engage deliberately with the people we’re designing for. Look at ways to acknowledge the complexity of your users. Offer solutions rooted in the connections you make with people. Get unstuck and discover opportunities for design that adds value.
Interviewing users is undeniably one of the most valuable user research tools. Yet, sometimes we forget that it's a skill we need to learn, because:
* It's based on skills we think we have (talking or even listening)
* It's not taught or reflected on
People tend to 'wing it' rather than develop their skills. Without good interviewing skills, insights may be inaccurate or reveal nothing new, suggest the wrong design or business responses, or miss the crucial nuance that points to opportunities for breakthrough innovation.
This talk will cover:
* Framing the research problem to have the most impact on the business
* What type of participants to recruit and how to find them
* Different methods for learning from interviewees
* Asking questions
* Listening and building rapport
* Analysing data from the field
IxDA and Thomson Reuters Student Challenge: Design the Future of News.
7 min pitch presented at the Interaction12 conference in Dublin, Feb 2. In this pitch, I proposed using physical space in different ways to access, share and understand news in a more intelligent way.
Insight Inspired Innovation: How to use research as creative fuel. Presented at the Expert Forum of CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute) 2012 in Atlanta, GA.
My submission for Interaction 12's Student Design Competition on the theme of The Future of News. My idea talks about an "actionable" form of news, in which news consumers are empowered to actually take action on the events from the news.
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War StoriesSteve Portigal
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 are stories about contextual user research (research out in the field) and the inevitable mishaps that ensue. These stories are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic and generally astonishing.
Steve’s collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community; to share what can go wrong, because that’s the reality. For a practice that is not always well-understood or trusted, there’s pressure for us to only speak to the successes, but examining the human messiness of this work can help develop our skills and our community.
In this presentation, drawn from years of gathering war stories and his book “Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries”, Steve will share some of the best stories, examine the patterns revealed by the stories, and articulate the different lessons revealed by this large collection of stories.
Yes, My Tuatara Loves to Cha-Cha Improv, Creativity and DesignSteve Portigal
From UX New Zealand 2015 - Improv is not ‘stand-up comedy’ but a series of games that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. During improv, we bring out quickly-understood-and-communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit.
Design and improv have important similarities. Both practices involve collaboration and brainstorming; an emphasis on breakthrough thinking; in-the-moment aspects and ‘Aha!’ moments; a balance of process, structure, and unfettered creativity; an enormous unspoken interaction; and the need to learn upon reflection.
Playing with improv can help us to be more mindful of the power of listening, to create a more collaborative work culture, to develop our own creativity, and to warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions.
In this interactive presentation, you’ll learn about improv, listening, and creativity, and how each supports the others. No tuataras will be harmed.
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha: Improv, Creativity and CollaborationSteve Portigal
Improv is not "stand-up comedy." It's a series of games with rules that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. In these games we bring out a lot of basic, quickly understood and communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit. The activities of design (collaboration, creativity, and design research, for starters) have interesting similarities with improv: All have in-the-moment aspects; we learn upon reflection; there's enormous unspoken interaction and there is often an "aha" moment. Design and improv also have important similarities: the need to collaborate and brainstorm, the importance of breakthrough thinking, the balance between process, structure, and unfettered creativity.
Playing with improv can make us more mindful of the power of listening, and can be harnessed to create a more collaborative work culture, as a way to develop one's own creativity, or to help warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions. In this interactive presentation you will learn more about improv, listening, creativity, and how they all connect together to support one another. No iguanas will be harmed.
EuroIA14 - Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We’ve long heard the lament “Well, we got this report and it just sat there. We didn’t know what to do with it.” But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative. That means that designers are increasingly involved in using contextual research to inform their design work.
Ongoing acceptance of design research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting user research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn’t immediately seem actionable. This workshop gives people the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation themselves by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
Championing Contextual Research in Your OrganizationSteve Portigal
More and more design organizations actively embrace a range of user-centered methods, including ways of getting input from users: surveys, A-B testing, focus groups, usability testing. But for many teams, when it comes to leaving the office environment and going out to meet and observe customers, there is significant resistance.
In this talk, Steve Portigal draws from his 17 years of selling contextual research into organizations, as well as primary research he's conducted with internal champions and change agents to break down the cultural, resource, and other factors that inform this resistance.
