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.

1. Culture, User Research & Design
1
Steve Portigal

2. A sort of homecoming
2 @steveportigal www.portigal.com

3. Portigal Consulting is a
bite-sized California firm
that helps companies
discover and act on new
insights about their
customers and
themselves
3 @steveportigal www.portigal.com

4. Typical development lifecycle
What to Refine &
make or do prototype Launch
Iterate & improve
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5. Ethnographic insights through the development cycle
Take a fresh
look at
people
What to Refine &
make or do prototype Launch
Iterate & improve
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6. Ethnographic insights through the development cycle
Use existing
ideas as
hypotheses
What to Refine &
make or do prototype Launch
Iterate & improve
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7. Ethnographic insights through the development cycle
Is it working
like we
hoped?
What to Refine &
make or do prototype Launch
Iterate & improve
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8. Ethnographic insights through the development cycle
What to Refine &
make or do prototype Launch
History provides
context to
explore new
ideas
Iterate & improve
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9. What is culture?
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10. What is culture?
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11. Culture defined
How a group of people make sense of the world,
through common
• Experiences
• Beliefs
• Knowledge
• Values
• Attitudes
• Behaviors
• Meanings
• Patterns
• Symbols
•
•
•
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12. Cultural norms
Articulates what is normal –
Normal isn‟t “right or wrong”, it‟s
the set of background rules
that define much of what people
choose or ignore
Seen in artifacts
• Media
• Products
• Advertisements
• Street culture
• Trends and fads
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13. What is Normal?
13 Steve Portigal www.portigal.com

14. 14 Steve Portigal www.portigal.com

15. 15 Steve Portigal www.portigal.com

16. Ethnography and technology reveal 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
People who are People who are
Thinking someone is weird
too… too… or a jerk is a manifestation
of the norms of one’s
New technologies (especially those that enable society. What is weird in
one age may eventually
new, visible behaviors) are often met with distrust become normal over time.
• Society “sanctions” people who violate these norms
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17. Some cultures we care about
Inside
• Company cultures – different organizations
• Profession cultures – different ways of working
Outside
• Regional cultures – different places
• User cultures – different groups of people
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18. Company cultures
Belkin, 2011
Belkin, 1982
Belkin, 1983
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19. Company cultures
• Communication tools
• Communication preferences
• “Speed”
• Decision-making styles
• Hierarchical/flat
• Shared beliefs
• Natural language Company culture on display in an employee’s cubicle
• Internally/externally oriented
Uncover ’em. Work with ’em. Work around ’em. Change ’em.
You can’t ignore ’em, though!
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20. Company culture meets customer culture
Executives at Harley-Davidson are Clif Bar founders are passionate about outdoor activities and
also Harley riders, and spend time environmentalism. They are actively involved and encourage
with their consumers. There is no their customers to join them in their efforts, enabling people
distinction between executives, to be more active and reach their aspirations.
dealers, and consumers. They are
all part of the same group of
authentic enthusiasts.
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21. Inauthenticity dooms culture change efforts
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22. Not yet time to eat
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23. Profession cultures
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24. Profession cultures
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25. Profession cultures
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26. Regional cultures
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27. User cultures
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28. User cultures
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29. User cultures
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30. Pop culture is user culture
“Pop culture is a rich source of
information that can often be crucial for
our work. When the public begins to
compare and contrast the voting for
American Idol with voting for the
American president, that‟s something we
want to pay attention to. Dismissing this
cultural data by sniffing „I don‟t watch
American Idol‟ isn‟t a relevant response.”
Steve Portigal
Living In the Overlap
interactions, Sep+Oct 2008
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31. Pop quiz
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32. Pop quiz
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33. Pop quiz
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34. Pop quiz
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35. Pop quiz
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36. To know (about) him Is not to love him
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37. Innovation means getting beyond pain points
Understanding culture is essential if we
want to use the information we‟ve gathered
37 to do more than solve known “pain points.”
@steveportigal www.portigal.com

38. What do pain points ultimately reveal?
While we always uncover so-called pain points, the bigger
opportunity may come from understanding why – how did
we get here?
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39. Using culture (and design) to innovate
Ethnography answers more than just
• What features do people want?
• What do they like or dislike about our current service
or prototype?
• Where is the ideal button placement?
• Which version reduces error rates?
• What are the three personas to share with our
marketing team?
Ethnography uncovers cultural data
• What do they care about?
• Where are people trying to accomplish?
• What do people have in common?
• How are people making sense of their world?
Design doesn‟t just fix known problems, it
addresses cultural insights
Answers “How can we help people to…?”
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40. Cultural data from
fieldwork
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41. •
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42. Coming tomorrow!
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43. Coming in 2012!
A book by Steve Portigal
The Art and Craft of User Research Interviewing
http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-interviews/
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44. Thank you!
@steveportigal Portigal Consulting
steve@portigal.com www.portigal.com
+1-415-894-2001
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