User Experience PracticeAgencies vs. In-House

Edward Stojakovic / Moda Health

22 Characteristics of how UX differs in agencysetting vs internally in a company.

And why it matters to your career.

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UX Going In-House: Good or Bad?

03

In-House AgencyOr?And?

http://shitclientssay.net/UX Dilbert?

@estojakovic 04

Who Said it?

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

1

05

“What we need to get things rolling with some quick hits…”

In-House Agency

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

2

06

“Can we make it work like (Uber)?”

In-House Agency

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

3

07

“The solution would be to create a new page so that it can be easily found to activate them.”

In-House Agency

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

4

08

“Being immersed with our user is the best way to know what they need. We have to spend time with them before we build anything.”

In-House Agency

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

5

09

“What’s really needed is a ‘digital strategy’ that everyone agrees with.”

In-House Agency

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Who said it?In-house? Or Agency?

6

010

“The primary reason why digital initiatives fail is because focus is on channels, and orgs not aligned on opportunities identified.”

In-House Agency

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Terminologyvariations

11

Words Matter

Corporate

Client side

In-house

Corporate

Agency /Type

Freelance

Consulting

IT

Marketing

Product Management

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UX IndustriesLots of variety

12

Words Matter

SOURCE: O’Rielly 2016 UX Design Salary and Tools Survey

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But some trends, first

13

1. build out a (larger) internal UX teams

2. acquisitions of agencies

3. agencies becoming product companies

4. boutique agencies

5. more collaboration

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UXIn house v Agency

014

22 Characteristics

01Source of thinking

Internal or ExternalT-Shaped

02.Scale

Dedicated teams v. available staff as needed

03. Work

Location

Co-location vs. field location

vs. dedicated teams

04.Access to

usersWho should be user, and how to get to them?

05. Efficiency

“To go somewhere fast,go alone.

To go somewhere far,go as a group

06.Timing

Need to deliver something fast to gain credibility is a skill

07.Customer

v. User

Who is paying and who is using is rarely the same

08.Range of

SkillsAccess to skills as needed or being multi-faceted

09. Consistency

Internal v. External

10. Delivery

Delivery is easier to measure than experience.

11. Learning

Style

Learn from those around you? Competitors?

12. Speed

Quick delivery or quality as a measure or credibility?

13.Terminology / Language

Do the terms we use mean something to people

outside of our teams?

14.Career v.

JobLong-term roles v. projects?

15. Processes

Flexible or rigid? Reproducible?

16. Policies

Is there “Shadow UX?”

17.Costs

Business cases and KPIs

18.Age of Team

Team familiarity and integration

19.Office Size

Distributed and consistency in spaces and people

20. Equipment

Access to tools and equipment

21.What is success

Awards? Quality?

22.Continual Education

Strive to learn from peers

Conference Attendees

Consultant In-House

SOURCE: http://www.slideshare.net/fellswoop/uw-talk-deckv4

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Choose wisely

“Whatever you are...be a good one”

-- Abraham Lincoln

thank you.