Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries
User Research War Stories
User research war stories are personal accounts of the challenges researchers encounter out in the field, where mishaps are inevitable, yet incredibly instructive. Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries is a diverse compilation of war stories that range from comically bizarre to astonishingly tragic, tied together with valuable lessons from expert user researcher Steve Portigal.
User research war stories are personal accounts of the challenges researchers encounter out in the field, where mishaps are inevitable, yet incredibly instructive. Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries is a diverse compilation of war stories that range from comically bizarre to astonishingly tragic, tied together with valuable lessons from expert user researcher Steve Portigal.
Testimonials
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries is a fascinating, sometimes hilarious, and very revealing peek behind the curtain of user research. Read this book to understand the lengths to which researchers go to get the critical insights that today’s businesses desperately need
Denise Lee Yohn, author of What Great Brands Do
These behind-the-scene stories of researchers at work will enlighten and inspire you.
Scott Berkun, author of The Myths of Innovation
The stories Steve Portigal knits together here have an extraordinary and immediate intimacy, like listening in on 66 researchers’ bedtime prayers. Anne Lamott says there are essentially three kinds of prayers: help, thanks, and wow! Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries covers the whole range, with humor and wisdom.
Dan Klyn, information architect, co-founder of The Understanding Group (TUG)
I didn’t mean to read this book. But I couldn’t help it. The stories of research in the field are compelling and relatable. So many moments of recognition, along with oh-my-gosh-I’m-so-glad-that-didn’t-happen-to-me moments. These episodes tell the stories of what user research is really like.
Dana Chisnell, co-author, Handbook of Usability Testing (2nd edition)
Portigal’s collection of war stories illuminates the discipline and improvisation endemic to researching people. Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries is a fitting companion to his landmark Interviewing Users.
Gregg Bernstein, Senior User Researcher, Vox Media
This book is ethnography verité. The novice ethnographer will learn how ethnography actually works, seasoned practitioners will be visited by the ghosts of studies past, and everyone will get a good laugh.
Sam Ladner, author of Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector
Table of Contents
Foreword by Allan Chochinov
Chapter 1: The Best Laid Plans
Chapter 2: Those Exasperating Participants
Chapter 3: Control is an Illusion
Chapter 4: Cracking The Code
Chapter 5: Gross, Yet Strangely Compelling
Chapter 6: Not Safe For Work
Chapter 7: To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest
Chapter 8: The Perils of Fieldwork
Chapter 9: People Taking Care of People
Chapter 10: Can’t Stop The Feeling
Chapter 11: The Myth of Objectivity
FAQ
These common questions and their short answers are taken from Steve Portigal’s book Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. You can find longer answers to each in your copy of the book, either printed or digital version.
- What are war stories?
War stories are personal accounts of the challenges researchers have out in the eld, where mishaps inevitably occur. The term originated around 1839 and is used broadly to describe the types of stories shared across many professions and communities, not just warriors and user researchers.
