Steve Portigal’s book isn’t about interviews as checklists. It’s about mindset. Interviewing, in his view, is not just “talking to users.” It’s a practice. A craft. A way of learning how people really live—and how that knowledge can change the way we design.
He opens by reminding us: you are not your user. No matter how much you think you “get” them. Designers, engineers, PMs—we all live in our own bubbles. Interviewing is a tool to pop those bubbles. But only if done with humility.
This isn’t casual chatting. Good interviews aren’t just friendly conversations. They’re deliberate acts. Constructed. Practiced. Messy. You listen not just for what’s said—but what’s avoided. You watch body language. You fight your instincts to fix, to explain, to jump in.
Portigal wants us to let go of ego and enter the user’s world. Literally—go where they live, work, eat, play. Interviewing is contextual. You learn more from their cluttered kitchen than from their polished words.
And don’t expect neat answers. Real insight comes when the plan breaks. When your participant grunts through the first half hour. When they invite you into awkward, unplanned moments. Rapport isn’t a tactic—it’s the whole game.
He introduces the tipping point: the moment when a guarded Q&A turns into storytelling. That’s when the real stuff shows up. And it only happens if you stay present, stay curious, and let the weirdness happen.
You’re not just extracting needs or validating ideas. You’re reframing problems. Sometimes what users do contradicts what they say. Sometimes the thing they complain about isn’t the thing that needs fixing. Satisficing—settling for “good enough”—is everywhere. Observing it reveals more than any post-it brainstorm.
Tools help. But they’re not magic. Field guides, shot lists, NDAs—Portigal covers it all. But what matters most is your attitude. Enter with a beginner’s mind. Ditch your assumptions. Even if the answers seem obvious—ask anyway. It’s not about confirming what you know. It’s about discovering what you didn’t even think to wonder.
At the heart: this is human work. Interviews aren’t just data collection. They change people. Teams leave interviews more aligned, more empathetic. You don’t just get insight—you get transformation.
Because interviewing well doesn’t just improve products. It reshapes how organizations think about users. About design. About themselves.
This isn’t about asking better questions. It’s about becoming the kind of person who listens well enough to deserve better answers.