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Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries

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User Research War Stories

By Steve Portigal

Published: December 2016
Paperback: 248 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-1933820-34-7
Ebook ISBN: 978-1933820-50-7

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.

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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.

  1. 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.

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