Midterm Paper

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Case Assignment: Blink UX
Stacey Troup
Managing Small Business/ MGT-329
July 18, 2017
Dr. Gemma George, Professor
Touro University Worldwide

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Case Assignment: Blink UX
In this Week 4 midterm assignment, I will discuss the small business venture of Blink
UX out of Seattle, WA. An overview of the structure of the company from inception to present
day, as well as suggestions for improvement will be completed. Management methods and styles
will also be reviewed as they are key to the success of the company as well as the happiness of
the employees and Blink UX has proven that they readjust their thinking to keep the happiness of
their employees on high while continuing to grow.
About Blink UX
With its foundation in Seattle, Washington, Blink UX is an Information Architecture (IA)
firm that found its place in the tertiary business sector in 1999. Beginning with no capital, no
market research, and no competition, Karen Clark Cole set out to create something that the
heavily saturated tech sector had yet to see when she created Blink UX (Clark Cole, Where I
Found the Guts to Start a Company - Part One, 2016).
In 1999, after much negotiation with now partner Kelly Franznick to leave his tech firm
and join her in the venture now known as Blink UX after they closed their first successful
business deal, it finally came to fruition after the firm landed its first contract with iCopyright,
setting the company in motion for a positive future beginning in 2000 (Clark Cole, Where I
found the Guts to Start A Company - Part Two, 2016).
Utilizing borrowed office space from a friend who was the owner of Hadley Green
Advertising under an agreement that they could borrow space and resources until they were up
and running (and able to pay rent) helped Blink UX get its feet on solid ground. A short (but
undetermined) amount of time later, when the office reached a total of four employees, they
received the call that would begin the snowball effect of their success. Apple computers had

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hired the four person firm over competitor Anderson Consulting to redesign the Apple Developer
Connection site due to their attention to their customers and ready availability they provide to the
customers which were advantages over the larger firm they were competing against (Clark Cole,
Where I found the Guts to Start A Company - Part Two, 2016).
Today, Blink UX is a company of eight partners, including the two original founders, as
well as a team of 70 employees who all have an equity stake in the company through the
incentives offered by the founding partners to ensure employee retention and happiness as they
continue to grow and flourish (Forbes, Inc., 2016).
Currently valued at $12 million, founding Blink UX partner Karen Cole continues
furthering the company brand as they have been named several times to the Forbes Fastest
Growing Companies Lists, while she was personally given the 2016 Enterprising Women of the
Year Award while continuing to write for Forbes magazines as well as others to further
awareness of both small business success and strategy to future entrepreneurs (Our Team, N.D.).
Management Structure & Issues
While no formal organizational chart exists to the end user, one may surmise the structure
from the employee data of eight partners and 70 employees, of which 36 are listed on the
company website and are all equity share partners to differentiating (but not publically listed)
degrees (Our Team, N.D.). The company has publically given up traditional organizational
charts for a new wave of management style (Creating a Business That's Optimized for Personal
Growth and a Thriving Culture, 2014).
Karen Cole started the practice of offering an equity share to employees early on as well
as focusing on a business model built around focusing on people’s roles and areas of practice,
rather than focusing on titles, as a way to empower them. She asked that all employees act as

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their own managers on project work while assigning coaches to each of the project teams to help
with questions along the way. Ms. Cole sees this as a way to stop the stifling of the creative flow
while allowing individuals to plan for their own success without the red tape of a formal
management structure (Creating a Business That's Optimized for Personal Growth and a
Thriving Culture, 2014). This adaptation of the flat management structure is more open and
allows for each employee to set the course of their own success and happiness with the firm,
instead of focusing on the managerial monotony that plagues typical companies.
Management Style
This company allows the employees to be their own leader and set their own path to
success. Most closely related to the Laissez-Faire style of management which managers are
more mentors than leaders and the bulk of decision making is in the hands of the employees
(Haigan, 2016).
As previously mentioned, the founders of Blink UX decided to leave the collective fate of
the individual employee in their own hands while providing resources for reference when needed
but not in an attempt to micro manage or bring back the top-down structure of management.
Management/Leadership Qualities
Early on, the founders and leadership saw the need to change the way the structure of a
typical tech firm would be established. Seeking to maintain their stable of qualified employees
and not lose them to boredom or larger companies attractive benefits structure, Karen Cole
recognized “the need (for a) sustainable long-term solution that would create a company with no
limits to an individual’s personal growth trajectory”. The need was not only recognized by the
firm but a solid solution was presented to prevent strife while enabling and empowering the

