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.

1. 1
User Research War Stories
Steve Portigal
@steveportigal

2. 2
It’s All Going To Burn

3. Click to edit Master title style
Sameer Chavan
Connecting Through War Stories

4. 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

5. Click to edit Master title style
www.portigal.com/
category/series/
warstories

6. 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/

7. Click to edit Master title style
Survivorship Bias

8. 8
To Live Outside
The Law…
…You Must
Be Honest

9. 9
and the Banana Thief
Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com
The Researcher
Lena Blackstock

10. 10
Andrew Muir Wood
Alejandro Escamilla

11. 11
Facing Ethical Challenges
Identify where your obligations lie
Ethics are a conversation, not a specification
Build a support network

12. 12
Can’t Stop The Feeling

13. 13
A Sigh Is Just a Sigh
Susan Simon Daniels
"Sigh" (CC BY-ND 2.0) by TMAB2003

14. 14
Coping with Emotions in the Field
You can’t choose how you feel, but you
do choose how to act
Listening is supporting
Emotion isn’t a bad thing
Prepare to be triggered

15. 15
Coping with Emotions in the Field
Give your emotions an opportunity
to surface
We meet people wherever they are at
Your research objective is not how your
participant thinks about the interview

16. Click to edit Master title style
Judging and Learning

17. Portigal
To Research Is
To Be Human

18. Portigal

19. Portigal
Thank you!
@steveportigal
www.portigal.com