For Customer Experience Professionals

Four Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring An Interactive Agency For Design Projects

by Vidya L. Drego, November 11, 2009

Finding the right agency is difficult for clients and agencies alike. With so many agencies to choose from and so many skill sets to evaluate, narrowing a list of similar players down to one can be an overwhelming task — one fraught with potential missteps . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Interactive Agencies Struggle With Web Usability

by Vidya L. Drego, September 25, 2009

Forrester applied its Web Site Review methodology to 36 reference sites provided by 18 interactive agencies. Only one site received a passing score in our evaluation. The highest numbers of severe failures resulted from poor text legibility, unclear menus, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Interactive Design Agencies Go "Above The Line"

by Vidya L. Drego, September 3, 2009

Dramatic changes in consumer behavior and the economy have caused companies to shift budgets from traditional advertising to interactive marketing. Interactive agencies ride the trend with partnerships, acquisitions, new services — and a much bigger role . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Site Owners Approach The Agency Selection Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, September 1, 2009

Finding the right agency partner can be a difficult and onerous journey. To help shed some light on the process, we surveyed 41 customer experience professionals, 40 of whom are working with or have worked with an agency in the past. Our respondents told . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Persona Best Practices Of Interactive Agencies

Forrester Applies Its Evaluation Methodology To Personas Provided By 18 Large Interactive Agencies

by Vidya L. Drego, August 27, 2009

Forrester applied its persona evaluation criteria to reference personas provided by 18 interactive agencies for the recent Forrester Wave™. Most of the personas showed some room for improvement, with problems running the gamut in both type and severity. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Interactive Agencies View The RFP Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, July 17, 2009

Site owners often report difficulty finding and hiring the right agency. Despite carefully preparing requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs), they struggle to identify the right agencies, and when they do, they fail to receive . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Find Help For Web Design Projects, 2009

North American Interactive Agencies Report Their Capacity, Budget, And Industry Capabilities

by Vidya L. Drego, May 8, 2009

Web site owners know that selecting the right Web design vendor can be a stressful and complicated endeavor. Budgets for design services are tight, but interactive design agencies are still selective about the projects they take on. To help kick-start . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Why Do Interactive Agencies Play Hard To Get?

Clients Must Ditch The Scattergun Approach To Hiring Design Partners

by Jonathan Browne, February 27, 2009

As the recession erodes Web budgets, customer experience professionals hope that agencies will be keener to bid on RFPs. Forrester's survey of 46 European agencies shows that agencies expect to be slightly more responsive than they were in 2008, but preparing . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Best Practices From 2008 Finance And Consumer Marketing Forums EMEA

by Jonathan Browne, February 3, 2009

In November 2008, Forrester held concurrent forums in London for consumer marketing and financial services professionals. Leading companies and their design agencies offered insight into their best customer experience practices. Mike Thompson of Barclays . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The 2009 European Web Design Vendor Survey

Forrester Asks 46 European Interactive Agencies About Their Web Design Practices

by Harley Manning, January 9, 2009

For Web site owners, choosing the right Web design vendor can be a serious challenge. Project costs are high, and agencies are becoming increasingly selective about the projects they take on. To help kick-start the vendor selection process, Forrester . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Molecular Brings Brand Personas To Life

Build Better Brand Experiences By Correlating Brand Attributes With Design Personas

by Ron Rogowski, September 8, 2008

Customer experience professionals struggle to create Web sites that support key brand attributes because their organizations often lack a shared definition of the brand. To fill the brand experience void, interactive agency Molecular has developed brand . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Strong Project Managers Drive Successful Web Design Projects

by Craig Menzies, July 8, 2008

In a recent survey of the European Interactive Agency Peer Research Panel (IAPRP), Forrester learned that project management is clearly a mission-critical issue: Clients considered it a key element of their Web design partner selection criteria, and agencies . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Much Should You Pay For A Usability Test?

