Steve Portigal is the founder of Portigal Consulting, a boutique San Francisco 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.

Amongst the customers of Portigal Consulting are prominent companies such as: France Telecom, BIC, Nestlé and EBay.

Steve writes regularly for Core77, a professional design magazine and the Portigal Consulting blog, All This ChittahChattah. Steve is an avid photographer and has a Museum of Foreign Grocery Products in his home.

He has a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and a M.Sc. in Computing and Information Science from the University of Guelph. Before he started his own business in 2001, he worked as an ethnographer at GVO, a product design and innovation consultancy.

Steve speaks about design, innovation, user research, ethnography, improvisation, creativity, interviewing techniques, ideation and global cultures. In addition to regularly speaking at design and marketing events, Steve has taught Design Research at the California College of Art and the Involution Master Academy.

Testimonials for Steve Portigal

Henry Schmidt, Director Product Design, Fisher-Price:

Steve Portigal’s workshop on ethnographic research has introduced our designers to valuable tools for understanding our global customers. He has given us new insights on how to approach ethnographic differences and how to apply that knowledge. I recommend Steve Portigal’s research experience to any company interested in driving innovation through learning about consumers.

Allan Chochinov, Editor-in-Chief, Core77:

When we were putting together the roster for Core77′s 2nd Design Innovation Conference, Steve was our first phone call. Steve made a connection with the audience that was emotional and profound. His storytelling, empathy and insight really helped the attendees see the world in a new way.

Denise Lee Yohn:

Steve’s ability to see things that others miss and to develop profound insights about people and culture make for a provocative presentation. He opened my eyes and got me thinking in new ways. I learned a lot and enjoyed his sense of humor.

Kathy Stershic, Former Research Manager, San Francisco American Marketing Association

Steve’s experience with ethnographic research, coupled with compelling real-world examples and an engaging slide show, gave us all new insights into this important branch of study and the cultures he has explored. As the Research Manager for the Chapter, I was especially glad to host a compelling program of interest to our members, as witnessed by their high satisfaction scores for the program. We highly recommend him as a speaker and ethnographer.

Luke Wroblewski, (formerly) User Experience & Design, eBay:

Steve’s overview of the importance of cultural context in product design was a much appreciated eye-opener for our global design team.

Leo Frishberg, Chair CHIFOO and Principal Architect, User Experience, Tektronix, Inc.:

Steve provided a spectacular capstone presentation to our professional speaker series. By all accounts, Steve’s presentation was considered one of the best, inspiring a great deal of discussion and comment.

Kelly Kodama, CEO, Zoe Design Associates:

Steve’s skill and experience observing and analyzing the intersection of culture, users, and design, as well as his engaging presentation style, provided our students from the Taiwan Design Center a treasure trove of useful insights into the research process.