Understanding Customers: Research, Insights, and Storytelling with Steve Portigal — DT101 E48

06/23/20 • 57 min

Steve Portigal is the Principal of Portigal Consulting and an experienced user researcher who helps companies harness the strategic power of insights. He is the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. He also wrote Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. We talk about interviewing people, customer research, and storytelling with Dawan Stanford, your podcast host.

Show Summary

Steve started out in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), in the days before the World Wide Web and before the formal idea of user experience (UX) existed. He had a brief exposure to design as a profession through an article about industrial product design, and to the idea of bringing together people from many different disciplines to collaborate and create solutions to problems via another article about a project trying to determine how best to find a way to demarcate dangerous locations, like nuclear waste sites. These ideas planted seeds leading to his interest in design. Steve graduated with his Masters in HCI, had a summer internship in Silicon Valley, and eventually found a job in an industrial design consultancy to work on what was essentially proto-UX design with their software.

At the same time, this company was exploring ideas surrounding ethnographic research and the idea of uncovering product opportunities, and Steve managed to apprentice himself with the team, where he learned about organizing and finding connections within data. He also had the opportunity to develop his initial interviewing skills, which he continued to hone as he started his own consultancy focused on user research. Steve was one of the first people in the early 90’s to develop design processes for user experience and research.

We talk about Steve’s excitement for and interest in spending more time with stakeholders within a client’s organization. He has learned why a stakeholder’s perspective is essential in relation to the success of a project. He talks about creating “learning-ready” moments, how he helps people have these moments, and how learning and sharing the journey of learning affect learning retention.

Listen in to learn:

>> How Steve and others developed the design processes in the early stages of user experience and research >> How Steve’s skills, interests, and the work he does for his clients has evolved over the years>> When Steve knows he’s found a great client>> Why he believes that learning together is when change can happen>> Why understanding stakeholders gives better results with clients>> Being able to embrace realistic expectations of what you can accomplish

Our Guest

Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher who helps companies to think and act strategically when innovating with user insights. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is principal of Portigal Consulting and the author of two books: the classic Interviewing Users: How To Uncover Compelling Insights and, Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories.

He's also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, where he interviews people who lead user research in their organizations. Steve is an accomplished presenter who speaks about culture, innovation, and design at companies and conferences across the globe.

Show Highlights

[02:09] Steve talks about his origin story and his introduction to the ideas of design and user experience. [06:15] Steve’s first job at an industrial design consultancy.[08:15] Steve’s apprenticeship with the team exploring a nascent practice in what was basically user experience. [09:58] Many companies were exploring and experimenting with these new ideas around user research in the 90s, and how that led to the development of best practices and processes around the work.[13:05] Steve’s litmus test for a new client.[13:37] How Steve’s role and work started to shift and change.[15:40] The way in which Steve sets up expectations with new clients and spending time with the stakeholders in a client’s organization.[16:20] The value in spending as much time with stakeholders as with users to gain a deep understanding of their motivations and perceptions.[19:03] Repetitive patterns and questions Steve sees with clients.[22:28] Using storytelling to help explain concepts and share information, and to help move clients through shared experiences and discussions.[24:04] Separating the value of the research from any action that may take place.[28:15] The importance of the “Why” of user research.[30:39] How Steve’s practice has evolved and the scope of his work today, now that many companies have in-house user research and design teams.[35:05] Steve’s specialized “master classes” for design team...

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Previous Episode

Learning Service Design on the Job + Leading a Design Team + Service Design Standards with Tracey Williams — DT101 E47

Tracey Williams, a Service Design Director for Absa Bank in South Africa, discusses learning service design on the job, growing design skills on her team, and building organizational service design standards with Dawan Stanford, your podcast host.

Show Summary

Tracey’s career didn’t begin in design; she started in financial services, and went through a graduate program focused on business targets and goals. She’d always had an interest in problem-solving, and while working at Absa, she got involved in numerous projects that she found new and exciting outside of her specific role. She had studied marketing, and found that much of the old-school marketing thinking aligned with some of the thinking in design spaces.

She submitted an idea to a social entrepreneurship course and was accepted. Tracey then proceeded to learn service design and design thinking as she led her team through development of the idea. Her biggest challenge during the project was using the tools of design, which were still new to her; she had to learn through doing, and through failure and then trying again. She learned that design is about looking at a problem from a different perspective.

Tracey hosted the first Absa Women Forum at the Wentworth Angels headquarters to celebrate the role of single mothers and women.

Listen in to learn:

>> How Tracey developed her design skills>> What service design skills she has learned on her job>> Why she was called a design “Padawan”>> Who Tracey is bringing onto her team for service design>> How Tracey is developing new designers at Absa>> What she wishes more people understood about her work>> How she protects her work from being devoured by the larger system >> Books Tracey used to learn service design on the job

Our Guest

Tracey is a designer with seven years of experience in financial services. She is currently a Service Design Director for the Absa Bank Design Office, where she has played a key role in establishing and demonstrating the value of Service Design. Her teams have worked across different areas of the business and engaged with several stakeholders along the way, including those in Relationship Banking, Business Banking, Card, and most recently, Home Loans.