Steve will suggest ways to address these challenges and look at how you can maximize the result of every small victory, turning every fieldwork experience into an opportunity to do more!
Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We've long heard the lament "Well, we got this report and it just sat there. We didn't know what to do with it." But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative. That means that designers are increasingly involved in using contextual research to inform their design work. Ongoing acceptance of design research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting user research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn't immediately seem actionable. This workshop gives people the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation themselves by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
Some of the most effective ways of understanding what customers want or need – going out and talking to them – are surprisingly indirect. Insights produced by these methods impact two facets of innovation: first as information that informs the development of new products and services, and second as catalysts for internal change. Steve discusses methods for exploring both solutions and needs and explores how an understanding of culture (yours and your customers) can drive design and innovation.
Interviewing Users: Spinning Data Into GoldSteve Portigal
Interviewing is undeniably one of the most valuable and commonly used user research tools. Yet it's often not used well, because
* It’s based on skills we think we have (talking or even listening)
* It's not taught or reflected on, and
* People tend to "wing it" rather than develop their skills.
Results may be inaccurate or reveal nothing new, suggesting the wrong design or business responses, or they may miss the crucial nuance that points to innovative breakthrough opportunities.
In this day-long session, we'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
Yes, My tuatara loves to cha-cha: Improv, creativity and designUX New Zealand 2015
Speaker: Steve Portigal
Improv is not ‘stand-up comedy’ but a series of games that offer huge degrees of freedom within a set of constraints. During improv, we bring out quickly-understood-and-communicated rules of culture that are implicit, not explicit.
Design and improv have important similarities. Both practices involve collaboration and brainstorming; an emphasis on breakthrough thinking; in-the-moment aspects and ‘Aha!’ moments; a balance of process, structure, and unfettered creativity; an enormous unspoken interaction; and the need to learn upon reflection.
Playing with improv can help us to be more mindful of the power of listening, to create a more collaborative work culture, to develop our own creativity, and to warm up teammates and clients in workshops and design sessions.
In this interactive presentation, you’ll learn about improv, listening, and creativity, and how each supports the others. No tuatara's will be harmed.
Well, We've Done All This Research, Now What?Steve Portigal
From Bolt|Peters' User Research Friday, November 2010. Steve Portigal and Julie Norvaisas, show you how designers and researchers can work with user research data to create action for businesses. One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a cataloging findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. As designers increasingly become involved in using contextual research to inform their design work, they may find themselves holding onto a trove of raw data but with little awareness of how to turn it into design.
The emphasis in this workshop (including a pre-work exercise in the days and weeks leading up to User Research Friday) will be on strengthening the creative link between "data" and "action." By the end, participants will have developed a range of high-level concepts that respond to a business problem and integrate a fresh, contextual understanding of that problem.
SXSW - Diving Deep: Best Practices For Interviewing UsersSteve Portigal
While we know, from a very young age, how to ask questions, the skill of getting the right information from users is surprisingly complex and nuanced. This session will focus on getting past the obvious shallow information into the deeper, more subtle, yet crucial, insights. If you are going to the effort to meet with users in order to improve your designs, it's essential that you know how to get the best information and not leave insights behind. Being great in "field work" involves understanding and accepting your interviewee's world view, and being open to what they need to tell you (in addition to what you already know you want to learn). We'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
[Slides and the accompanying audio posted at http://www.portigal.com/blog/designing-the-problem-my-keynote-from-isa14]
Too often we assume that doing research with users means checking in with them to get feedback on the solution we've already outlined. But the biggest value from research is in uncovering the crucial details of the problem that people have; the problem that we should be solving.
As the design practices mature within companies, they need to play an active role in driving the creation of new and innovative solutions to the real unmet needs that people have. In part, driving towards this maturity means looking at one's own culture and realizing the value of being open-minded and curious, not simply confident. This is a challenge to each of us personally and as leaders within our teams and communities.
I will speak about the importance of this evolution and offer some tips to help guide the changes.
[Slides and the accompanying audio posted at http://www.portigal.com/blog/designing-for-unmet-needs-my-presentation-from-warm-gun]
Don’t be surprised if Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users, invites himself to your family breakfast or follows hotel maintenance staff to the boiler room. For more than 15 years, he’s led hundreds of interviews that help clients understand customers and turn insights into design opportunities.
Steve knows that our success depends on letting the unmet needs of our audience shape our designs. Okay—but how do we hit a target we can’t see? How do we design for people who aren’t us? How do we solve for the complexity of those people?
