Part I: Startup

The Startup phase is about bringing attention to the issue of user experience (UX) design and aligning the mandatory executive attention and consultative support to start an initiative toward a more mature practice. You may have internal staff with appropriate degrees, training, and certification. Still, a strong executive hand and the specialized experience of a consultant will be critical.

Among those experienced in the UX field, there seems to be total agreement about the criticality of an executive champion. This champion should not be a lone evangelist in the trenches; rather, the champion should be someone high enough in the executive suite to have a real impact on the corporate focus as well as the ability to bring a strategic level of resources to bear on the problem. Without this executive, there is little hope of meaningful long-term success in establishing an effective user experience practice.

While the executive champion provides direction, resources, focus and accountability, the consultancy provides executive advisory—advice and benchmarks from a trusted expert outside the organization’s politics and culture. The consultancy will guide you. Additionally, you should have an experienced and integrated team along with a full set of methods, tools, templates, and standards to help you build your infrastructure.