2008 Workshops

Steve Portigal

 



ABSTRACT

Did you see that? Tapping into your super-noticing power

Some of the most important data in design research comes not from what is explicitly demonstrated or stated, but instead what we ourselves notice and understand. We learn about failed designs through Post-It notes and handwritten signs. We learn about cultural norms through body language. We understand mental models through localized interfaces.

But what does it really mean to notice something? What happens before, during, and after the moment of noticing? How can we use tools like photography, sketching, blogging, and others to get better at noticing? Workshop participants will share their own examples of something noticed. Through these examples and by telling stories about our own process, we will develop some heuristics for the noticing process and some best practices for improving our own powers.

BIO:


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 themselves and their customers. In addition to regularly speaking at design and marketing events, Steve has taught Design Research at the California College of Art, the Involution Master Academy and for his corporate clients. He writes regularly for Core77 and the Portigal Consulting blog, All This ChittahChattah. Steve is an avid photographer who has a Museum of Foreign Grocery Products in his home.

 

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