The Informed Life

Steve Portigal on Writing, part 1

Dec 3, 2023

Steve Portigal, a user research consultant and author, discusses the motivations for writing and the challenges of creating a second edition. They explore the evolution of brands, the responsibilities of working on projects with rich histories, and the process of content production and teaching for books. They also provide information on finding the speaker online, book sales, and preordering their new book.

39:03

Episode guests

Steve Portigal

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Quick takeaways

Writing books allows for the permanence and curation of ideas, validating important concepts over time.

Teaching workshops and receiving feedback helps refine and validate ideas before formalizing them in a book.

Deep dives

Motivation for Writing

In this podcast episode, the host, Jorge, interviews guest Steve Porterman, an independent user research consultant and author. They discuss the motivations behind writing books, particularly in the design space. Steve shares his personal journey of becoming an author and how it was influenced by his peers and his own aspirations. They reflect on the value of books in the digital age and the cultural significance they hold. Steve also talks about the process of deciding to write a second edition of his book, Interviewing Users, after 10 years, and how he identified new topics to add based on his experiences and teachings.

Introduction

3min

From Fieldwork to First Books

23min

Evolution of Brands and the Challenge of Expanding Ideas

3min

Reflections on the Decision to Create a Second Edition

2min

Content Production and Teaching

5min

Online presence, book sale, and new book preorder

2min

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve was previously on the show last year, talking about research skills. This conversation is a bit different: both of us have written new books, and we thought it’d be fun to compare notes about the process. We decided to split our conversation into two parts. This episode focuses on the motivations for writing, and the second part will focus on processes.

Show Notes