User research - what to do when your company doesn't get it / Steve Portigal / Episode #127

Service Design Show

Everything in service design starts with user research. But as you've probably experienced often it's challenging to get the time and resources to do proper research. And when research is already being done by an organisation it's often not the type of research that we'd like to see. It can be frustrating to see that user research isn't making the difference you know it can. So what does it take to push user research beyond it's current limitations? Author and industry icon, Steve Portigal has been thinking about this topic for some time now. I invited Steve (back) on the Show to share his thinking and together explore what it takes to take user research to the next level. And also ask the question: What is that next level in the first place? Without proper user research you can't do good service design. So it's our job to make it more relevant and impactful. This episode will show you how. --- [ GUIDE ] -— 00:00 Welcome to episode 127 04:10 Who is Steve 05:00 Rapid fire question round 10:15 The need for user research maturity 14:45 Where is this coming from 19:00 What does progress look like 26:30 Opening the conversation 29:00 Who owns this 33:15 You need leadership 40:45 Being in demand 43:15 Setting up for success 45:00 Axis of maturity 48:15 Identifying opportunities 51:30 Where are we heading 57:30 Final thoughts --- [ LINKS ] --- * https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/ * https://portigal.com/podcast/ * https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users/ * https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-research-war-stories/ * https://uxdesign.cc/the-organizations-design-research-maturity-model-b631471c007c --- [ HOW TO EXPLAIN SERVICE DESIGN ] --- Learn what it takes to get your clients, colleagues, managers, CEOs and even grandmas as excited about service design as you are. https://servicedesignshow.com/free-course