digital agency founders talk
DESCRIPTION
Sometime in early 2005, Danny Bluestone saw the potential in creating a digital agency that bridges the gap between usability, visual design, project management, marketing and programming. At the time he had no funding.TRANSCRIPT
The Cyber-Duck story From 2005 to 2013 in a nutshell Follow us: @cyberduck_uk
9Dec 2013
ABOUT CYBER-DUCK@cyberduck_uk
User Experience Web & Mobile Hosting & Support Marketing Consulting
Hi. I am Danny Bluestone
Founder and Managing Director
@danny_bluestone
Hi. I am Sylvain Reiter
Co-Founder and Development Director
@sylvainreiter
Top 500 company in Europe, The Middle East and Africa 2012
The only digital agency certified in
ISO 9241:210 and ISO9001:2008
Top 20 South East digital agency
according to turnover and growth
User-centred Design & Marketing
Test-driven Development
Start
Client and user research
Technical research
System
architecture
Experience prototypes
Technical prototypes
Functional
specification
Platform development
Visual design
Testing and QA Launch
Marketing and support
OUR CURRENT WEBSITE
http://mobile.smashingmagazine.com/2013/06/18/
adapting-to-a-responsive-design-case-study/
THE VISION
Don’t go detailed before you work out your niche
KEEP YOUR VISION LOOSE
Your first projects and products
DIFFICULT PROJECTS OPEN DOORS
Image from: http://uthmag.com/seth-godin-is-wrong-about-your-resume/
“One of the largest turning points of my career was firing the client who accounted for a third of my company's work.”
Seth Godin Best selling American author, entrepreneur and marketer !
Your first projects and products
DROP BAD CLIENTS
PROCESSES
Image taken from: http://www.e-cartouche.ch/content_reg/cartouche/ui_access/en/html/GUIDesign_UCD.html
The elements of user experience
Image: http://acmelab.gatech.edu/slu3/wp-content/uploads/Elements-of-User-Experience.png
User centred design (UCD)
Image: http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources/ucd_process.asp
Scrum
Lean
A framework - ISO9001:2008
•ere not
MAKE THIS THE ESSENCE OF YOUR PROJECT Persuasion = Ethos. Pathos. Logos.
“Within 12 months, ISO9001 helped us to improve
profitability by 177%. The team understands the business,
department and their own objectives”.
* comparing Aug 2012 with Aug 2013Cyber-Duck Ltd
Combining UCD, agile and lean
By combining UCD, ISO 9001 and agile together we gain:
• A superior user experience design process
• An agile mindset and manoeuvrability
• Strong quality management processes
!
!
!
TRAITS OF A FOUNDER & LEADER
Technician
Manager Leader
BLEND WORK, MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP Get the best out of yourself
The project management triangleUNDERSTAND THE ‘PM’ TRIANGLE Get the best out of yourself
Image from: http://www.kelvingoh.com/productivity/getting-things-done-gtd/
BECOME ULTRA EFFICIENT Get the best out of yourself
FIND MENTORS Get the best out of yourself
ALWAYS BE COMPOSED Get the best out of yourself
http://jerusalemchannel.tv/healing-clue-from-oath-of-maimonides/
Image from: hhttp://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/new-nhs-helpline-is-putting-peoples-lives-at-risk-say-doctors-8604624.html
Get the best out of yourself
CREATE A CULTURE OF COMMUNICATION
Image from: http://www.business2community.com/sales-management/want-software-sales-leads-avoid-being-a-yesno-man-0397729
DON’T BE A YES MAN Get the best out of yourself
GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR TEAM
Always hire co-founders and key staff
THAT ARE SMARTER THAN YOU
Always be on the look out for new talent
HIRE STAFF WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING
Get the best out of your staff
RECOGNITION
Get the best out of your staff
AN INNOVATIVE CULTURE
Get the best out of your staff
REWARDS
Get the best out of your staff
TRAINING
HOW TO MARKET YOURSELF
How to market yourself
BE SUPER PASSIONATE
How to market yourself
PRESENT AT CONFERENCES
How to market yourself
MOVE INTO A GREAT SPACE
How to market yourself
DO CHARITABLE WORK
How to market yourself
HOST EVENTS AND PARTIES
How to market yourself
INVEST IN UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY
CONCLUSION
Top 10 tips to survive
1. Departmentalise your organisation
2. Become an effective and organised leader, manager and worker
3. Boost your team’s training, involvement, rewards and recognition
4. Make it your relentless mission to deliver quality
5. Research and create processes that work
6. Become a people’s person if you are to manage staff
7. You should also become a geek and an expert in your domain
8. Create a user centric culture where everything is tested all the time
9. Don’t wait for people to find you, market yourself
10. Immerse yourself with mentors and people that support you
Q&A
Thanks for listening to our story. We would love to talk to you later!
Please follow us @cyberduck_uk
We are also hiring
• A studio manager
• HTML5 and PHP web developers
• Digital marketers
• UX producers