User Research in Product Development | Steve Portigal | #27

Steve Portigal, a user research consultant, trainer, and author, discusses user research challenges, techniques, and trends. For over 20 years, Steve has worked with organizations to help them gain insights into their users’ behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes, to design and build products that delight and succeed. Takeaways * User research helps make informed product management and development decisions by understanding user behaviors, attitudes, and needs. * Mature user research practices involve skilled researchers, infrastructure, and effective documentation and socialization of research findings. * Collaborating with organizations and addressing their specific questions and concerns can promote the value of user research. * Starting with small, impactful research projects can demonstrate the benefits of user research. * User research techniques include watching people, asking questions, and asking people to try things. * Combining qualitative and quantitative methods can provide a more comprehensive understanding of user needs and behaviors. * Collaboration between qualitative and quantitative researchers is essential for a holistic understanding of users. * Getting buy-in and recognition for research findings can be a challenge, but research leaders can advocate for the value of research. * Conflicts between stakeholders' expectations and user insights can be resolved by presenting research as a starting point for discussion and design opportunities. Check out Steve Portigal’s book by following this link: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/ Use my discount code VitLyoshin to get a discount. This code works only 30 days after this episode is released. Connect with Steve * Website: https://portigal.com/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ Sponsors * Webflow - Create custom, responsive websites without coding: https://try.webflow.com/0lse98neclhe Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 04:02 Building Mature User Research Practices 07:40 Convincing Organizations to Invest in User Research 13:21 Techniques for User Research 19:47 Choosing the Right User Research Methods for Specific Problems 26:09 Balancing Qualitative and Quantitative Results in User Research 30:35 Challenges in User Research 36:33 Resolving Conflicts in User Research 43:00 Trends in User Research 49:01 Remote and In-Person Research 53:30 AI in User Research 57:22 Advice from Steve Podcast Links * Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/vit-lyoshin-podcast/ * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xKXhi4PLhFSA35w4rtOEG * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vit-lyoshin-podcast/id1731487628 * RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/ec92d974/podcast/rss * Other Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcj05lS8NH_MxOOTaHq_u6cec6IA_b3dl Social Media Links * Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/contact/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/ * X: https://twitter.com/vitlyoshin * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vit.lyoshin.podcast * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vit.lyoshin.podcast * Threads: https://www.threads.net/@vit.lyoshin.podcast * TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vit.lyoshin.podcast * Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/VitLyoshin * Support on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/WMLTMRAUM7CXJ * Support on Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/vit-lyoshin Please subscribe, leave an honest review, and share with people you think will benefit from hearing this information.