Cross-cultural Research: Adventures in a Parallel Universe
Wednesday, August 16, 11:45-12:30 PM
by Steve Portigal
Effective user research requires both observation and interviewing. When doing research we strive to get outside our own default expectations and perceptions, in order to better see the details of what we're looking at, in other words, to understand the cultural context. This third component is the most crucial to innovation. Interesting things happen when we leave our homes and our comfort zone, perhaps in another country where business, language, food, and more is beyond our own frames of reference. Steve will offer expert tips in both observation and interviewing, and consider the challenges and opportunities in conducting research abroad.
About Steve Portigal
Steve Portigal is the founder of Portigal Consulting, a boutique firm that brings together user research, design and business strategy. Portigal Consulting helps clients to discover and act on new insights about how their customers work, play, shop, entertain, eat, and live their lives around products and services. Steve has worked with a wide range of companies including Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Nestle, France Telecom, Bosch, Chevron, Shure, WNBA, SC Johnson, and General Mills.
In addition to regularly speaking at design and marketing events, Steve teaches Design Research Methods at the California College of Art. Steve is also known for his writing, especially FreshMeat, a semi-regular email column about the relationships between business, culture, technology, products, and consumers. He is an avid photographer who has a Museum of Foreign Grocery Products in his home