Persona

Persona versus Freelancer IA's

User Experience at Persona is a cost effective and more produtive alternative to using freelance information architects and freelance user centred designers. A growing number of clients and digital agencies are choosing to work with Persona instead of freelancers and for good reason - just take a look at the points below and if you feel compelled by any of them, give us a ring. Simple.

Send this page as a link to your boss / project manager / HR department and take away the hassle of using freelance IA's.

First, there is the simple cost issue:

• Freelance IA rates for experienced people (e.g. 3 years or more, which is typically the MINIMUM you need before you can credibly be considered a seasoned professional in this industry) are amongst the highest for any digital resource type - on par with highly skilled technical architects and consultants, but often delivering only low-level wireframes and logical architecture.
• If you're an agency who marks-up freelancers, this has a massive effect on your project profit/loss

Next thing to consider is resource availability:

• Freelance information architects are in short supply; far below demand
• Demand has outstripped supply year on year and the skills gap is getting wider, rather than shrinking - things will only get worse!
• If you contract an IA (typically for three, six and even twelve months), you are still limited to the capacity of one resource - so multiple project streams will only make the scheduling harder and the deadlines longer. You also have a single point of failure/risk - freelancers get sick and go on holiday too you know!
• Because freelancers in user experience are enjoying this supply/demand gap, they are in control of which clients/projects they want to work on, how long for and for what price - what can you offer to keep hold of a good one?

Last, but by no means least is of course skill levels:

• Many freelancers working in the user experience industry don't actually have a proper or proven track record
• Traditional IA's usually come from an academic background in HCI and Ergonomics - but often find it hard to balance logic with creative thinking when working on web projects or communications where they have much tighter deadlines or less 'thinking time'.
• Each IA has different experiences and ways of working - so you often end up with inconsistent deliverables and knowledge loss/leak as resource turnover is high. This makes it a nightmare if you work with an IA who has to pick up somebody elses work later on.
• You may take on a freelance information architect hoping for a full service, but can they REALLY profile users, architect content, design user interfaces, project manage, present and think strategically all at the same time? Are you sure?? Does their CV show that they've actually learned and delivered all this for other reputable clients?

Hiring a freelance information architect - what to expect

Hiring any type of resource is always a risk, just as outsourcing to supplier is. If you want to break the mould and refocus on results, ask yourself these questions:

• How do you you reduce that risk - if at all?
• Can you stack the odds in your favour somehow?
• Is it possible to make those doing the work accountable?

We've asked ourselves, our clients and our partners these same questions and the table below is a summary of what you can expect from whichever route you decide to take.

Freelancers	Persona Experience
High day rates	Low rates for IA
Recruitment agent fees	No 3rd party mark-ups
Inconsistent deliverables	A consistent set of deliverables - every time
Over stretched skills	A 'pool' of niche specialists (Usability, Accessibility, UCD, Strategy etc)
GWYPF - Get what you pay for	PFWYN - Pay for what you need
Poor availability	Multiple resources on hand
Too long/short commitment	Scheduling to suit YOUR project timetable
Onus on you to control scope/quality	Dedicated project manager and QA processes
Unknown budget due to durations/availability/etc	Option of either fixed price project scope or T&M
You can't use the same freelancer again easily	Cost effective retainers for dedicated time

If you're nervous or unsure about using Persona instead of a freelancer, here's something that might just tempt you. We offer a money back guarantee on your first project with us; meaning that if you're not satisfied with what we do - it won't cost you a penny! To arrange a no obligation meeting to discuss how simple this all is - give us a call on 0115 948 4454.

Ok, so why not use another user experience company instead?

Well firstly, there aren't that many around (as a lot of the skilled people are off freelancing remember?).

Most of the user experience agencies out there are pretty good actually. Of course there are differences across them, but generally speaking they are based on a foundation much like we are - highly experienced professional who are passionate about delivering a great client service and positive end user experience.

So what's the catch?

Price. As usual, so much in life comes down to money. User experience and informatin architecture services have never been in more demand than they are now - so of course you're looking at a premium. If you are an agency looking to freelance/outsource, most IA suppliers in the market have charge rates that are similar or HIGHER than your own - so there is little/no profit to be made by subcontracting. Those who are a little more affordable are still more expensive than getting a freelancer in, so the argument to outsource is usually limited to projects that require specialist involvement (such as user testing, eye-tracking etc).

Persona Experience has been designed from the ground up to be in direct competition with both freelancers and other agencies. Our charge rates are COMPARABLE to the freelance market and often LOWER! We operate on a much lower overhead than many other agencies, despite having a wider range of services and more in-house skills and facilities.

We can do this because we're not greedy and don't feel that you have to charge a high day rate in order to make money. We run a well diciplined project management lifecycle so there is minimal downtime/waste at Persona and as a result, these savings are passed on to you. We also make use of the right people at the right time for sitemapping, wireframing and strategic thinking, so you're not left paying the bill for a resource you don't need. There really is nothing complicated about it.

DISCLAIMER

Now we know we've just gone off on a huge rant about why freelancers are no good, but we just want to clarify our view on this so as to not offend anybody. You see, there ARE some great freelance IA's out there and they are not only highly skilled and experienced, but worth their weight in gold when it comes to value for money. However, after 10 years working across the digital industry, we know that this is by far the exception rather than the norm.

As proof that we're not out to tread on the toes of good IA's, we're launching an open community initiative called 'The Persona Framework' that will act as a methodology for ensuring quality, integrity and skill. All IA's are invited to get involved in the project and the scheme will even act as a referal system for top quality freelancers. More details to follow soon; keep your radar pointed at our RSS feed.