My take on working as a UX practitioner within an agency environment.

1. AN INSIDER‟S PERSPECTIVE
or: How I Try to Minimise the Pernicious Effect of
Agencies Delivering User Experience Design
by Luke Tellefson

2. First, some context

3. Source: http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-pernicious-effects-of-advertising-and-marketing-agencies-trying-to-deli
When I started my UX career at an agency, I found this
article while doing some research about how I could foster a
user centric culture

4. “Pernicious: Having a harmful effect, esp.
in a gradual or subtle way.” Newswordy
Source: http://newswordy.com/words/pernicious/

5. The article sparked a long and fascinating debate
about UX and advertising in general.
But this presentation is not about the ethics or
culture of a very unique industry.
It‟s my take on delivering user experience design
within the context of an agency

6. TWO DIFFERENT PROCESSES
FOR TWO DIFFERENT PROJECTS

7. Let‟s start from the beginning.
There are two different types of digital projects
that agencies work on:
Functionally and Creatively lead projects

8. Functional projects produce things like:
• Brand Websites, both desktop and mobile
• Intranets and Extranets
• Business Systems
• Utility Apps

9. Creative projects produce things like:
• Narrative Based Websites
• Games
• Interactive Videos
• Fun Mobile Apps

10. FUNCTIONALLY LEAD
PROJECTS

11. More and more, agencies are doing these
projects well by hiring the right people and
more importantly, adopting user centred
design practices.
Here is a quick recap of this process:

12. User
Needs
Firstly, we use research techniques to understand
the needs of our target user

13. Business
Needs
Then we use some more science to understand the
needs of the business

14. User
Needs
Business
Needs
Finally, we design and optimise a solution that
addresses both sets of needs

15. And everyone is happy
Source: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/09/article-2230287-15E854C6000005DC-489_634x422.jpg

16. CREATIVELY LEAD PROJECTS

17. Creatively lead projects are different
because they also need an idea
Source: http://weworkforcheese.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/lightbulb.jpg

18. An idea is the unique angle that makes a
piece of marketing memorable, powerful
or effective

19. The best ideas also win awards, which
agencies very much like
Source: http://blog.matthewjsanto.com/?p=104

20. User
Needs
Business
Needs
Creative
Needs
So this introduces a third circle to the process

21. And often lots of noisy stakeholders
Source: http://www.taylorshold.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/don-draper.jpg

22. SO HOW IS THAT RELEVANT?

23. Creatively lead projects may sometimes appear „blonde‟ …
“The blonde stereotype has two aspects: attractive
and desirable … [while] making little use of
intelligence” wikipedia
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blonde_stereotype

24. “in user experience ... utility is king” Peter Merholz
Source: http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-pernicious-effects-of-advertising-and-marketing-agencies-trying-to-deli

25. While it‟s always important for experiences
to be usable, sometimes utility is not king.
Sometimes it‟s more important for experiences to be
fun, informative or persuasive

26. And these experiences can‟t just be about the brand,
or users are not going to hang around

27. Luckily, UX folk have the tools to help…

28. Strategists
Users
Developers
Designers
Producers
Account Service
Creatives
Clients
Source: http://halsteenson.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/swiss_army_knife.jpg

29. FIVE WAYS UX FOLK CAN MINIMISE
THE PERNICIOUS EFFECT OF AGENCIES
DELIVERING USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

30. 1. We can act as a glue between the various
disciplines of the project team

31. 2. We can adopt guerrilla style user testing
techniques to guide the project and reduce
opinion-based decision making

32. 3. We can add value where it matters most
by choosing the right battles to fight

33. 4. We can reference comparative products,
prototypes and design patterns to show
stakeholders rather than just telling them

34. 5. We can question design decisions and be
satisfied with the answers so long as they
are consistent with the project vision

35. Agencies are going to create user
experiences anyway, so it‟s better to have
people onboard who are trying to minimise
their pernicious effects, right?

36. THANKS
thenaked-ia.com

37. I have used images in this presentation that I found on the internet. I think they
make the presentation better, but if I have made anyone upset, please let me
know and I will quickly remove them.
Special thanks to Peter Merholz, your article wasn’t the “how to” guide I was
looking for, but it gave me a great creative direction for this presentation.