what i learned from 200 projects (amsterdam ux)

What I learned fromoh, I don’t know, around

200 projects

Peter Boersma (@pboersma)Interaction Design Director at Blast Radius

Amsterdam UX MeetupJuly 2, 2014

20 years at interactive agencies

1995 - 2000 - General Design2000 - 2002 - Satama Interactive2002 - 2005 - EzGov2005 - 2006 - User Intelligence2006 - 2010 - Info.nl2010 - 2012 - Adaptive Path2012 - 2012 - freelance2012 - present - Blast Radius

around 200 projects

1995 - 2000 - General Design 70 102000 - 2002 - Satama Interactive 20 102002 - 2005 - EzGov 15 52005 - 2006 - User Intelligence 10 202006 - 2010 - Info.nl 20 52010 - 2012 - Adaptive Path 5 2.52012 - 2012 - freelance 5 102012 - present - Blast Radius 55 40

Total 200 10

#proj /year

scope, teams, skills, org charts, deliverables

the scope of our projectshas expanded from one-way

webdesign to service design for networked brands

http://www.abnamro.nl



640px

480px

!SOCIAL CONTENT

MOBILE CONTENT

STORES CRM

PR

CSR

ALWAYS-ON CONNECTED PLATFORMS

Starbucks.com

our teams have haddifferent types of people

in them

my roles at interactive agencies

1995 - 2000 - UI Designer2000 - 2002 - Consultant User-Understanding2002 - 2005 - Senior Information Architect2005 - 2006 - UX Consultant & Partner2006 - 2010 - Senior Interaction Designer2010 - 2012 - Experience Designer2012 - 2012 - Freelance (Process) Designer2012 - present - Interaction Design Director

we had different skills, starting at Computer Science, HCI and Design

leading to User Experience

HCICS Des

HCICS DesIxDIAMarCom

InfoDes Copy Usab

User Experience

HCICS DesIxDIAInfoDes

MarCom Copy Usab

shallowknowledge

User Experience

deepknowledge

businessknowledge

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

since 1995, we have been lookingfor the right place of UX

in the organization

what we call our work,our deliverables,changed too...

“Here is how we work:Step 1: we send you a contractStep 2: we design your site and you approve the designStep 3: we build your site, and you approve the designStep 4: we send you an invoice”

Design

ResearchEvaluation

Prototype

Test

SketchDetailed Design

Concept

Personas

Interviews

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Pitch

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

Service Design

Prototype

RequirementsReviewTest

Scope

Optimize

Estimate

Beta


Concept

Personas

Competition

Process

Roles

Steps

Interviews

GOODBAD

per company

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Pitch

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

Service Design

Prototype


Scope

Optimize

Estimate

Beta


Concept

Personas

Competition

Process

Roles

Steps

Interviews

1995-2000 - General DesignCompany profile:- Dutch startup that grew from 3-30 people- made interactive sites for small & large brands

My responsibilities:- in the beginning: everything- from interface design- via software programming- to sales and project management

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

• A conference is more than the proceedings

• Also: it’s not that hard to get on stage!

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Prototype

RequirementsReview

Estimate


Competition

ProcessScope

BrBreakingead

share late-night pizza with developershave lunch with clients

go for drinks with colleagues

35

35

General Design

GOODBAD

* gave me broad experience

* mix of academic research and practical focus

* time to discover what I like (not project management)

* being project manager & UI designer on 10 projects

* leading to a short, 4-week burnout

2000-2002 - SatamaCompany profile:- Finnish web-and-mobile agency going global- General Design turned into Amsterdam office

My responsibilities:- Consultant User-Understanding- concept design, IA, IxD, usability tests- for the first time: process designer

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManagePosition

Requirements

Scope

Estimate

Detailed Design

Concept

Competition

Process

Roles

Steps

Interviews

Satama Interactive

GOODBAD

* mobile experience: designed WAP sites, and created a mobile portal evaluation tool.

* process focus: I managed a 2-year program to document the Satama Unified Process.

* I wasn’t considered a good fit for consultant team

* leading to a long, 8-month burnout

2002-2005 - EzGovCompany profile:- software & consultancy for online transactions- between governments and citizens/businesses

My responsibilities:- Information Architect- Also: Usability Engineer- And: Process Designer

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

3 Phases

5 Disciplines System AnalysisInformation Architecture & Interaction DesignUsability & Accessibility TestingContent DesignVisual Design & Information Design

Elaboration ConstructionInception

EzGov Standards for UXEzGov Standards for UX

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Service Design

Prototype


Scope

Estimate

Detailed Design

Personas

Process

Roles

Steps

Interviews

EzGov

GOODBAD

* good cooperation with Development and PM

* spent time defining design process (StUX)

* developed in-house screenflow tool (J-flow)

* styleguides made visual design work boring

* org. overhead made our work expensive

2005-2006 - User IntelligenceCompany profile:- small usability company that expanded into design- founder was looking for a business partner

My responsibilities:- User Experience Consultant and Manager Design

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage


Scope

Optimize

Estimate

Detailed Design

Concept

Personas

Competition

ProcessInterviews

Pitch

User Intelligence

* we defined the basis for good team & good company

* got to think about corporate strategies

* unprepared for partner talks with founder

* our communication styles made cooperation hard

* had to leave, shortly after bringing in friends

2006-2010 - Info.nlCompany profile:- very Dutch agency ("normal is crazy enough")- founded in1994 and still going strong

My responsibilities:- senior interaction designer- Also: restructured department & renamed job titles- Also: attempted to document design process

info.nl !FULL!SERVICE!INTERNET!AGENCY!!

