Peter Boersma's presentation at IDC Prague (http://webexpo.net/idc2014/) entitled "What I learned from, oh, I don't know, around 200 projects". By going through my employment history at 7 interactive agencies plus my short freelance period, I gave the audience an overview of skills, team markup, the place of UX departments in the organization, deliverables and design processes and how they changed over time.
Essential UI/UX Design Principles: A Comprehensive Guide
What I learned from 200 projects (IDC Prague)
1. What I learned from
oh, I don’t know, around
200 projects
Peter Boersma (@pboersma)
Interaction Design Director at Blast Radius
Interactive Design Conference
April 4-5, 2014, Prague
1
40. what we call our work,
our deliverables,
changed too...
40
41. “Here is how we work:
Step 1: we send you a contract
Step 2: we design your site
and you approve the design
Step 3: we build your site,
and you approve the design
Step 4: we send you an invoice”
41
53. 1995-2000 - General Design
Company 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
53
63. General Design
GOOD
BAD
* 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
63
65. 2000-2002 - Satama
Company 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
65
78. Satama Interactive
GOOD
BAD
* 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
78
80. 2002-2005 - EzGov
Company profile:
- software & consultancy for online transactions
- between governments and citizens/businesses
My responsibilities:
- Information Architect
- Also: Usability Engineer
- And: Process Designer
80
101. EzGov
GOOD
BAD
* 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
101
103. 2005-2006 - User Intelligence
Company profile:
- small usability company that expanded into design
- founder was looking for a business partner
My responsibilities:
- User Experience Consultant and Manager Design
103
110. 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
110
112. 2006-2010 - Info.nl
Company 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!!
112
120. Info.nl
GOOD
BAD
* cooperation with developers
* sales reached out to sell UX
* management lacked vision about process
* sales defined projects: teams designed to budget
120
122. 2010-2012 - Adaptive Path
Company 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
122
129. the elements of
user experience
Henning Fischer
Director, Adaptive Path Amsterdam
henning@adaptivepath.com
@henningfischer
Peter Boersma
Designer, Adaptive Path Amsterdam
peter.boersma@adaptivepath.com
@pboersma
129
132. First deliverable: Narrative
As 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
132
135. What happens to it?
Designers’ proposals were translated by Sales
into a Statement of Work with a lot of legalese.
We had to go back to the original proposal
to kick off projects with the team.
135
137. Adaptive Path
GOOD
BAD
* designers lead projects from sales to delivery
* many internal discussions about the field
* time to teach back to community
* 13 hour workdays due to time zones
* European sales handed over to America
137
139. 2012-2012 - Freelance
Company 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
139
152. Freelance
GOOD
BAD
* 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
152
154. 2012-present - Blast Radius
Company 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
154
166. 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
166
169. 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
169
179. Narrative
As 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
179
203. the elements of
user experience
Henning Fischer
Director, Adaptive Path Amsterdam
henning@adaptivepath.com
@henningfischer
Peter Boersma
Designer, Adaptive Path Amsterdam
peter.boersma@adaptivepath.com
@pboersma
203
211. What I learned from
oh, I don’t know, around
200 projects
Peter Boersma (@pboersma)
Interaction Design Director at Blast Radius
Interactive Design Conference
April 4-5, 2014, Prague
211