SXSWi 2010 interactive agency session offers few insights

Danny Riddell, CEO of interactive firm Archetype put presented on how his company works through projects with their clients. The session was in one of the event center’s larger halls and was filled wall-to-wall with people hungry for insights into how interactive agencies work. I actually missed the first five minutes because I was about 15 people deep in the line outside that extended down the hall.

photo by Damon Webster

Managing client expectations

Riddell spent a lot of time talking about how failing to nail down project requirements with your client will lead to a disparity between your final product and their expectations. Although I couldn’t agree with him more, the same is true for traditional agencies, not to mention anyone with a boss. But the bulk of the presentation seemed to be about a really cool video-editing interface that Archetype had made for a client.

Riddell shared his wireframes, which are cross-linked flat documents that are usually void of any design that are intended to show basic system functionality and layout. He also briefly mentioned that he would opt for a prototype over a wireframe if clients really had a difficult time conceptualizing the final product.

More questions than answers

There were just too many questions left unanswered: what are the main differences between interactive and traditional? What is the review and approval process like? Who attends the client meetings and how do they operate? How does the interactive price point and overhead differ? And the list goes on.

There were so many holes in the presentation that by the end, Ridell’s audience dwindled to about a third of what it was when I entered the room. Although Ridell will bear the brunt of audience discontent over the quixotic presentation, the SXSWi committee in charge of content should also be held to the fire for the mismatch between attendee expectations and the information presented.