ALL UX JOBS ARE

(NOT)

CREATED EQUAL

⚠

Madison+ UXJuly 11, 2014

Director, User Experience at RecurlySan Francisco, CA

@mntgmry

Andy Montgomery

⋆

1998

2004

2012

Software Engineer

UX Designer

UX Director

Interactive Director

2007

A brief history.

Director, User Experience at RecurlySan Francisco, CA

@mntgmry

Andy Montgomery

⋆

A brief history.

Director, User Experience at RecurlySan Francisco, CA

@mntgmry

Andy Montgomery

⋆AGENCIES

TR I CYC L E

STARTUPS

DESIGN AT RECURLY

Team. Visual Designer

UI Designers (2)

Front-End Engineers (2)

UX Designer / Design Director (me)

Philosophy. Everything is UX (and UX is Everything)

Work. Product

Marketing

You name it

DESIGN AT RECURLY

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

What is an Agency? Work for hire: Client services, Consulting, FreelancePaid to produce something, and then hand it offExternal to company and productShort-term relationship with the client and the product (usually)Some environments are better than others

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

How does it work? Focus on billing hours and producing deliverablesWaterfall processEstimated and then billed by the hour Multiple clients and projects at onceMore specialized skill set and defined roles related to waterfallLess iterative, more sequentialHard(er) Deadlines

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

Why does it work this way? Traditional Ad Agency Model (think Mad Men)Clients pay for “deliverables”Deliverables have to look good (PSDs, not sketches)Resource management is hard

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

Pros. Exciting!VarietyLearningPracticePortfolio

DESIGN AT AGENCIES

🌄

Cons.

Model is sorta brokenClientsStressfulNot (usually) iterativeCombative relationships

DESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

What is a Startup? A company with a product or serviceCreating or improving quickly with a goal of acquisition or IPODesign for an internal team helping to create or improve the productLong-term relationship with the product and customersSome environments are better than othersDESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

How does it work? Focus on improving the product to meet customer needsProcess is collaborative (sometimes) and lean (hopefully)Broader skill set requiredFlexible deadlines (sorta)

DESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

Why does it work this way? Build fasterLearn fasterCustomers, not clientsProduct effectiveness

DESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

Pros. FocusPurposeCollaborative relationshipsFailure is valuableHighly iterative (hopefully)DESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

Cons. Slower, deeper learning on one productRiskier (sometimes)CustomersSometimes boring?Limited portfolioDESIGN AT STARTUPS

🚀

so... WHAT TO DO?

%

It depends.

There are upsides to bothStart at an agency, move to a product companyThink about what you like to do most and focus thereConsider lifestyle you wantLook for somewhere that appreciates UX from the top downNever stop learningKeep skills currentDesign A LOTVolunteerShare your work (early and often)

so... WHAT TO DO?

%

Questions?

❓

Questions?

❓

@mntgmry

Additional Reading. !UX Design at Digital Agencies is F*cked (Part 2 & a Response) Lean UX in an Agency World How I’ve Come to Love Agile UX Design The Agile Mindset – Perceptions around Failure How I Learned to Become a Failure The McDonald’s Theory Lean UX: Getting Out Of The Deliverables Business 10 Most Common Misconceptions About UX Design Konigi: User Experience Definitions When To Apply UX Apple's Design Approach “Your Brain Is Hooked on Being Right” Thinking, Fast and Slow Insights on Collaborating with Steve Jobs This Advertising Life

Tweets. !@mntgmry