She enjoys working with cross-functional teams to solve complex, wicked problems with solutions that address both customers' needs and meet the business objectives. Beyond the delivery of design work, she has a passion for developing young talent and worked with a colleague to start the first design graduate program at the bank focused on transforming and growing its future design leaders.

Show Highlights

[02:33] How Tracey became involved in banking projects early on in her career.[03:43] Tracey’s experiences in a social entrepreneurship course.[06:24] Tracey talks about her early challenges in working with service design.[10:30] Tracey talks about a design graduate program she co-founded with a colleague.[12:30] Her leadership team’s work to create a skills matrix for designers.[14:21] How Tracey is developing new designers to fit the strategic objectives of the bank. [16:20] Her work to create solid service design standards for the bank.[19:10] What she wishes others understood about service design.[20:39] The concept of “go slow to go fast” and making sure pacing is comfortable and sustainable.[23:13] How Tracey is able to prevent her project being devoured by the larger system. [25:46] The short term and long term views and value of service design.[30:09] How Tracey is working to better tell service design success stories to other staff at the bank, and also to the bank’s customers.[32:25] Ways other banks can use service design.[36:27] Maintaining quality within a larger team and keeping up with service design standards.[42:29] Books and resources that have helped Tracey during her journey.

Links

Tracey on LinkedIn Absa Bank SDN Conference 2019

Book Recommendations

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, by Dan Ariely Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, by Dan Ariely Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, by Eric Ries

Next Episode

Designing Your Team + Teams in Design Education + Coaching Design Teams with Mary Sherwin and David Sherwin — DT101 E49

David and Mary Sherwin work with design teams in for-profit and nonprofit organizations via their consulting business, Ask The Sherwins, LLC. They’re also professors at the Pacific College of Art in the Design and Collaboration Program. In this episode, we go deep into designing teams, consider more effective ways to teach design and teams, and ways to make teams work when working remotely with Dawan Stanford, your podcast host.

Show Summary

David's background is in engineering and liberal arts. He graduated with an English degree, but had a side hustle doing graphic design. That’s where he discovered an interest in design. Much of his early design learning and education was accomplished by apprenticing at various design studios Then, he shifted into product and service design, and he worked in product development for some large software organizations.

Mary started in organizational development and content strategy, and then moved into teaching within the design discipline. Much of Mary's experience had been working with designers. Most of David's experience was from a designer's standpoint, working with people like Mary.

Mary and David realized that the work they were doing on their respective paths had a lot of synergy and that they each held half of the solution. They started teaching together seven years ago. Three years after that, they founded their company after students in a special graduate-level teamwork class told them they should start their own business, because this was something companies wanted their employees to learn.

Since starting Ask The Sherwins, Mary and David have discovered and developed the nuances of developing strong, well-functioning teams. From facilitating your new team at the start of the design process, to what to do when your team feels like it's falling apart, to working through cultural differences, Mary and David have robust processes for all of these team challenges. They discuss their management style, team-building exercises, and team maintenance practices on team design.

Listen in to learn

>> Why Mary and David’s ability to “professionally disagree” gives them an advantage when working with design clients>> Why their two different career paths gives two different perspectives on the design process>> About cultural biases, assumptions, and their role in design solutions>> Why Mary and David encourage students and professors to teach and learn from each other>> Advice on how to start your team>> Mary and David’s team facilitation process during their first meeting>> Team word tools to use when the team situation gets difficult>> When you should use behavioral questioning

Our Guests

David and Mary Sherwin are co-founders of Ask The Sherwins, LLC, a consulting and training firm that helps design organizations develop the capabilities they need for better product design and stronger cross-functional teamwork. They have recently coached product and service design teams and provided training around innovation best practices for organizations such as Philips Oral Healthcare, Tipping Point Community, The Purpose Project, Google UX Community and Culture, and Eventbrite. The Sherwins are also active in the design education space. They lead workshops in the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design’s Summer School and currently teach in the MFA in Collaborative Design program at PNCA. In their spare time, David and Mary have collaborated on three books, including their most recent, Turning People Into Teams.

Show Highlights

[02:15] Mary and David talk about their origin story and how they arrived where they are now in design. [04:26] How Mary’s experience in teaching played out in her design experience.[07:48] Components of a team from Mary and David’s perspective. [10:08] Prototyping for norms, teams and individual thinking.[11:08] Advice for starting a team off well.[11:46] The importance of having team members discuss their values and the behaviors they want to see in the team.[12:50] The Why’s and How’s of the Team Words card deck created by Mary and David.[16:55] How talking through values and behaviors at the beginning helps teams save time and deal with challenges and misunderstandings.[19:43] Ways a team’s “status quo” can create invisible walls and obstacles for new team members. [22: 35] What to do when everything that can go wrong with a team has gone wrong.[24:49] Habits to bring to your team to encourage connection and mutual support.[27:39] Why you should have a clear “etiquette” for your team.[28:53] How their consulting work influences what they teach.[30:38] Lessons they teach students when they deliberately break up a team.[33:56] Advice from Mary and David on how and who to hire or choose for a team. [35:35] When a design challenge as part of the interview process can be helpful.[36:18] The two go-to “silver bulle...