Dig into the details, ditch the guesswork, and join Steve to engage deliberately with the people we’re designing for. Look at ways to acknowledge the complexity of your users. Offer solutions rooted in the connections you make with people. Get unstuck and discover opportunities for design that adds value.
Interviewing users is undeniably one of the most valuable user research tools. Yet, sometimes we forget that it's a skill we need to learn, because:
* It's based on skills we think we have (talking or even listening)
* It's not taught or reflected on
People tend to 'wing it' rather than develop their skills. Without good interviewing skills, insights may be inaccurate or reveal nothing new, suggest the wrong design or business responses, or miss the crucial nuance that points to opportunities for breakthrough innovation.
This talk will cover:
* Framing the research problem to have the most impact on the business
* What type of participants to recruit and how to find them
* Different methods for learning from interviewees
* Asking questions
* Listening and building rapport
* Analysing data from the field
IxDA and Thomson Reuters Student Challenge: Design the Future of News.
7 min pitch presented at the Interaction12 conference in Dublin, Feb 2. In this pitch, I proposed using physical space in different ways to access, share and understand news in a more intelligent way.
Insight Inspired Innovation: How to use research as creative fuel. Presented at the Expert Forum of CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute) 2012 in Atlanta, GA.
My submission for Interaction 12's Student Design Competition on the theme of The Future of News. My idea talks about an "actionable" form of news, in which news consumers are empowered to actually take action on the events from the news.
I gave this presentation to an undergraduate Design Research class at the University of Kansas, taught by Julia Eschman and Tamara Christensen, in March 2011. It focuses on the importance of finding the right people to drive insights for ethnographic/design research, and addresses tactics for doing so.
Recruiting is a key part of the design research process that often does not get the attention it deserves, to the detriment of project outcomes. I invite you to share your experiences and questions, to build a dialogue about this topic!
When NOT to Follow User-Centered Design TechniquesSteve Portigal
This invited panel brings together several high-profile members of the HCI community for an exciting, if not controversial, discussion and debate. Each is well versed in the principles and best practices of user-centered design, user experience research, and design innovation. How do they respond to the emerging topic of when NOT to use conventional user-centered design techniques? Speakers: Anthony Andre, Interface Analysis Associates; Jay Elkerton, Emerson Process Management; Steve Portigal, Portigal Consulting; Cordell Ratzlaff, Cisco; Dan Saffer, Kicker Studio; Dan Rosenberg, SAP
Culture is everywhere we look, and (perhaps more importantly) everywhere we don’t look. It informs our work, our purchases, our usage, our expectations, our comfort, and our communications (indeed, if you aren’t familiar with a specific geographic and historical set of experiences, the presumably clever title for this talk will instead be perhaps bland). In this presentation, Steve will explore the ways we can experience, observe, and understand diverse cultures to foster successful collaborations, usable products, and desirable experiences.
Unfinished Business Lecture: Culture, User Research & DesignSteve Portigal
Culture is everywhere we look, and (perhaps more importantly) everywhere we don’t look. It informs our work, our purchases, our usage, our expectations, our comfort, and our communications. In this presentation, Steve will explore the ways we can experience, observe, and understand diverse cultures to foster successful collaborations, usable products, and desirable experiences.
How can you broaden your sphere of influence within the field of human-computer interaction? You can start by building your muscles! Steve will take a look at some fundamental skills that underlie the creation and launch of innovative goods and services. He will discuss the personal skills that he considers to be “the muscles of innovators” and the ways you can build these important muscles, including noticing, understanding cultural context, maintaining exposure to pop culture, synthesizing, drawing, wordsmithing, listening, and prototyping. Along the way, he will demonstrate how improving these powerful skills will equip you to lead positive change.
UX Process Improved: Integrating User InsightSteve Portigal
Finding detailed specifications for implementing user research methods is easy - but matching specific methods to your particular needs can be a challenge. We'll outline an underlying framework for research approaches so you'll understand why each method works as well as when to use it.
Tales from the Wonder Emporium: Visual and Creative Thinking in BusinessKelsey Ruger
Explore the power of Passion, Imagination, Creativity, Exploration, and Experimentation in your Organization. Visual thinking is the hallmark of creativity, and visual learners usually gravitate towards creative professions like art, design, architecture, computer programming, graphics, animation, and physics. But understanding the power of Visual and Creative Thinking can have huge impacts on your company's ability to innovate, effectively communicate with customers and remain competitive in a swiftly changing world.