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workers (Creating a Business That's Optimized for Personal Growth and a Thriving Culture,
2014).
In top-down management structures, the visibility to effect change is limited or stifled
completely by the corporate red tape and hierarchy that is present. In this environment, the
leadership and founders wanted a level playing ground where their employees felt that they were
important. For this reason, the founders implemented an equity share program which is handed
out to employees during the review process to recognize a job well done (Creating a Business
That's Optimized for Personal Growth and a Thriving Culture, 2014).
In addition to providing an ownership percentage to the employees, it makes them feel as
though they are part of the company’s success and not just an employee. For these reasons, I see
no solutions to present to the company that they have failed to see or implement to date. Their
flat management style and reward system emulating Google (to a degree) while making the
employees proud of their accomplishments and part of the company’s success.
Motivating Employees
While Blink UX is doing a stellar job of empowering and retaining employees, one thing I
do not see in any of my research is any team building events. Google prides itself on these types
of events to build teamwork and create a synergy between their employees outside of the work
structure so that they are better able to understand and relate to their colleagues. This is the only
solution I would provide to the firm in order to strengthen their work relationships.
Getting out of the office on team building events is inexpensive and the lasting effects are
a team who appreciate each other and are more willing to assist the colleagues because a friendship
has formed. A formal plan of action and budgets could be drafted and presented to the owners to
begin such a program with minimal cost and great rewards.

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Lessons Learned
From my research on Blink UX, I realize that many firms are taking a page from
Google’s playbook of employee retention and management structure. By implementing a flat
management structure, the employees feel empowered and part of the company success rather
than employees with a number on their back. The owners of this company value every employee
under their care and prove it through incentive programs that many companies would not even
consider.
Maintaining your employees provides a good corporate culture that draws the best talent
and provides you with an external reputation of stability which is admired by investors and
employees alike.
While Blink UX is adjusting the Laissez-Faire style of management to fit their needs as
well as those of the employees, they have found great success in retention and growth from
happy, productive employees who wish to stay the duration with a company that treats them
well.
Conclusion
The founders of Blink UX looked into the future and saw the failure of large tech
companies in terms of their architecture infrastructure and decided to do something about it.
Taking a huge risk by moving herself from Canada to the U.S. with no funding, no capital, and
no business partners to help, she set out to utilize her business resources and network to help her
get established.
Once the company was up and running with their own offices and a partnering staff, they
did not just let it run itself as most companies do. They continually review structure and policies
to draw and maintain the best talent for their project based work by providing equity shares of

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the company for a job well done. The adaptation of the Laissez-Faire management style has
served this company well by tailoring it to the needs of both company and employee alike.
The company has grown by leaps and bounds both in size and in revenue and they are
serving as consultants to the biggest tech firms in the world because of their dedication to their
client’s needs as well as technical abilities.
The business model set forth by these founders is one to be admired and emulated as it
truly showcases what is needed in order to be successful in this highly competitive marketplace.

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References
Clark Cole, K. (2016, 06 03). Where I Found the Guts to Start a Company - Part One. Retrieved
from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenclarkcole/2016/06/03/where-i-found-
the-guts-to-start-a-company-part-one/#6407b1ec4055
Clark Cole, K. (2016, 06 07). Where I found the Guts to Start A Company - Part Two. Retrieved
from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenclarkcole/2016/06/07/where-i-found-
the-guts-to-start-a-company-part-two/#39e5b6d011b2
Creating a Business That's Optimized for Personal Growth and a Thriving Culture. (2014, 03
13). Retrieved from Benedictine University: http://cvdl.ben.edu/blog/creating-business-
thats-optimized-personal-growth-thriving-culture-blink-ux/
Forbes, Inc. (2016, 01). Blink UX on the Forbes America's Best Small Companies List. Retrieved
from Forbes, Inc.: https://www.forbes.com/companies/blink-ux/
Haigan, C. (2016, 10 25). Six Management Styles. Retrieved from Tiny Pulse:
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/six-management-styles
Our Team. (N.D.). Retrieved from Blink UX: https://blinkux.com/about/our-team/