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

Life

Play

Learn

Buy

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Pitch

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

RequirementsTest

Scope

Estimate

Detailed Design

Concept

Personas

Competition

Process

Info.nl

GOODBAD

* cooperation with developers

* sales reached out to sell UX

* management lacked vision about process

* sales defined projects: teams designed to budget

2010-2012 - Adaptive PathCompany profile:- famous San Francisco agency came to Amsterdam- defined User Experience as we know it- Adaptive Path is run by designers

My responsibilities:- Experience Designer- design, lead projects, sell projects- teach workshops, host UX Week

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

the elements ofuser experienceHenning FischerDirector, Adaptive Path [email protected]@henningfischer

Peter BoersmaDesigner, Adaptive Path [email protected]@pboersma

RGB

108, 190, 7773, 155, 69

mailto:[email protected]




First deliverable: NarrativeAs a result of initial conversations with the client, our designer-led sales team would create a Narrative.

A Narrative consists of:

- key business needs

- project summary and team overview

- phase-by-phase description of activities and outcomes

- examples of expected deliverables

- timeline and budget

But what happened to it?Designers’ narratives were translated by Salesinto a Statement of Work with a lot of legalese.

We had to go back to the original narrativeto kick off projects with the team.

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

Service Design


Scope

Estimate

Sketch

Concept

Personas

Competition

ProcessInterviews

Adaptive Path

GOODBAD

* designers lead projects from sales to delivery

* many internal discussions about the field

* time to teach back to community

* 14 hour workdays due to time zones

* European sales handed over to America

2012-2012 - FreelanceCompany profile:- me :-)- interaction designer & design process consultant

My responsibilities:- set up the business, pay tax, do sales & PM- define processes and design concepts for clients

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

MOBILEAPP

MUSIC PLAYER IN BAR

out of scope

MUSICMATCH

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManageRoadmap

Prototype

Requirements

Scope

Estimate

Sketch

Concept

Process

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Review

Process

Roles

Steps

Freelance

GOODBAD

* freedom in deciding when to work

* freedom in deciding how much to work

* freedom in deciding for whom to work

* office/tax/legal stuff is hard!

* no team = no feedback

* no idea if I was at good at freelancing

2012-present - Blast RadiusCompany profile:- “agency for the connected world” (= Marketing)- owned by global digital agency network Wunderman

My responsibilities:- Interaction Design Director in Amsterdam office- design concepts and prototypes (with freelancers)- manage a Business Analyst- support offices in Hamburg, London and Paris

User Experience


MarCom Copy Usab

Small ± 9 x 6 cm!Galaxy S2/S3/S4, iPhone, HTC One !

!

Medium ± 11 x 16 cm!Nexus 7, iPad mini, Kindle 7!

!

Large ± 21 x 14 cm!

Nexus 10, iPad (1, 2, Air), Tab 10.1, Kindle 8.9!

Small

Medium

Large

small portrait

small landscape

medium landscape & large portrait

small medium large

medium portrait

large landscape

desktop (large & non–touch)

640 px? 1024 px? %#@&*iPad Mini!

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Pitch

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

Service Design

Prototype


Scope

Optimize

Estimate


Concept

Personas

Competition

ProcessInterviews

Blast Radius

* international work environment

* working for small number of big accounts

* allows for tracking of success of designs

* project were never ran by UX (often by Developers or Art Directors)

* limited input in early stages of projects

Best team?

Jesse James GarrePeter MerholzJeff VeenJanice FraserDan SafferLane BeckerIndi Young

Best place for UX?

Best deliverable?

Business

Design

ResearchEvaluation

StrategyManage

Pitch

Scenarios

Position

Roadmap

Service Design

Prototype


Scope

Optimize

Estimate

Beta


Concept

Personas

Competition

Process

Roles

Steps

Interviews

NarrativeAs a result of initial conversations with the client, our designer-led sales team would create a Narrative.

A Narrative consists of:

- key business needs

- project summary and team overview

- phase-by-phase description of activities and outcomes

- examples of expected deliverables

- timeline and budget

MOBILEAPP

MUSIC PLAYER IN BAR

out of scope

MUSICMATCH

Best process?

SUP wasn’t used, and SUP-Light was created to fix that

Best process?

your process

userreseach

concept design

detaileddesign

prototype & evaluate

Persona

SITEMAP

wireframesrequire-

ments

usability testScreen

FLOW

proto-type

designprinciples

Best client

the elements ofuser experienceHenning FischerDirector, Adaptive Path [email protected]@henningfischer

Peter BoersmaDesigner, Adaptive Path [email protected]@pboersma

RGB

108, 190, 7773, 155, 69





Government of Jamaica

Best business lesson?

Office Managers manage the company

office managers run the agency

don’t postpone talking about money

don’t be afraid to talk about money

it takes A LOT of work to get work done

Thank you!

What I learned fromoh, I don’t know, around

200 projects

Peter Boersma (@pboersma)Interaction Design Director at Blast Radius

Amsterdam UX MeetupJuly 2, 2014

what i learned from 200 projects (amsterdam ux)

Career

interaction

led sales

consultant

project summary

general design

satama interactive

design concepts

user intelligence