Rosenverse
War Stories LIVE! Susan Simon-Daniels

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

War Stories LIVE! Susan Simon-Daniels

Gold
Monday, March 30, 2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Share the love for this talk
War Stories LIVE! Susan Simon-Daniels
Speakers: Susan Simon-Daniels
Link:

Summary

In her talk, Susie recounts a poignant experience from seven years ago when she interviewed Rick, a middle-aged government translator, during a smartphone unboxing study. Observing his sighs and frowns, she initially suspected usability problems. However, Rick revealed his emotional state stemming from recent personal losses, highlighting how external factors can influence user reactions. Susie discusses the necessity of holding space for discomfort, as Yasmin Khan described, allowing participants to share their feelings before resuming the task. The story reinforces the lesson Steve shared: to remember that humans are complex and that researchers must never assume the cause of observed behavior without asking why. Susie ties it to the classic song from Casablanca, 'A sigh is just a sigh,' underscoring fundamental truths in user research and the importance of empathy and presence. She then passes the stage to fellow researcher Randy Duke to share his own war story.

Key Insights

  • User frustration or emotion is not always caused by the product; external personal factors can influence reactions.

  • Researchers must avoid assumptions and instead ask why to truly understand participant behavior.

  • Allowing participants emotional space during user research can lead to more honest and productive sessions.

  • Small pauses in interviews to acknowledge participants as humans can improve rapport and data quality.

  • Sensitive moments in research require empathy, not rushing to fix perceived flaws.

  • Personal stories shared during usability testing can provide rich context for understanding user needs.

  • Unboxing a device is a valuable usability test that can reveal hidden issues or emotional reactions.

  • The metaphor from Casablanca—'A sigh is just a sigh'—reminds researchers to consider underlying causes beyond the obvious.

  • Operating from a mindset that users are humans first can change how researchers design and interpret studies.

  • Sharing empathy and patience can enable participants to regain focus and contribute meaningfully to research.

Notable Quotes

"As a researcher, your brain is shouting, red alert, red alert, there’s some problem I need to find out."

"His sigh was just a sigh. It was not a signal of any defect or usability issue to solve."

"We had passed through this awkward moment. I felt I had rudely probed into this open wound."

"My job was to find out why. Why was he frowning? Why was he sighing?"

"By taking a moment to pause to just let people be people, we could allow the interview to resume with some dignity and purpose."

"Steve just talked about humans being humans in a world full of humans."

"You must remember this. A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh."

"The fundamental things do apply as time goes by."

"Never assume and always ask why."

"I was ready to capture this fatal flaw that this fellow had discovered. It was so horrible it made him sigh. But it wasn’t."

Ask the Rosenbot
Nalini Kotamraju
Research After UX
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Jon Fukuda
Theme One Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Peter Van Dijck
Hands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Phil Gilbert
A Consistent Culture of Design
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Ted Booth
Discussion
2016 • Enterprise UX 2016
Gold
Carol Smith
Operationalizing Responsible, Human-Centered AI
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Llewyn Paine
Coexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Prayag Narula
How to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Theme Panel
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Neil Barrie
Widening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Sha Hwang
The Lost Year
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Prabhas Pokharel
Order and Chaos: New Ways of Collaborating on Synthesis and Storytelling
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Jeff Ephraim Bander
Eye Tracking Gamechanger: Why Smartphone Eye Tracking will Revolutionize Your UX Research
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Dantley Davis
Leadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis
2020 • Enterprise Community
Bud Caddell
Theme 2 Intro
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Devon Powers
Imagining Better Futures
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold

More Videos

Alexandra Schmidt

"Legacy interconnected systems mean improving one area can create problems in another, and we don't always know those constraints upfront."

Alexandra Schmidt

Enterprise UX Playbook

December 1, 2022

Jen Crim

"Embrace diversity and create belonging means everyone feels they truly belong, not just fit in."

Jen Crim Jess Quittner Saritha Kattekola Alex Karr Gurbani Pahwa

Culture, DIBS & Recruiting

June 11, 2021

Christian Crumlish

"If you’re a product manager, you don’t do very much design work anymore; you care about it but step away from the Figma."

Christian Crumlish

AMA with Christian Crumlish, author of Product Management for UX People

March 24, 2022

Libby Maurer

"If diversity is being asked to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and belonging is actually dancing with everyone else."

Libby Maurer

Treating Diversity & Inclusion in Hiring as a Design Problem

December 5, 2019

Ali Jeffery

"When we engage people in the planning process, they take ownership of their city."

Ali Jeffery Sheri Chudow

How DesignOps Helped Enable Wall Street to Work Remotely

October 22, 2020

Daniel Gloyd

"Daniel Day-Lewis went so far as to suffer three broken ribs immersing in his role for My Left Foot."

Daniel Gloyd

Designing From the Inside Out: How Method Acting Can Inspire Design Research

February 12, 2026

Kristin Skinner

"Equipped with the right tools, we can truly meet students where they are."

Kristin Skinner

Five Years of DesignOps

September 29, 2021

Johanna Kollmann

"The product leadership really doesn’t see the value in research and they’re thinking about shutting the research team down."

Johanna Kollmann

Insights-Driven Product Strategy: Get your Research to Count

December 6, 2022

David Sternberg

"Momentum in users is like energy in fluid—strong motivation drives fast, decisive movement."

David Sternberg

Uncovering the hidden forces shaping user behavior

July 17, 2025