Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve Portigal. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Steve Portigal
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Управление, подбор персонала
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781933820507
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      DOORBELLS, DANGER, AND DEAD BATTERIES

      USER RESEARCH WAR STORIES

      Steve Portigal

       Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries

       User Research War Stories

      By Steve Portigal

      Rosenfeld Media, LLC

      457 Third Street, #4R

      Brooklyn, New York

      11215 USA

      On the Web: www.rosenfeldmedia.com

      Please send errors to: [email protected]

      Publisher: Louis Rosenfeld

      Managing Editor: Marta Justak

      Interior Layout Tech: Danielle Foster

      Cover Design: The Heads of State

      Indexer: Marilyn Augst

      Proofreader: Sue Boshers

      © 2016 Steve Portigal

      All Rights Reserved

      ISBN: 1-933820-34-9

      ISBN-13: 978-1-933820-34-7

      LCCN: 2016955132

      Printed and bound in the United States of America

       This book is dedicated to Anne, Sharna, Cheryl, Bruce, Talia, and Arianna who fill my life with a bounty of story-worthy experiences.

      HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

       Who Should Read This Book?

      The stories in this book will appeal broadly, but the lessons these stories offer are most valuable to people in the world of product development who spend time talking to users. Researchers, designers, product managers, software developers, marketers and beyond—anyone who is learning from people in order to do a better job at creating a thing should read this book. While someone with more experience interviewing users will likely see more connections to their own experience, the lessons here for doing better research are valuable to anyone who does—or will do—user research.

       What’s in This Book?

      Each chapter deals with one challenging aspect of user research. A chapter begins with an overview of the topic and is then illustrated by several different war stories by different authors. The chapter concludes with a list of takeaways that show you how to apply the lessons of the stories to your own user research practice.

       What Comes with This Book?

      This book’s companion website (

http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/) contains a blog and additional content. The book’s photos are available under a Creative Commons license (when possible) for you to download and include in your own presentations. You can find these on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/sets/.

      FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

       What are war stories?

      War stories are personal accounts of the challenges researchers have out in the field, 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.

       Why is this book about user research that went wrong?

      There is a lot of material about the right way to do user research. But, in reality, sometimes things do go wrong (or to be precise, differently than intended). There’s a lot to be learned from what actually happens, warts-and-all. With this insight, you might be able to prevent something unwanted from happening in the future, or at least have a better way of dealing with it the next time it comes up.

       Should I read this book in one sitting?

      While there are a lot of stories here, they are mostly pretty short, so you could binge-read them if you chose, but it’s probably better to take it one chapter at a time. This gives you the opportunity to digest and reflect before diving in again.

       Are there more stories?

      Yes. The original archive is at www.portigal.com/category/series/warstories, and it includes stories that aren’t in this book. As people contribute new stories, they’ll be posted at that link, and at this book’s companion website (

http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/).

       Can I submit my own story?

      Yes, please! You can email story pitches to [email protected]. Remember, these are stories about fieldwork (not about focus groups or usability tests). These stories are not about your research findings, but rather the kind of experiences that you have. Stories don’t need to include company or client names.

      CONTENTS

       How to Use This Book

       Frequently Asked Questions

       Foreword

       Introduction

       CHAPTER 1

       The Best Laid Plans

       Julia Thompson: For Want of a Shoe

       Alicia Dornadic: Don’t Hate on a Tinkler

       Dan Szuc: Shanghai Surprise

       Sean Ryan: Pockets Full of Cash

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