Not Versus, But Together: Redefining Collaboration With In-house UX Teams At SHERPA

Having an in-house UX team for clients is better. Yes, that’s right, because knowing that the more, the merrier. We know that diversity creates value. And we know that resource allocation requires flexibility. 

Building a diverse team 

The secret to building digital products is simple, having strong product teams. Culturally diverse, cross-functional teams are leading the hottest startups today. It’s a fact, and that’s for a reason. 

We all try to get feedback from external reviewers, even in our daily struggles. What do you think about this dress? Do you think that it is crossing a line? We intrinsically are inclined to gather feedback to move forward before making a decision, and applying the same logic into product development totally makes sense.

Who would stand against the value of getting direct feedback or guidance from experts? After all, that’s why mentorship is so valuable, and that’s why astrology never loses its touch. 

In this case, as a team of UX experts at SHERPA, they stive to bring their unique experience to the table while collaborating with in-house product teams. In a sense, their collective memory is a repository for those who seek to find a relevant solution-set regarding their project.

As consultants working on multiple projects across several industries, which eventually unlocks a great opportunity; rapid testing of our solutions and fine-tuning every aspect of our work in a relatively short amount of time compared to an in-house team.

Therefore, being the practitioners, who “have been there before”,  the agency is able to catalyze a reaction fairly quickly than a product-specific team.  

On-demand talent

There is a universal constraint affecting all of our jobs. Limited resources vs. unlimited wants. To deal with the dilemma, we all make a decision about resolution. We either work on a large number of tasks while foregoing some level of details or spend time on a small number of tasks by simply disregarding the rest of the workload. So, as a result, we have trouble managing this trade-off and end up feeling that we’re not functioning properly. 

The same conundrum is also valid for a product team as well. The volume of items in a backlog can quickly reach alarming levels, requiring an expansion of the talent to deal with it. Yet, it might not be feasible growing headcount to handle work, because bringing talent without thoroughly considering the consequences might paralyze a team for a couple of reasons. 

• First, it’s not easy to find the talent, period. Without spending an enormous amount of effort on talent acquisition, you’re not going to be able to form a team, coming from a relevant background to take care of your problems. You need someone who “has been there before.”

• Second, you probably need a temporary solution to carry the work forward. You do not want to set anything on a stone if you do want to get financially tied up. That’s why interim teams come in handy to alleviate the pain stemming from an overfilled backlog. 

In SHERPA’s opinion in other words, they shorten the time needed to find talent and soften the blow on your talent acquisition activities for a simple fact: they’re talented, they’re relevant, and they’re only there as long as you need them. 

The vast spectrum of skills

From initial launch to late maturity stages, each milestone in a product’s lifecycle demands a different set of skills in order to meet user needs while growing the business. In fact, this the same reasoning behind the low ratio of founder CEOs we come across today.

Creating a vision and defining a product strategy leaves its place to being profitable and cutting costs in the later stages of a business. As a natural outcome of this process, a need for new skillset gradually emerges. Similarly, the UX expertise you need changes in time while working on an idea. Instead of having high turnover rates to fill out gaps in skills, elite teams could come in to play to give a hand.

The team is on a mission to understand users and find intricate ways to solve their problems, and the methods we utilize to do so are largely diversified. It would not be rational to expect all the necessary skills from a candidate or an embedded team.

To cope with a skill deficiency or basically extend the level of UX maturity in a product team, external teams with flexible business models like their DaaS (Design as a Service) can provide unique value as temporary remedies. 

In reality?

How about in reality? The agency is more than happy to state that: it all checks out!

SHERPA works with hepsiburada.com and their UX team over a year now. They are iterating, testing and optimizing together to find the “right” solutions for their users. 

SHERPA is a long-term partner of Arçelik, pioneering the future of home appliances for more than three years. And they’re doing it not only being an extension of the team but also working as an individual unit with autonomy thanks to DaaS and the vision brought forward by Arçelik.

There are also countless case studies and examples in the past that show how the agency was able to create value together working with in-house teams, joining our forces to understand users. 

It’s not in-house teams vs. digital studios anymore. If you ask, it was never the case in fact. 

So, let’s keep continue building diverse, cross-functional teams to give “our” users a voice and find the solutions that no one single-handedly would be able to do otherwise. 

About SHERPA

SHERPA has redefined the way in which customers help their customers interact and transact with them. They have a data-driven approach to creating interfaces and bespoke experiences.