To be good user experience folks, we need to crack open some psych 101 textbooks, learn what motivates people and then bake these ideas into our designs.
In business and in life, we pursue the good stuff and champion people who are known for their good ideas. But when we place too strong an emphasis on just the good, we may neglect to consider the bad ones. In design and in brainstorming, deliberately seeking out bad ideas is a powerful way to unlock creativity. Generating bad ideas can reveal our assumptions about the difference between bad and good, and often seemingly bad ideas turn out to be good ones. Jotly and Cow Clicker were jokes/parodies (e.g., not good ideas) that have been surprisingly successful. Neil Young and Crazy Horse have covered folk songs. An action blockbuster features a US president swinging a silver axe against vampires. In this talk, I explore how opening up the bad idea valve can lead unexpectedly to the kind of success we aim for with our good ideas.
This is an "about me" presentation I'm working into my blogs (jasontheodor.com and thereisnobox.ca). It is a work in progress and some items require explanation and/or context. Please feel free to ask questions.
Graphic Content Warning: The Pros, Cons, and Alternatives to ScreenshotsSteve Stegelin
Visuals are powerful and can engage an audience in ways text alone can't. In software user assistance, screenshots have been an easy go-to for visuals. But with that power comes great responsibility. In the face of localization, accessibility, and continuous deployment, screenshots may carry underestimated overhead that outweighs their contribution to the conversation with the user. Instead, consider other visuals — illustrations, infographics, simplified UI abstract representations — that may better support your message, contribute more to the conversation, and avoid some of the extra overhead. Originally given at Write the Docs Portland, 2018.
UXNZ 2015 Workshop - Steve Portigal
Projects often end with a catalogue of findings and implications, rather than a clear set of opportunities that directly enable the findings. This is one of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business today.
We’ve long heard the lament “Well, we got this report and it just sat there. We didn’t know what to do with it.” But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative, and so designers are increasingly using contextual research to inform their design work.
Ongoing acceptance of design research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting user research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore data that doesn’t immediately seem actionable (more out of frustration than anything malicious).
This workshop will give participants the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
Participants in this workshop will:
collaborate in teams to experience an effective framework for synthesizing raw field data
learn how to move from data to insights to opportunities
learn techniques for generating ideas and strategies across a broad scope of business and design concerns
develop a range of high-level concepts for responding to business problems with a fresh, contextual understanding.
The old maxim says we should “Find a need and fill it;” while at a one level that is certainly true, even in this era of fetishized disruption, organizations seem to easily fall in love with the idea of being in the problem solving business. Steve will review a number of different mindsets for creating products and services, consider their benefits and risks, and challenge you to go beyond a fixing mentality.
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a catalog of findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We’ve long heard the lament, “Well, we got this report, and it just sat there. We didn’t know what to do with it.”
Ongoing acceptance of (and demand for) user research has increased the ranks of practitioners of all stripes who feel comfortable conducting research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn’t immediately seem actionable. This session describes a process to take control over synthesis and ideation by breaking it down into a manageable framework.
In this session, you'll:
Learn how to move from data to insights to opportunities.
Get techniques for generating ideas and strategies across a broad scope of business and design concerns.
Explore how to prioritize findings and create new opportunities.
User research: Uncovering compelling insights through interviewsSteve Portigal
Interviewing users is undeniably one of the most valuable and commonly used user research tools. Yet sometimes we forget that it’s a skill we need to learn, because it’s based on skills we think we have (talking or even listening) and it’s not taught or reflected on.
In this workshop, we’ll consider how to frame the problem, when to use research in the design process, and the tactics for setting up a successful study. We will focus in detail on the interview itself, reviewing detailed techniques for listening and asking questions, then conclude with an engaging exercise to bring these best practices to life.
This workshop will show you how to:
Integrate mixed methods of research into solving a problem.
Develop increased empathy, a critical facet to meaningful interviews.
Derive useful results from interviews once you get participants to open up.
Stories make the world go round. As researchers, we love stories, and essentially it's our job to gather stories and to retell them. War Stories are stories about contextual user research and the inevitable mishaps that ensue are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic, and generally astonishing.
Steve will share some of the best stories from his book Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries, examining the patterns and lessons they reveal. For a practice that isn’t 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. Steve’s collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community—sharing what can go wrong in the real world.
