Merry Christmas 2016! It has been a mixed year for us at Border Crossing UX, a year of change in business and environment. Whilst we haven’t enjoyed some of the decisions in the polling booths, we have embraced the moment and forged ahead. 2016 for us was a year of growth, development and a lot of hard work! We are focusing on our achievements during this festive time. So, here are my highlights of 2016 at Border Crossing UX…
Doubling up
Many in a post-Brexit world started thinking about down-sizing, yet in August we welcomed two new team members and doubled our Edinburgh office over night! Working with Calum and Luke has been great. And it means we have capacity to take on more work as well increasing our in-house skills.
We are also fortunate to work with an amazing group of specialists and freelancers. Without them we would not be able to put together the right team for each project. A special mention to Anton and Bill whose acumen, advice and hard work have helped us surpass our goals this year.
Having a team that you can trust will help you see things differently. It certainly helped us think bigger and increased our confidence. Together, we can imagine a better world and create it.
I am so excited by our plans for 2017. Please do keep an eye out for some exciting new posts coming up over the next year.
Research-led design
The most important thing to any business is its Customers. This year we have been lucky to have a diverse range of great ones. From UX audits to branding workshops highlights of the year include:
- Researching, defining, designing a new brand strategy for one of Scotland’s most prestigious sporting organisations
- Facilitating a brand refresh and designing new customer journeys for an innovative technology company
- Auditing apps, websites and real-world experiences to design and implement improvements that really made the difference
- Conducting primary and secondary research to identify and understand our Client’s customers wants and needs (including on street interviews in December)
- Developing concepts, prototypes and wireframes to test complex ideas and showcase optimal customer experiences
- Designing and implementing the registration campaign for Scotland’s inaugural Events and Festivals Trade Show
- Architecting a brand refresh and coherent cross-channel digital experience for an inspirational charity
- Running collaborative design studios to help subject matter experts to create beautiful online experiences
- Supporting a host of start-ups to launch new products and services
- Collaborating with wonderful partner organisations and agencies on some exciting new digital products and transformation projects.
Hence it has been a busy year for us! But there is nothing we like more than working across sectors on different problems and ideas.
Our work this year has given us a deeper insight into how people use technology to engage with brands. I’m really excited about the new interaction opportunities to engage functionally and emotionally with people and can’t wait to see the developments in 2017.
Talks, Conferences and Webinars
This year saw some great events taking place across the UK and we were lucky to be a part of some of them.
Scot-tech Engagement Conferences
Digital Transformation, Mobile Scotland, Fintech Scotland, Scot-secure and IOT to name a few put on by the team at Scot-Tech! These conferences provide an intimate environment to meet the top people in the industry and have an intelligent conversation. With less than 250 people at every event and a well-curated line up of speakers these are a must attend.
Register now for Digital Transformation 2017 in February – and not just for our brownies!
UX Scotland
The fabulous team at Software Acumen put on another great event for the best in UX in Scotland and the North of England. This annual event in June has gone from strength to strength and we were really proud to sponsor the fab social event at Hemma.
The call for speakers for 2017 is now open and early-bird tickets for 2017 are already available online. If you are in the UX industry or interested in the discipline, make sure you book early to avoid disappointment!
Banking Horizons
Held at the opulent Grand Connaught Rooms in London this event gathered some of the finest minds in Banking from across Europe to discuss the future of the industry. With great talks from Petra Mengelt from Jolt Bank, Tom Blomfield from Monzo and some fascinating panel discussions it was hard to believe this was the first Banking Horizons event from Strategy Desk.
I’m already keeping my eye out for their next one!
EventIt
This spectacular trade show for the festivals and events industry at the EICC was a fascinating and awe inspiring day out. It was great fun to share my experience of user experience in events as a Masterclass. But the highlight of the day had to be the amazing exhibition including everything from cherry tree avenues to virtual reality venue walk-throughs.
Registration for EventIt 2017 at the SECC is open now so register now to avoid missing out on this great day out.
Making the Switch: Consumer attitudes to the changing Financial Services Scene
A great webinar hosted by Verdict Financial. This was my first webinar as a panellist which was great fun. It was really interesting to hear the other panellists’ take on the consumer attitudes and big thank you to Kit Carson for arranging it and sharing some great insights from their data.
You can still listen to a recording of the webinar on BrightTalk.
Turing Festival
This year’s Turing festival was two days of product management and marketing heaven! In a new venue for 2016 the line-up of speakers was immense over both days. Splitting the event between Francois and I, we were both hugely inspired and took away real, practical tips and advice from World leading experts.
Plus, the networking and food is always great at this event so do sign-up for notifications for next year!
New Year, New Brand
You would have thought that with all of the above going on we had enough on our plates. With the changes to both our business, our team and the World around us we decided it was time for a brand and touch-point refresh. We are looking forward to sharing it with you in the early part of 2017 but I couldn’t help sharing a little teaser with you now.
Thank you and Merry Christmas 2016 from Border Crossing UX
So, with 2016 drawing to a close thank you to everyone we work with: Clients, Collaborators, Partners and even Santa. We are truly grateful to be able to work with inspirational, talented and supportive people.
Merry Christmas 2016 from all of us at Border Crossing UX and roll on 2017…..it’s going to be a good year! And to herald it in here is Chewbacca singing Silent Night….enjoy!
