Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice
Diana Deibel and Rebecca Evanhoe first crossed paths on a Slack channel back in 2018, where they were seeking out colleagues who might know a thing or two about conversation design.. Fast forward to 2021, and their new book on conversation design is finished and available for preorder! Conversations with Things teaches you how to design conversations that are useful, ethical, and human-centered—because everyone deserves to be understood, especially you. In this episode, they chat with Lou about writing the book, the ethics of voice design, and more.
Integrity and Design: An Interview with Lou Rosenfeld
In this episode, Tricia Wang, the founder of Constellate Data, turns the tables on our host Lou Rosenfeld. Lou tells Tricia his own war story of a failed client project with Borders Books. They discuss the dangers of silence, the value of speaking up, and when walking away from an impossible situation can be the best thing you can do for your career.
Exploding the Notebook: How to Unlock the Power of Linked Notes (2nd of 3 seminars) (Videoconference)
People have used paper notebooks as thinking tools for over a thousand years. As a result, many popular digital note-taking tools have adapted familiar metaphors and structures from paper notebooks. But digital notes can do much more than paper. This seminar by Duly Noted author Jorge Arango shows you how to unlock your cognitive potential using connected note-taking apps.
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
Creating Insights through Analysis and Synthesis with Steve Portigal
Believe it or not, Steve Portigal’s UX research classic Interviewing Users came out ten years ago, back in 2013. A few things about user research have changed since then, to put it mildly, so we at Rosenfeld did two things: we convinced Steve to write a second edition (coming out October 17), and to join us on the Rosenfeld Review to discuss all the things that have changed.
In addition to being an author, Steve is a user researcher, consultant, and teacher. He helps companies grow their businesses, culture, and brands by interviewing users. He also helps companies build more mature in-house research practices.
Having been on both sides of the interviewing process – as both interviewer and interviewee – Steve can empathize with both roles. Over the last decade, he has seen user research evolve from a focus on consumer products to company culture and supportive technologies in the B2B space.
Effective research, in addition to data gathering, involves analysis and synthesis. Steve defines analysis as breaking bigger things into smaller things and synthesis as putting what was broken down back together into a new framework, or insight. This is where the magic of research happens. A chapter dedicated to the art of analysis and synthesis is one of the profound additions to this latest edition of his book.
What you’ll learn from this episode:
– About Interviewing Users and what’s new in the second edition
– About Steve’s work as a researcher, author, and consultant and how his work has shifted over the last decade
– Changes in the research field and why most of us are researchers to one degree or another, even if it’s not in your title or job description
– How analysis and synthesis are different and why both are needed for insights
– About the “We already knew that” response many researchers get and what it really means
Quick Reference Guide
[0:00:19] Introduction of Steve Portigal
[0:04:30] Experience on both sides of the interview process
[0:08:06] Shifts in language and jargon Steve has noted over the last decade
[0:12:13] The evolution of user research – less with consumers and more within businesses or B2B
[0:15:10] Speculation on where the leading edge of user research will be – or perhaps more importantly, who will be doing it – in another 10 years
[0:19:02] Rosenfeld Media Communities
[0:21:17] What’s new in the 2nd Edition version of Interviewing Users – analysis, synthesis, and insights
[0:28:38] “We already knew that” phenomenon that researchers often encounter
[0:32:20] Steve’s gift for listeners
The Feeling of Data (Videoconference)
The age of data is well underway. But using data to make better decisions is not as simple as one might hope. In this session, we’ll take a look at some of the challenges that arise when we fail to build better data culture and what we can do as designers to fix it.
Demystifying Multimodal Design: The Design Practice You Didn’t Know You’re Doing (Videoconference)
Did you know that you’re probably designing multimodal experiences? Most designers today are working in a multimodal environment, but haven’t been trained to make the most of the many capabilities the latest generations of devices provide. Your customers have a small universe of devices, and they now come with the ability to handle far more than traditional haptic input like keyboards and mice. Gestural input, from swipes to hand gestures in video calls to stylus input, is becoming more common. Audio input and output are becoming more important in a world where digital assistants are poised to make a second surge powered by large language model AI. Visual output has become much more nuanced, and sometimes spans multiple devices. How do you wrangle all of this, optimize for great experiences, and still keep the human at the center? By becoming more consciously aware of the different inputs and outputs we’re working with – and the many ways these inputs and outputs include and exclude our customers – we can build more resilient, more inclusive, and more powerful next-generation experiences.
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
Three Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research (Videoconference)
We know how things are at the start of 2024, and the long term future? That’s anyone’s guess. But what might the not-so-distant future look like for User Research? That’s a horizon that’s just around the corner—and one that you start planning for now. Join us for a free discussion with some UX research thought leaders who have some opinions you’ll want to hear about the near future of our profession—and bring your own! We’ll be hearing from Sam Proulx of Fable, Lija Hogan of UserTesting and Milan Mijatovic; moderated by Lou Rosenfeld.
This Talk is Sponsored by Fable, an #AR2024 Virtual Sponsor.
Climate Design Product Showcase (Videoconference)
If you’re interested in seeing the impact user experience designers can have on products tackling climate change, please join us for a free “show and tell” session. Moderated by Michael Leggett, we’ll hear from Manos Saratsis from Station A, Marissa Cui from MIT, and Rachel He from Stripe. They’ll recount the problems, their design solutions, and what they learned along the way.