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 are stories about contextual user research (research out in the field) and the inevitable mishaps that ensue. These stories are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic and generally astonishing.
In this presentation, drawn from years of gathering war stories and his book “Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries”, Steve will share some of the best stories, examine the patterns revealed by the stories, and articulate the different lessons revealed by this large collection of stories. Steve’s collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community; to share what can go wrong, because that’s the reality. For a practice that is not always well-understood or trusted, there’s pressure for us to only speak to the successes, but examining the human messiness of this work can help develop our skills and our community.
One of the most persistent factors limiting the impact of user research in business is that projects often stop with a catalog of findings and implications rather than generating opportunities that directly enable the findings. We’ve long heard the lament, “Well, we got this report, and it just sat there. We didn’t know what to do with it.”
But design research (or ethnography, or user research, or whatever the term du jour may be) has also become standard practice, as opposed to something exceptional or innovative. That means that designers are increasingly involved in using contextual research to inform their design work.
Ongoing acceptance of user research has increased the ranks of designers and others who feel comfortable conducting research. But analysis and synthesis is a more slippery skill set, and we see how easy it is for teams to ignore (more out of frustration than anything malicious) data that doesn’t immediately seem actionable. This workshop gives people the tools to take control over synthesis and ideation themselves by breaking it down into a manageable framework and process.
In this session, you'll:
Collaborate in teams to experience an effective framework for synthesizing raw field data.
Gain perspective on the difference between surface observations and deeper, interpreted insights.
Learn how to move from data to insights to opportunities.
Get techniques for generating ideas and strategies across a broad scope of business and design concerns.
Focus on individual and group analysis to create a top-line report.
Brainstorm on patterns, cluster analysis, and diagrams to rethink problems.
Prioritize findings and create new opportunities.
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.
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries (Amuse 2016)Steve Portigal
Stories make the world go round. As user researchers, we love stories. At its simplest, our job is to gather stories and to retell them. War Stories are stories about contextual user research (research out in the field) and the inevitable mishaps that ensue. These stories are in turn bizarre, comic, tragic and generally astonishing.
Steve's collection of stories fills a longstanding need for the design and research community; to share what can go wrong, because that’s the reality. For a practice that is not always well-understood or trusted, there’s pressure for us to only speak to the successes, but examining the human messiness of this work can help develop our skills and our community.
In this presentation, Steve will share some of the best stories, examine the patterns revealed by the stories, and articulate the different lessons revealed by this large collection of stories.
Interviewing users is undeniably one of the most valuable and commonly used user research tools. Yet sometimes we forget that it's a skill we need to learn, because:
● It's based on skills we think we have
● It's not taught or reflected on
People tend to 'wing it' rather than develop their skills. Without good interviewing skills, insights may be inaccurate or reveal nothing new, suggesting the wrong design or business responses, or they may miss the crucial nuance that points to innovative opportunities. Steve will share best practices for asking questions and listening and then lead a “safe” interviewing exercise.
Transforming Brand Perception and Boosting Profitabilityaaryangarg12
In today's digital era, the dynamics of brand perception, consumer behavior, and profitability have been profoundly reshaped by the synergy of branding, social media, and website design. This research paper investigates the transformative power of these elements in influencing how individuals perceive brands and products and how this transformation can be harnessed to drive sales and profitability for businesses.
Through an exploration of brand psychology and consumer behavior, this study sheds light on the intricate ways in which effective branding strategies, strategic social media engagement, and user-centric website design contribute to altering consumers' perceptions. We delve into the principles that underlie successful brand transformations, examining how visual identity, messaging, and storytelling can captivate and resonate with target audiences.
Methodologically, this research employs a comprehensive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Real-world case studies illustrate the impact of branding, social media campaigns, and website redesigns on consumer perception, sales figures, and profitability. We assess the various metrics, including brand awareness, customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue growth, to measure the effectiveness of these strategies.
The results underscore the pivotal role of cohesive branding, social media influence, and website usability in shaping positive brand perceptions, influencing consumer decisions, and ultimately bolstering sales and profitability. This paper provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations for businesses seeking to leverage branding, social media, and website design as potent tools to enhance their market position and financial success.
