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.
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
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?
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
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
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
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