ADAPTING TO
CHANGE
ANTHONY ARMENDARIZ
@MANTWAN
#ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ @MANTWAN @FUNSIZE ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
FUNSIZE.CO
@FUNSIZE
Austin, Texas
1996
ARTIST/
DRAFTER
MULTIMEDIA
DESIGNER
FRONT-END
DEVELOPER
WEB
DESIGNER
INTERACTIVE
ART
DIRECTOR
CREATIVE
DIRECTOR
INTERACTION
DESIGNER
VP OF
UX &
DESIGN
PRODUCT
DESIGNER
3 TIMES
FREELANCE
DESIGNER
2 TIMES
AGENCY
OWNER
2014
EXPERIENCE
DIRECTOR
OVER 18 YEARS, I’VE HAD 15 TYPES
OF DESIGN JOBS
AND HAD TO CHANGE ABOUT EVERY
1.2 YEARS
WHEN WE HIRED THE BEST PEOPLE
WE COULD, I HIRED MYSELF OUT
OF A DESIGN JOB.
#FIRSTWORLDPROBLEM
AS AN OWNER…
DESIGN
DIRECTOR
PRODUCT
DESIGNER
STRATEGY CEO
CFO
ACCOUNT
MANAGER
ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE/
PAYABLE
BOOKKEEPER
MARKETING
HUMAN
RECOURCES
OPERATIONS
OMG
HOLY SHIT
IN THE LAST 2 YEARS RUNNING FUNSIZE,
I’VE HAD TO LEARN AND MANAGE 11
DIFFERENT JOBS AND SKILLS
I CAN’T DO ALL OF THIS!
PART 1
DAMN IT FEELS GOOD
TO BE A GANSTA
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ @MANTWAN @FUNSIZE ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
EVERYONE WANTS WHAT WE CREATE.
THE TOOLS WE CREATED
CREATED MORE OF US.
JOE WILLIAMS • @STUDIOROHAN
As a designer, you’re constantly trying to
improve. In this industry, if you are
standing still, you’re falling behind.
“
PART 2
OUR HISTORY: ROOTED

IN CONSTANT CHANGE
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ @MANTWAN @FUNSIZE ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
THE MACINTOSH
1984
“Anyone with a computer regardless if they had any
experience or not could produce design. I felt the
quality was inferior and that it lacked the artistic
touch. In my case I decided I would find find a new
career rather than compete with rapid work.
ISRAEL ARMENDARIZ (MY DAD)
DVD ROM BOOM
1994
ANTIQUE SITES
1994
FLASH
1999
DESIGNED WEB SITES
1998?
“TAKING YOUR TALENT TO THE WEB” - JEFFREY ZELDMAN
2001
KHOI VINH AND THE “GRID”
2005
FLASHWEB BASED PRODUCTS
2006
ADAPTIVE AND RESPONSIVE DESIGN
2004-2010
WE CREATED AN ENTIRE NEW INDUSTRY
FULL OF DESIGN SPECIALTIES AND JOBS
THAT DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE.
(UX, IA, iXD, Visual Design, etc, etc.)
AT THE SAME TIME…THIS IS WHAT
MOBILE LOOKED LIKE
AND THEN CAME THE IPHONE.
EX.
LEAFLETS
NOW MOBILE WEB MATTERED
THEY WERE DESIGNED BY DEVELOPERS.
Sound Familiar?
DISTRUPTION IN DIGITAL SERVICE
DESIGN AGENCIES
A PARADIGM SHIFT
WE SET ASIDE MANY OF OUR PREVIOUS
SKILL SETS TO SPECIALIZE IN WEB
AND MOBILE DESIGN
SPECIALIZATIONS
LET’S POUR ONE OUT FOR
THE HOMIES WE’VE LOST
“To change is difficult.
Not to change is fatal.
WILLIAM POLLARD
PART 3
ENTER PRODUCT AND
SERVICE DESIGN
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ @MANTWAN @FUNSIZE ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
DIGITAL
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS OF A DIGITAL PRODUCT
MARKETING
TV WEARABLES
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
WEB PRODUCTS
?
MOBILE PRODUCTS
AUTOMOTIVE
future predictionsLET’S TAKE A GLIMPSE INTO
THE FUTURE
SCREENS, SCREENS,
AND MORE SCREENS
MOVIE
HER
WEB DESIGN IS ONLY 15-20 YEARS OLD.
MOBILE DESIGN IS MERELY 7 YEARS OLD.
WEARABLE DESIGN JUST TURNED 1 YEAR OLD.
AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS ARE BEING BORN.
IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING
WATERFALL
DOESN’T WORK
DEVELOP 