Usability Vendors Report On Lab Testing Costs And Timelines

by Marta Baigorri, June 4, 2008

Customer experience professionals looking to outsource usability lab testing in Europe will encounter a broad spectrum of timelines and costs that vary depending on the specific needs for the engagement and the project's size. Our survey of European usability . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Making The Most Of Your Agency Web Design Budget

by Craig Menzies, April 14, 2008

Despite a gloomy economic forecast in the United States, members of Forrester's European Interactive Agency Peer Research Panel are optimistic about the state of their Web design businesses in 2008. To help guide Web site owners through economic uncertainty, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Spending: Europe 2008

Web Analytics And Customer Behavioral Research Top The Shopping Lists

by Tim van Tongeren, April 4, 2008

We surveyed 101 European firms to find out how their customer experience research spending is changing in 2008 compared with 2007. Firms are putting more euros into quantitative customer experience measurement methods like Web analytics and customer satisfaction . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Find Help With Usability Testing In Europe

Forrester Asks 38 European Usability Vendors About Their Usability Testing Capabilities

by Marta Baigorri, March 31, 2008

Companies looking to outsource their usability needs in Europe have a wide spectrum of companies to choose from. Our survey of usability vendors uncovered 38 firms that have significant experience conducting usability lab tests. We found that many of . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Making The Web Design Agency Relationship Work

by Craig Menzies, February 19, 2008

For Web execs, finding the right interactive agency to take on a site design project is hard enough — but creating a productive, long-term working relationship with that agency can be harder still. Unsatisfied Web design clients report frustrations around . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Questions For Persona Creation Vendors

What To Ask Before Selecting A Vendor To Help With Personas

by Moira Dorsey, February 4, 2008

Personas can help build more effective experiences. But customer experience professionals can't expect to get those results from any vendor they hire to research and create personas. That's why companies need to ask prospective vendors about how they . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The 2008 European Web Design Vendor Survey

Forrester Asks 33 European Interactive Agencies About Their Web Design Practices

by Craig Menzies, January 31, 2008

For Web site owners, choosing the right Web design vendor is harder than ever. Project costs are high, and agencies are becoming increasingly selective about the projects they take on. To help kick-start the vendor selection process, Forrester gathered . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Tomorrow's Web Design Industry: What Web Site Owners Need To Know Now

Evolving Web Design Service Offerings Will Change Client-Agency Relationships

by Kerry Bodine, January 15, 2008

The Web design industry is undergoing a period of rapid change — and over the next 12 to 18 months, a new kind of agency will emerge from today's fragmented array of Web design providers. These firms will draw on the user-centered design and technology . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

What Are European Web Design Agencies' Common Usability Flaws?

Forrester Applied Its Web Site Review Methodology To 18 B2C Web Sites

by Marta Baigorri, December 13, 2007

Nine top European Web design agencies offered two of their best reference sites to Forrester for rigorous review. To our surprise, many of them suffered from poor text legibility, unclear menus, and confusing task flows. These are all well-researched . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Critical Mass Masters Web Sites But Lacks Broader Interactive Marketing Expertise

The Forrester Wave™ Agency Summary, Q4 2007

by Brian Haven, December 4, 2007

As the agency with the smallest employee base in this evaluation, Critical Mass provides solid interactive marketing services on Web site initiatives. As a result, Critical Mass is a strong fit for firms looking to leverage well-designed Web sites as . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

imc2 Works Best For Established, Rather Than Emerging, Interactive Campaigns

The Forrester Wave™ Agency Summary, Q4 2007

by Brian Haven, December 4, 2007

As one of the smaller agencies in this evaluation, imc2 has a well-rounded offering of established interactive marketing services. The agency's strongest capabilities are in implementing Web sites, display ad campaigns, email programs, and search marketing. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Marketing Agencies, Q4 2007

OgilvyInteractive, Avenue A | Razorfish, Sapient, And Digitas Lead

by Brian Haven, December 4, 2007

Forrester's evaluation of leading interactive marketing agencies across 52 criteria revealed a market adept at handling today's digital campaigns but lacking the thought leadership to drive more comprehensive brand strategies. In the current environment, . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Sapient Delivers Unparalled Technology And Analytics Skills For Interactive Marketing

The Forrester Wave™ Agency Summary, Q4 2007

by Brian Haven, December 4, 2007

Sapient's interactive staff is one of the largest in this evaluation, and its strengths in technology integration, measurement, and analytics set it apart from the other agencies in this evaluation. Companies that want to connect their sophisticated transaction-based . . .