Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Bridging the Gap: Making the Most of the Differences Between Agency and Enterprise
Gold
Monday, January 8, 2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Share the love for this talk
Bridging the Gap: Making the Most of the Differences Between Agency and Enterprise
Speakers: Melinda Belcher
Link:

Summary

Melinda started her career as an in-house creative consultant, often feeling frustrated with her agency partners who “just didn’t get it”. She went on to spend 10 years working in agencies with large enterprise clients—until she “went client-side” again, this time with a little more perspective on the agency-enterprise relationship. Melinda will talk about the ways culture, tools and skills differ between enterprise and agency teams, and how those differences manifest themselves in the working relationship. She’ll also discuss ways agencies and enterprises can bridge the gap by using their differences to equal advantage.

Key Insights

  • The agency-enterprise relationship mirrors the left brain-right brain dynamic, combining creativity with business rigor.

  • Kate Middleton symbolizes enterprise culture: tradition, institutional knowledge, and risk aversion.

  • Megan Markle symbolizes agency culture: innovation, change, and challenging the status quo.

  • Tooling incompatibilities (e.g., Dropbox vs. enterprise VPN) create real collaboration barriers that must be proactively addressed.

  • Agencies often move faster due to more agile tools and processes, whereas enterprises require robust but clunkier systems.

  • Providing agencies with dedicated resources and space fosters better collaboration and reduces frustration.

  • Clear roles, responsibilities, and regular communication are critical to prevent misunderstandings and burnout in agencies.

  • Poorly managed feedback loops can overwhelm agency creatives and lead to turnover, as seen in Melinda’s example of 'Jennifer'.

  • Both sides must equally invest in crafting a strong brief to maximize the quality of the work produced.

  • Acknowledging and nurturing the inherent tensions in agency-enterprise partnerships leads to innovation and better outcomes.

Notable Quotes

"The agency and the enterprise are much like the left brain and the right brain; we need each other to exist."

"Kate Middleton has been doing this for a hot minute; she has institutional knowledge and wants to protect her reputation."

"Megan Markle brings a different set of values and serves as a catalyst for change inside the organization."

"If it ain't broke, Kate is not going to try to fix it; enterprises tend to maintain the status quo."

"You cannot collaborate if I send you a Dropbox link on my enterprise laptop and you can’t open it."

"Someone's going to get hit over the head with a shovel eventually, but magic happens when we share tools and space."

"If the brief isn’t awesome, the likelihood of the work being awesome is low."

"Jennifer got overwhelmed because all feedback came third-hand and no one took time to align or communicate clearly."

"The enterprise is often very sensitive to feeling like they have to do too much work themselves to make agency partnerships work."

"It’s a relationship. You cannot set it and forget it. You have to nurture it and have some tough conversations."

Ask the Rosenbot
Dr. Jamika D. Burge
How UX researchers can partner with (and not be replaced by) AI [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series](Videoconference)
2023 • Advancing Research Community
Stretching the Definition of DesignOps with Product Development
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Sam Proulx
Prototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Dave Hoffer
UX Job Search AMA with Joanne Weaver and Dave Hoffer
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Nancy Douyon
We'll Figure That Out in the Next Launch: Enterprise Tech's Nobility Complex
2018 • Enterprise Experience 2018
Gold
Michal Anne Rogondino
Saving Outer Space: The First UX Design System for Our Nation’s Satellites
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Brendan Jarvis
Framing Tomorrow by Questioning Today
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Ovetta Sampson
Research in the Automated Future
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
John Calhoun
Bring your DesignOps Story to Life! The Definitive DesignOps Book Jam
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Melinda Belcher
Insider preview of Enterprise Experience 2020 (Videoconference)
2020 • Enterprise Community
John Cutler
Oxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
2024 • Advancing Service Design 2024
Gold
Randolph Duke II
War Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Alla Weinberg
Design Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Ted Neward
Theme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Amy Evans
How to Create Change
2024 • DesignOps 2024
Gold
Rittika Basu
Age and Interfaces: Equipping Older Adults with Technological Tools (Videoconference)
2023 • Advancing Research Community

More Videos

"Designers rarely take the time to self-reflect, but visual tools help engage them in the process."

Shaping design, designers and teams

November 8, 2018

Sabrina Mach

"Bringing design on an equal eye level with technology and business is the starting point."

Sabrina Mach Nina Wainwright

How to Design Your Design Operating Model

September 29, 2021

Samuel Proulx

"AI isn’t naturally testable like traditional code, so service design will become even more important."

Samuel Proulx

Invisible barriers: Why accessible service design can’t be an afterthought

December 3, 2024

Saara Kamppari-Miller

"Design, product, engineering, legal, and leadership all need to be involved; it should never be just one group’s responsibility."

Saara Kamppari-Miller

DesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility (Videoconference)

May 26, 2022

Briana Thomas

"I simply asked the team about their strengths and needs instead of figuring it all out on my own."

Briana Thomas

The Quiet Force: Uncovering Hidden Leadership in High-Impact Design Teams

September 24, 2024

Adam Cutler

"I have to triangulate socially because Yorkshire folks are quite reserved; they won't openly admit issues."

Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan Worthman

Discussion

June 8, 2016

"Surprising to me, PMs benefited from the platform and were able to work faster in their own lifecycles."

Operationalizing DesignOps

November 7, 2018

Leah Buley

"Journey maps and personas often disappear into the void because they’re too dense for business folks to consume."

Leah Buley Joe Natoli

Ask Me Anything with Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, co-authors of The User Experience Team of One (2nd edition)

October 8, 2024

Nathan Shedroff

"Traditional MBAs are confident about many things that aren’t true, and your research will often challenge their worldview."

Nathan Shedroff

Double Your Mileage: Use Your Research Strategically

March 31, 2020