Expert Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Drafting ServicesResDraft
Whether you’re looking to create a guest house, a rental unit, or a private retreat, our experienced team will design a space that complements your existing home and maximizes your investment. We provide personalized, comprehensive expert accessory dwelling unit (ADU)drafting solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring a seamless process from concept to completion.
White wonder, Work developed by Eva TschoppMansi Shah
White Wonder by Eva Tschopp
A tale about our culture around the use of fertilizers and pesticides visiting small farms around Ahmedabad in Matar and Shilaj.
Hello everyone! I am thrilled to present my latest portfolio on LinkedIn, marking the culmination of my architectural journey thus far. Over the span of five years, I've been fortunate to acquire a wealth of knowledge under the guidance of esteemed professors and industry mentors. From rigorous academic pursuits to practical engagements, each experience has contributed to my growth and refinement as an architecture student. This portfolio not only showcases my projects but also underscores my attention to detail and to innovative architecture as a profession.
Between Filth and Fortune- Urban Cattle Foraging Realities by Devi S Nair, An...Mansi Shah
This study examines cattle rearing in urban and rural settings, focusing on milk production and consumption. By exploring a case in Ahmedabad, it highlights the challenges and processes in dairy farming across different environments, emphasising the need for sustainable practices and the essential role of milk in daily consumption.
Steve Portigal: Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha: Improv, Creativity and Design
1. Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha
Improv, Creativity and Collaboration
Steve Portigal
1 @steveportigal
2. Click to edit Master title style
Introduction
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
3. Today (and Master title style
Click to edit what‟s this about iguanas?)
Define and experience improv
Look at user research,
creativity, design
You will start to see overlaps,
similarities and parallels
Some implicit; some explicit
Your thoughts welcome
No iguanas will be harmed.
http://iroisaac.deviantart.com/art/Iguana-65814718
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
4. Click to edit Master title style
Portigal
We help companies discover and
act on new insights about their
customers and themselves
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
5. Founded edit Master title style
Click to
by Steve in
2001
Small
footprint
Global
influence
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#›
Portigal
Portigal
6. Click to edit Master title style
Improv: The funny will come
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
7. Improv edit Master title style
Click to is not stand-up comedy
In contrast to improv, stand-up is
Highly scripted
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha
Rehearsed, with nano-second timing
‹#› Portigal
8. Improv edit
Click to is... Master title style
A highly-constrained performance with several
open parameters
Elements of problem solving
Unscripted
Specifics assigned right before performance starts
“Your first idea is often your best idea”
Emphasis on playfulness over being funny
“I could never do that, because I‟m not funny”
It can be (at times) funny to watch, but not about trying to be funny
“The funny will come”
“Don‟t let logic impede your fancy”
Cheaper than therapy
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
9. Improv edit it way title style
Click to findsMaster into many areas
Corporate training on
collaboration and creativity
Compare with popularity of
Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain
Meeting facilitation/ideation
warm-up
At Pixar, when someone suggests an idea, others should
respond with “Yes, and ...” They‟ve used improv to create
the most trusting environment possible where people can
Informance (from Interval screw up.
Pixar tells story behind 'Toy Story„, SF Chronicle, 8/23/05
Research)
User research methods
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
10. Improv edit Master title style
Click to and collaboration
Throwing an idea
Accepting offers/saying yes
Trust
Listening
Chris Miller emphasizes that your task in improv is to
make your partner look good.
Setting up the spike
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
11. Improv edit Master
Click to can bring title style
Insights about humor
Confidence in public
speaking
Timing
Did I mention therapy?
Building skills in listening
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
14. Click to edit Master title style
Designing for users: needs and culture
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
15. User to edit Master title of user-centered design)
Click Research (as part style
Ethnographic interviews
Video ethnography
Depth-interviews
Contextual research
Home visits
Experience modeling
Design research
User-centered design
Observational research
Camera studies
User safaris
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
16. User to edit Master title of user-centered design)
Click Research (as part style
Ethnographic interviews
Video ethnography
Depth-interviews
Contextual research
Home visits
Experience modeling
Design research
User-centered design
Observational research
Camera studies
User safaris
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
17. Instead, let‟s try this non-definition
Click to edit Master title style
Examine users (consumers or other) in their own context
What are they doing?
What does it mean?
Infer (interpret/synthesize/etc.)