& RELEASE
DESIGN
VALIDATE
& TEST
DISCOVERY &
REQUIREMENTS
THE SCHEDULE. WASH, RINSE AND REPEAT
2WK.
SPRINT
“At times of change, the LEARNERS are the
ones who will inherit the world, while the
KNOWERS will be beautifully prepared for
a world which no longer exists.
ERIC HOFFER
PART 4
EMBRACING
CHANGE
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ @MANTWAN @FUNSIZE ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE
CHANGING EXPECTATIONS
IN CLIENT SERVICES
A
“As companies bring more and more design talent in
house the role of the external agency is evolving.
You’re seeing fewer agencies of record and fewer
relationships were a company is simply giving over its
digital and design capabilities to someone else and
instead realizing they to own it themselves.
PETER MERHOLZ, UXDISOVERYSESSION.COM
Page Title
GIMME MORE. GIMME MORE.
GIMME GIMME GIMME MORE!
REALITY: PRODUCTS ARE NEVER DONE
WE’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF
BUILDING MODULAR HOUSES
NOT CATHEDRALS.
BUT WE STILL HAVE TO SET SAIL
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH YOUR CLIENTS
• Partner not client, partner not agency
• Equal division of ownership, commitments, and work
• Meet long-term financial needs
• Address both short and long term goals
• Keep pace and quality high
• Keep regular communication between project teams
• Talk to them often
YOUR TEAM MUST EMBRACE
• The time, financial, or resourcing constraints.
• Generating quick ideas as a team to validate before investing.
• Favoring lean, quick, and sometimes, half-complete work.
• Failing fast and often.
• The ability and desire to pivot at any time and embrace change.
• That it’s NEVER ever, ever, ever done.
• Listening to users is critical.
FLEXIBLE SCOPE FTW!
• No project schedules. Only a start and end date.
• No fixed deliverables, just the services you’ll provide.
• No promises to deliver anything specific to the client.
• Promise a team with consistent effort. Velocity, not hours.
• Provide a standard weekly sprint or monthly price.
Learn More: http://goo.gl/QwrauI
5
LOVE AND LEARN ALL OF THE MOBILES
B
THE WEB IS GREAT BUT THAT’S JUST
PART OF A LARGER ECOSYSTEM
LEARNING IOS IS BARELY
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE
TAKE YOUR RESPONSIVE TALENT
TO MOBILE
“
ME
If a designer who codes is a unicorn and a
designer who can't is a dinosaur than a designer
who doesn't know iOS/Android is a fossil.
C
GROW FUTURE PROOF TEAMS
“
STEVE JOBS
It’s not just about how it looks and feels.
Design is how it works.
A PRODUCT TEAM
PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
PRODUCT DESIGNER ENGINEERING
MARKETING
&
COMMUNICATION

DESIGN
PRODUCT / PROJECT MANAGEMENT / PRODUCT STRATEGY
PRODUCT
OWNER
APPROVALS
CUSTOMER

RESEARCH
&
USER
TESTING
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
REQUIREMENTS
GATHERING
PRODUCT DESIGN
PROJECT

PLANNING
ENGINEERING
PRODUCT DESIGN
BRANDING
PROTOTYPING
IMPLEMENTATION
DESIGN
IA &
INTERACTION
DESIGN
CONCEPTUAL
DESIGN
VISUAL

DESIGN
PMENGINEERING
ENGINEERING
FRONT END
DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE WEB
DESIGN
TECHNOLOGY
BACK END
DEVELOPMENT
IOS ANDROID
PRODUCT DESIGNPM
“We’re gonna hold out to hire a Product
Designer who knows iOS, Android, Windows,
and is great at user experience but also
talented at branding and illustration.
A BOSS I HAD WHILE AT EVERNOTE
“I’m wary of overspecializing….
I think a challenge with product design that
the Bay Area faces is that it’s almost
becoming too generalist…
PETER MERHOLZ, UXDISOVERYSESSION.COM
UX IS A TEAM RESPONSIBILITY
GOOD OR BAD, A UX IS A RESULT OF
WHAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM CREATES.
IT’S NOT A ROLE.
IDEATE, ITERATE, VALIDATE, REPEAT
IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT WHAT THE USER
WANTS AND NEEDS. NOT YOU.
“Photoshop is not the canvas.
The technology is.
MATTHEW ARMENDARIZ • @MATTCHEW
INTERACTIVE
AUTHORING
WEB 1.0 &
WEB 2.0
RESPONSIVE &

MOBILE DESIGN
PRODUCT
DESIGN
SERVICE

DESIGN
FUTUREPAST
REQUIREMENTS OF SKILL AND SPECIALIZATION OVER TIME
THE HALF-PIPE EFFECT
BREADTH OF KNOWLEDGE
DEPTHOFEXPERTISE
T-SHAPED
TEAMS
LEAD, FOLLOW, CONTRIBUTE
AND GET OUT OF THE WAY
D
DO WHAT YOU LOVE
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
THE BEST LEGACY OU CAN LEAVE BEHIND

IS TRAINING THE FUTURE GENERATION.
GET OUT OF THE WAY
“
@RYANCHRIS • GOOGLE DESIGN
The hardest thing for a founder is
believing that not all decisions need
to come from you.
WHEEW!
THANK
YOU
@MANTWAN @FUNSIZE
OWNER SUMMIT 2015 ・ AUSTIN, TX ・ #OWNERSUMMIT #ADAPTINGTOCHANGE

Adapting To Change (Owner Summit 2015)