The Evolution of User Research with Steve Portigal

Author, researcher, speaker, and frequent Rosenfeld Review guest Steve Portigal joins Lou for a chat on the state of the user research industry – where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re headed. If the field of research was once a lonely desert, today it’s a jungle. It was once a field where researchers could get lost and forgotten. Today, the field is teaming with life—so much so that you could get eaten alive.

Gleaning lessons from the past, Steve doesn’t want us to forget the desert. But he has no desire to return there.

In his chat with Lou, they look back, and they look ahead. They discuss shifts in community and networking, and how research agencies are being replaced by in-house research teams. Finally, the two discuss Steve’s role in the upcoming, in-person Advancing Research conference in Queens, New York.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
How the world of user research has evolved over the last 25 years from a widely-respected industry expert
How the research industry has shifted from agency-based work to in-sourcing
About Steve’s work, career, and books
About the upcoming, in-person Advancing Research Conference
About Steve’s role in past Advancing Research Conferences

Quick Reference Guide:
[0:00:29] Introduction of Steve
[0:02:50] “Dog fooding”, preparation, and collaboration that happens before conferences
[0:09:30] Comparing the user research field and community now to how it was 25 years ago.
[0:16:22] The evolution of networking, connections, and community
[0:23:09] Shifts and pivots Steve has seen over the last 25 years in the user research field
[0:30:32] Writing it down and moving on
[0:35:13] Plug for Advancing Research Conference, including Steve’s role
[0:36:27] Steve’s gift for listeners

Decoding Culture: A Lens for Research Breakthroughs with Neil Barrie

In the latest episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lou sits down with Neil Barrie, the co-founder and CEO of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, to delve into the intriguing intersection of brand building, culture, and user experience research. Neil, an outsider in the realm of user research, brings a fresh perspective from the world of brand research; you can hear more from him at the Advancing Research 2024 conference in New York City, March 25-26.

Neil emphasizes the need for researchers to adopt a cultural lens when designing product experiences. Drawing from his extensive experience working with influential brands like Airbnb, Bumble, Headspace, and others, Neil suggests that by understanding and leveraging wider cultural factors, researchers can break free from the incremental nature of product development and create more memorable, distinctive, and influential brands.

The conversation touches upon the “wind tunnel effect,” where products and services, much like cars in the 90s, risk becoming efficient but less distinctive. Neil argues that by paying attention to cultural factors and experiences, researchers can uncover breakthroughs that go beyond the interchangeable norms of the industry.

Neil’s insights highlight the transformative potential of cultural understanding in user research, offering researchers a valuable lens to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of product experiences.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
– The importance of adopting a cultural lens in user research to achieve breakthroughs
– The concept of the “wind tunnel effect” and its impact on product development
– Examples from brands like Pinterest, showcasing the power of cultural understanding in shaping user experiences
– The dialogue mapping technique for evaluating how brands communicate certain themes and how people perceive them

Quick Reference Guide:
[0:11] – Lou’s introduction of Neil Barrie
[3:03] – A discussion on the wind tunnel effect in research
[4:24] – Frameworks for understanding culture
[5:41] – Examples from Pinterest
[11:29] – Plug for Advancing Research 2024
[13:23] – The tools of a brand strategy expert
[17:18] – One challenge, multiple perspectives
[19:29] – Reconciling disconnects in research
[22:00] – The qualities needed for this type of research
[24:13] – Neil’s gift for the audience

Research in the Pluriverse

There are many innovations in “research” that push the field forward. From inclusive research, democratizing research, fast research, futures research, and VR/AR research to mixed methods, agile research, participatory research, behavioral research, AI research, systems research, and trauma-responsive research; the future of research seems to be improving. However, the vast majority of innovations in “research” work at the outer surface of “research,” leaving the Anglocentric core of “research,” along with its assumptions and views, fundamentally untouched.

Interestingly, only a tiny percentage of research is done by people we call researchers. The vast majority of research is done by people around the world in the service of their hyperlocal being and doing, their aspirations, livelihoods, survival, visions, thriving, and problem-solving.

With their inspiration, what happens when we break away from this UNIverse, this one-world world with only one center, one globalizing Westernized understanding and control of research and knowledge?

What happens when we enter a world of many centers and many understandings of knowledge and research that come from various ways of being in the world? What happens when we acknowledge and enter the pluralistic multiverse – the pluriverse? Let us explore what research in the pluriverse looks like and whether you are ready to embark on a pluriversal journey. It only requires a yes.

Communication: Innovative techniques for making your voice heard [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

Insights wither and die when they gather dust on a shelf. Join us as we workshop innovative communication practices that ensure the voice of the user is recognized and acted upon at senior levels within the organization. In this session, our speakers explore strategies that extend beyond traditional tools like presentations, readouts, and workshops. Let’s work together to make insights meaningful and actionable!

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

Industry junctures: Paths forwards for UR and the critical decisions that get us there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

There has been considerable discussion about impending reckonings and large-scale changes in our field. Our panelists will explore what we believe to be the three most important tenets of these changes:

1. The changing power dynamics between researcher and the researched
2. What it means to expand the definition of researcher to include people who do research
3. The convergence of different insight fields

Together we’ll unpack the possible futures ahead of us and the critical decisions we, as a field, need to make in order to move forward.