Find the connections
The researcher is the “apparatus”
Apply to business or design problems
Use products, services, packaging, design to tell the right story
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
18. Interviewing users title style
Click to edit Masterrequires expert listening
At this level, most people can’t do this without
extensive training and practice
Listening is more than not talking when the other
person talks
How is what you do or say next, after they finish talking, influenced
by what they just said, or have said previously?
Interviewing looks and feels like ordinary conversation – but it isn‟t!
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
19. Listening is Master title style
Click to edit in the body as well as the ears/eyes
Yes! Not so much.
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
20. Click to edit Master title style
Game: Telephone 2.0
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
21. Change and Conformity in Balance
Click to edit Master title style
“Folks pick up on the
surrounding cultures in at
least somewhat idiosyncratic
ways…Even with a world of
conformers, each conformer
thus acts differently. With
each striving to emulate the
other, there will be a never-
ending chain of adoptions
and adaptations that, as they
move throughout the
network, change the
substance.”
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
22. Consider Cultural Rules
Click to edit Master title style
New technologies (especially those that enable
new, visible behaviors) are often met with distrust
Society sanctions people who violate these norms
People assert their own normalcy by verbally
distancing themselves from the end-points of the
normal curve
We hear these stories over and over
Me
Thinking someone is
weird or a jerk is a
manifestation of the
norms of one‟s society.
Weird in one age may
eventually become
People who are People who are
normal over time.
too… too…
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
23. Consider Cultural Rules
Click to edit Master title style
Normal isn‟t “right or wrong” – it‟s the
set of background rules that define
much of what people choose or ignore
To innovate, we must understand a
world view (including norms) from our
customer‟s perspective (which is often
different than ours).
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
24. User to edit Master title style
Click research exposes us to culture
Learning about yourself and
your own culture by having an
opportunity to reflect it against
things you didn't know
Understand “social norms” – i.e., how
messy your house is
Your own reaction is data
Human beings are judging
beings
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
25. Brainstorming/ideation style
Click to edit Master titleas collaborative generation
Works best as a collective,
out-loud activity! Talk, listen,
build on each other‟s ideas
Don‟t worry about a “bad” idea… it may
lead to a “good” idea
Don‟t correct; generate
alternatives
“Yes, and…” works very well here
Individual ideas matter less
than what the collective How can a sour lemon help keep things working
smoothly?
produces overall
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
26. Bad to edit Master title style
Clickideas get you unstuck
Immoral
Dangerous
Bad for business
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
27. Bad to edit Master title style
Clickideas get you unstuck
Immoral
Dangerous
Bad for business
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
28. Click to edit Master title style
So where does this leave us?
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
29. Emerging principle: giving space to others
Click to edit Master title style
Multiple interviewers
Build on the ideas of others
Let there be silence
technique The Kids In The Hall are each hilariously talented, but
know how to keep quiet to make the scene work.
Make your best contribution
by not talking
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
30. Balance: Structure title style
Click to edit Masterfor Freedom
Have a “plan” but be in the moment
In user research interviewing, a guide is used to anticipate
the flow of the discussion, but it can go in new directions –
that‟s the a-ha moment you are looking for
In improv, the basics of the game give structure, we have a
beginning, and then we “look for the ending”
In ideation, we have a process to focus our work, but we
use that process to think divergently
Fuel creativity: extinguish I can’t do that by breaking
problems into smaller solvable ones and reframing success
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
31. Takeaway: Master title style
Click to editTry a little more “yes”
When someone teases you
(just listen to how comics go
back and forth), try
responding with yes.
Even if you don‟t add the
“and…” the act of yes can
change the dynamic.
If I ever become a New Age guru offering a spiritual path
to a happier life, this will be the way I‟ll present myself.
Gain control by giving up
control.
Try it in a situation you
wouldn‟t expect to.
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
32. Hungry edit Master
Click to for more? title style
This deck will be on slideshare
Attend an improv class
Attend an improv show
Start your own improv class
Watch improv or improv-based stuff
?
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
33. Coming in September 2012
Click to edit Master title style
A book by Steve Portigal
The Art and Craft of User Research Interviewing
http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-interviews/
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
34. Click to edit Master title style games?
Time for more
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
35. Click to edit Master title style
I find it works
for me like Yeah, I’ve
this… got a
question
for ya…
One new
thing I
learned
today is…
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› Portigal
36. Click to edit Master title style
Thank you!
Portigal Consulting @steveportigal
www.portigal.com steve@portigal.com
Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha ‹#› 415-894-2001
Portigal