Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Looking Back…to Look Ahead

Gold
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Share the love for this talk
Looking Back…to Look Ahead
Speakers: Steve Portigal
Link:

Summary

Over the past 25 years, Steve Portigal has seen tremendous growth in user research as a community of practice, as an industry, and as a career. Steve will look at some of the changes that he’s experienced and observed—positive, negative, or otherwise. He’ll share some of the potentially overlooked opportunities to advance our field, issues that demand our limited attention and concern. He’ll also share his perspective on the directions we can drive towards.

Key Insights

  • User research has roots back to Edison’s in-home researchers analyzing fuel consumption.

  • Time and motion studies in the early 20th century treated people like machines but laid groundwork for usability concepts.

  • Louis Cheskin’s 1940s experiments revealed how packaging shapes consumer perception, not just products themselves.

  • Xerox PARC in 1969 was pivotal for user interface design, inspiring Apple’s GUI innovations.

  • Interval Research (1982), founded by Paul Allen, linked research to startup incubation but mostly influenced culturally.

  • Kate Tassie coined PWDR in 2018 to distinguish trained researchers from those who simply do research, adding clarity to role definitions.

  • Corporate research often aligns researcher incentives with company success, shifting researcher focus compared to consultants motivated solely by integrity.

  • Transcription technology now equals human error rates, but the imperfect 'good enough' acceptance risks degrading research quality.

  • The evolution of tools—from cultural probes and disposable cameras to AI-driven platforms—shapes how research is conducted, for better or worse.

  • Emerging future scenarios warn of AI replacing UI researchers, variable corporate control of user experiences, and potential for user research as a shared public good.

Notable Quotes

"Historians say the past doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes."

"We all stand on the shoulders of giants."

"People in organizations are already, to some extent, out there talking to users."

"Research is complex because we use the term to mean anything and everything."

"The in-house researcher has some elements of the client and stakeholder roles."

"The curse of good enough is a real trap that we’re grappling with."

"Paper prototyping was the original scrappy; low fidelity tools produce different responses than high fidelity."

"Corporate capture of research has brought amazing good things but changed the truth to power role."

"Remote research is the default now, but we’ve lost access to rich in-person context."

"The future of user research is not one future but many futures to consider."

Ask the Rosenbot
Catt Small
What's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Bria Alexander
Charting the future of DesignOps: A community workshop
2024 • DesignOps Community
Shan Shen
Translating UX Terms into Business Contexts
2023 • Design in Product 2023
Gold
Paul Ford
New work, new words: A glossary for AI
2026 • Designing with AI 2026
Conference
Andreas Huebner
What Is It Like To Be Part of The UX Team at Compass?
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Josh Clark
Sentient Design: Crafting Intelligent Interfaces with AI
2026 • Designing with AI 2026
Conference
Verónica Urzúa
The B-side of the Research Impact
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Heidi Trost
To Protect People, You Have to Protect Information: A Human-Centered Design Approach to Cybersecurity
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Jess Greco
Claiming your power: Practical tools for amplifying your unique voice
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Frances Yllana
D.E.A.R.R. Diaries (Discipline, Experience, Architecture, Reflection + Revolution)
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Ned Dwyer
The Future of DesignOps is Tool Consolidation
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Sam Proulx
Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
JP Allen
Navigating the UX Tool Landscape
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Prayag Narula
Dialing for Research: How to Reach the Unreachable
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Kristin Skinner
Group Activity: A Deep Dive Into Value and Outcomes
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Amy Parness
Scaling Sustainability: Complementary strategies that drive long-term success
2025 • Climate UX Interest Group

More Videos

Joi Freeman

"For every 10 men promoted from entry to middle management, only 7.2 women are promoted—showing the broken rung problem."

Joi Freeman

A New Vantage Point: Building a Pipeline for Multifaceted Research(ers)

March 30, 2020

Jack Moffett

"UX is more than UI; it's the entire product, including marketing, documentation, and architecture."

Jack Moffett

UX Metrics That Matter and The Future of our Design at Scale Conference: A Community Conversation

September 22, 2022

Sara Logel

"If the scale delivers bad news, we jump on and off to check; if it delivers good news, we accept it quickly."

Sara Logel

Your Colleagues are Your Users Too

March 29, 2023

Theresa Neil

"Experts develop insights by isolating patterns and data; as designers, we already do this daily."

Theresa Neil

Designing for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare

May 22, 2024

Christian Madsbjerg

"Managing up assumes research is below something, but I see advising as partnerships and equals."

Christian Madsbjerg

Influencing Strategy

March 31, 2020

Alla Weinberg

"Our nervous system does not know the difference between a tiger and an angry email from a manager—it just senses danger."

Alla Weinberg

Design Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It

September 8, 2022

Amahra Spence

"Hip hop is a social critique born from necessity, and what if its musicality could inform the built environment’s future?"

Amahra Spence

Designing for Liberation, Rehearsing Freedom

November 18, 2022

Josh Clark

"Sentient design is about intelligent interfaces that are aware of context and intent so they can be radically adaptive to user needs in the moment."

Josh Clark Veronika Kindred

Sentient Design: New Postures for AI-Mediated Experiences (2nd of 3 seminars)

January 29, 2025

Anna Nguyen

"Making our voice of the customer stories really fun and engaging is important because sometimes feedback is frustrating, and this helps keep it relatable."

Anna Nguyen Emily Brogan

Why Our Voice of the Customer is Better Than Yours

March 10, 2022