It is very common for enterprise companies to use the services of external consultants, perhaps especially so in the field of user experience (UX). This is sometimes in the service of augmenting the company’s UX team who may not have the resources to complete all their desired projects. Consultants may also help companies who are newer to UX, where they introduce the client team to best practices and typical workflows. In either case, it’s critical to project success for both the consultant and client team to work in harmony. This presentation will provide generalizable best practices for collaborating with consultants from both the consultant and client viewpoints. Though the presentation focuses on the consultant/client relationship, all conference attendees will benefit from the provided communication and collaboration tips. Dan Berlin and Yina Turchetti presented this talk at the UXPA Boston 2024 conference.

1. Maximizing the UX Consultant and
Client Working Relationship
Dan Berlin, Watch City Research | Yina Turchetti, Autodesk
May 2024

2. Hi! I’m Dan!
2
1999 2011
2001 2008 2021 2023

3. Hi! I’m Yina!
3
2004 2012
2006 2008 2013 2018
2015

4. Agenda
What’s in it for you
How the talk works
The talk
a. Project kickoff
b. Pre-study
c. During the study
d. Post-study
Q&A
4

5. What’s in it for you
5
Likelihood of
becoming a
consultant or working
with one
Differences when
working with in-
house resources
Applicable to any
good working
relationships
Achieving desired outcome

6. How this talk works
6
Project kickoff Pre-study During the study Post study
1. Skit! 2. Your observations 3. Pro-tips

7. 7
Yina
The client
Dan
The consultant
Project kickoff Pre-study
During the
study
Post-study
Image by Freepik

8. 8
Project kickoff
Image by Freepik
After signing the statement of work, Dan and
Yina are meeting to get the project started.

9. 9
Project kickoff
Image by Freepik

10. What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
11

11. Pro-tips
Understand:
- Desired outcomes and goals
- Deliverables and how they will be used
- Business context
- Prior learnings

12. Ask the right questions
Pro-tip deep dive
Stakeholders Business Project
What is your role and what do you
hope to accomplish with this project?
What key problems / questions
will this project solve / answer?
How will the project outputs
be used by the business?
What will constitute project
success?
What obstacles could the project
encounter, based on past experience?
What are the business’ goals
beyond this project?

13. Visualize the deliverables
Pro-tip deep dive
Diving icons created by FreshForYou - Flaticon

14. 15
A foundation usability study
Goal: To understand how the intranet
works today and how employees would
like to see it evolve
Timeline: The study will take place in
two weeks, with results anticipated the
week after
Pre-study
Image by Freepik

15. 16
Pre-study
Image by Freepik

16. What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
18

17. Pro-tips
Understand ways of working:
- Set up meetings
- Discuss communication preferences
- Ways of keeping informed/updated
- Align on timelines
- Understand company culture

18. Facilitate communication
Pro-tip deep dive
Culture
Learn about and adhere to company
communication culture:
• Messaging
• Deliverable comments
• Document locations
• Meeting cadence
• Working hours
• International team members
• Holidays
Updates Clearing roadblocks
Provide updates early and often
Seek feedback on deliverables
Keep the team updated on
adherence to desired timeline
Set team expectations and make
introductions
Facilitate scheduling hard-to-
wrangle stakeholders
Help cut through internal red tape

19. Using a layered approach to stakeholder management
Pro-tip deep dive
Diving icons created by FreshForYou - Flaticon
Core team
Additional support
Inform only

20. 22
The study is in progress.
Dan and Yina are having a quick status call.
During the study
Image by Freepik

21. 23
During the study
Image by Freepik

22. What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
25

23. Pro-tips
• Be open to feedback
• No one is an expert in everything
• Be malleable about the process
• Don’t nickel and dime
• But also, be cognizant of scope creep
• Keep the stakeholders engaged
• Provide frequent updates

24. Plant easter eggs
Pro-tip deep dive
Diving icons created by FreshForYou – Flaticon
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

25. 28
The report is complete.
Dan is now looking for client feedback
on the results to close out the project.
Post-study
Image by Freepik

26. 29
Post-study
Image by Freepik

27. 30
Post-study
Image by Freepik
Yina Turchetti
Dan Berlin
Sorry, I am out of the office!

28. 31
Post-study
Image by Freepik
Yina Turchetti
Dan Berlin
Whoops! Surprise vacation!

29. 32
Post-study
Image by Freepik
Yina Turchetti
Dan Berlin
I’m back! Here are those
comments. Let’s discuss.

30. What went well?
What didn’t go so well?
34

31. Pro-tips
• Share timely feedback
• Be respectful of each other's working
hours

32. Project retrospectives
Pro-tip deep dive
Process
Discuss what worked and didn’t
work during the project
Be open to receiving and
providing feedback
Trust
Honesty and openness build
trust
Trust and learning will make the
next project even better

33. Great behaviors
• Collaborate whenever possible
• Open to questions and feedback
• Be flexible
• Allocate time
• Have mutual respect
• Strengthen your Emotional Intelligence

34. We are all human!
38