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

How to make UX research leadership more effective [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series] (Videoconference)

Three of your research colleagues discussed and defended their respective positions on making UX leadership more effective in this Advancing Research community workshop. Participants engaged with them in a discussion and Q&A, facilitated by Peter Merholz.

“UX Research leaders of tomorrow need to stand tall, assert themselves, and take a seat at the table because we have a purpose and companies cannot afford to make investment decisions based on intuition.” 

 – Sarah Alvarado

“Move out of your UX org.” 

 – Nalini Kotamraju

“Most organizations talk a good prioritization game but fail to actually prioritize their projects, creating the perfect opportunity for Research leadership. Developing and maintaining a stack-ranked ruthless prioritization of projects has the power to grow Research headcount and budget and elevate Research strategically while minimizing researcher overwork.”

 – Anne Mamaghani

Angry and Passionate about what AI means to Researchers

In the latest episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lou sits down with social scientist Tricia Wang, coiner of the term “thick data,” and formerly a partner at Sudden Compass. Tricia is passionate about research and AI. She envisions massively improved research outcomes and opportunities for researchers, but only if researchers take the lead in incorporating AI into their work. Rather than seeing themselves as “users” of AI tools, researchers must work as AI’s “shapers,” serving as its senior partner.

Tricia’s vision is to cease the fear-mongering surrounding the subject of AI and instead embrace the amazing opportunities for growth and better work by becoming active in the control of AI’s future.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• The truth about the potential for AI use in research and the gift that it actually is
• The difference between a “user” and a “shaper” in the digital age
• The importance of taking an active role in the development of AI in the future
• How being an asset class dehumanizes us as people

Quick Reference Guide:
[0:16] – Lou’s introduction of Tricia Wang
[2:52] – Tricia discusses our future and how we talk about AI
[3:49] – Thoughts on the narrative of fear-mongering we have in the West about AI
[5:47] – The relationship between humans and AI
[5:59] – A new framework: users vs shapers
[9:07] – The problem with taking on a passive role with a technology unlike anything we have ever seen
[11:06] – People who use AI successfully are active shapers
[15:33] – Info on Advancing Research 2024
[17:23] – How users, shapers, and AI affect the field of research
[20:42] – The existential question of what it really means to be a researcher
[31:28] – Tricia’s advice concerning using AI in research
[35:07] – Tricia’s gift for the audience
[38:34] – Tricia wants to hear from you

Taking Notes and Nurturing Your Knowledge Garden with Jorge Arango

Jorge Arango is an Information architect, author, and educator, and he’s written a new book, Duly Noted, about the age-old practice of notetaking.

If you’re like me, you’ve been taking notes since your school days. Back then, we used notebooks, a Trapper Keeper, and sticky notes – anything that could help us ace a test, remember important tidbits, and consolidate ideas. Notes are an extension of the mind. But it was always a headache to organize them, synthesize them, and recall them at the right time.

Enter the digital age – which tried to improve on the humble art of notetaking, but apps like Notes and Stickies tried to replicate digitally what we were using in the real world. Newer apps like Obsidian let go of real-world metaphors by utilizing three principles: shorter notes, connecting your notes, and nurturing your notes to build a knowledge garden that will serve you for the rest of your life.

If you bring value to the world through your thinking, you have the responsibility to look after your thinking apparatus. Duly Noted will augment, magnify, and extend your capacity to think well. Externalizing your mental processes is one of the most powerful means we have to think better. If used well, the humble note will help you be a better thinker and a more effective human.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
– A history of notetaking tools
– Why notetaking is a personal endeavor
– How digital notetaking tools have evolved
– About Jorge’s new book and how, upon reading it, you just might become a better thinker and increase your effectiveness

Quick Reference Guide
[0:00:12] Introduction of Jorge and his books
[0:01:18] Introduction of Jorge’s new book on taking notes and creating a knowledge garden, Duly Noted
[0:09:47] Books that will make you a better knowledge worker
[0:14:14] Design in Product Conference
[0:15:35] Managing knowledge with computers
[0:26:03] Knowledge as a garden
[0:28:09] On tools for nurturing a knowledge garden
[0:33:08] How Jorge uses AI with Obsidian
[0:36:37] Jorge’s gift for listeners

AI: Passionate defenses and reasoned critique [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

AI adoption is rapidly accelerating in the insights space, and researchers are rushing to explore the possibilities and pitfalls it presents. Without a doubt, it will change the nature of our work, but where do we stand now? Our panelists will examine passionate defenses for the value of AI, offer reasoned critiques, discuss practical applications, and discuss how we can collectively move forward in an ethical and human-centered manner.

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

Radical Participatory Research: Decolonizing Participatory Processes

Have you ever been a part of a participatory research process or the use of a participatory method only to find that it fell short of any real shift of power dynamics? Have you ever compared notes with another participatory design researcher only to find out their definition of participatory research and design is different than your own? Have you faced opposition from your organization in practicing research in a more participatory way? What does research even mean, what is its purpose, and how does research change from community to community, context to context? Based on that, what are the future possibilities of research?

Come, join the conversation, and see what Victor Udoewa has to say about such experiences, the different definitions of participatory research and how participatory research can actually be used to reinforce hierarchies. One way he has found to dismantle that system is to practice radical participatory research. He will share what that means, how it looks, and how you can begin moving in that direction along with a direct challenge to our community of researchers in regards to our own power.