2021 SoDA Year in Review

Another year in the new world order and it feels all mashed up, like time became a handful of damp clay
squeezed into an indistinguishable lump. I began the process of writing this note by Googling, “when did the
pandemic start”? I honestly couldn’t remember. Perhaps you can relate.
Although we caught glimpses of a return to “normalcy” this year, going back to “the way it was” didn’t
quite materialize. But that’s ok. 2021 has been an important year of progress, evolution, growth, and
introspection.
I recently re-read Albert Camus’ famous book, The Plague. One line perfectly captured the potential of the
times in which we are living. Camus wrote:
“What’s true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well. It helps humans to rise above themselves.”
I think that’s true. I certainly hope it is. But what does this have to do with SoDA and the digital agency
universe?
First and foremost, I see this community as a collective of brilliant human beings and not just a network of
agencies. The nature and character of a leader is what shapes a business and defines the impact it will have
on its people and the communities it serves. Our efforts, participation and contributions are intended to
support and uplift one another with the hope that SoDA can play even a small role in helping each of us “rise
above themselves” to see new potential and ways of being. That was important for many of us in 2020 and
perhaps even more so in 2021.
Second, the world is becoming more digital every day and Web3 promises to accelerate that momentum. As
home to some of the world’s most talented digital agencies, you could say that SoDA members are (or soon
will be) the creators of a new digital reality. That’s thrilling. And a huge responsibility. Such a world requires
leaders to “rise above themselves” to see what we couldn’t see when we started this digital journey 20+ years
ago… to create a digital future that sows equity, expands opportunity, magnifies truth, multiples joy, honors
our environment and feeds the highest potential of humanity. Perhaps these times of uncertainty and
disruption are preparing us for just that.
On behalf of the SoDA team, I want to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who make this community
hum. It is an honor to work with such a creative, visionary, progressive and generous group of leaders. We
draw energy and inspiration from you every day.
As we close out this year and embark on a new one, we wish you, your families, and your teams a wonderful
holiday filled with love, laughter, joy, and the indescribable lightness of a new beginning. May you continue to
rise above and see clearly the potential of what you can create and become in the year ahead.
Peace.
Tom, Kendyll, Lakai, Jess and Pamela.
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CONTENTS
PARTNERS
& SPONSORS
Founding Organizational Partner Exclusive Web Hosting Partner
Organizational Partners
Thanks to all of our partners for helping us make
2021 a great year for the SoDA community!
Letter from SoDA's Executive Director
Partners & Sponsors
About SoDA
GMM 2021 Recap
Board of Directors
Operations & Advisors
The Business of Change
John Roescher, handsome
The Next Partner Model Must
Build Business Value, Not Ads
Bruno Lambertini, Circus Marketing
Delivering at the Speed of
the Customer
Brian Flanagan, Perficient
Rapid Delivery with a Focus on
Customer Value
Eric Konzelman & Kyle Truscott, Free Association
Ecommerce Trends 2021: Innovation Amid
Rapidly Changing Customer Behavior
Barrel, Build in Amsterdam, Voltage, and WeAreDigital
3 Content Design Trends to Adopt Right Now
Nate Butler, Column Five
In Conversation with MediaMonks
Wesley ter Haar, MediaMonks + Tom Becks, SoDA
with Adobe XD
WEBINAR SPOTLIGHT
Agency Leadership Series
in partnership with Mavenlink
Digital First, Digital Fast.
in partnership with Contentful
SoDA Series: Student Edition
in partnership with Adobe
Future of Work
in partnership with Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
Revenue Forecasting
in partnership with Summit CPA
SoDA Series LIVE
in partnership with Adobe XD
The Next Agency Model
in partnership with Deltek
Rebooting the Web Experience With
Motion UI
Bernie Johnson, Adrenalin
Your Most Important Content Design
Isn’t What You Think It Is
Nate Butler, Column Five
Will Artificial Intelligence Be the End
of Web Design & Development?
Bernie Johnson, Adrenalin
with Media Temple
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The world’s top
digital agency founders,
creative innovators,
& tech disruptors.
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8 9
The Business
of Change
by John Roescher, handsome
Even on their best days, humans
struggle with change. So do
businesses. And the pandemic wasn’t
the year’s next “hottest fad,” it was an
existential threat from nature itself.
When the pandemic hit, we all watched
as some companies easily adapted,
some struggled and made it through,
and some were dead on their feet.
Fortunately, as an agency, change
is our day job. We thrive in chaos,
pushing through fear and ambiguity
to create opportunity. Every day we’re
fighting side-by-side with our clients
to help them survive and design the
future. While this year has taught us
that nothing is certain, here are a few
things we’re confident about.
Agencies are more adaptive. Historically,
we’re considered the frenetic energy in a
partnership. We’re the ones who come in,
shake things up, and drive innovation. Now
we’re proving that we can be a stabilizing
force, too. When businesses are reducing
and reallocating headcounts, we’re there to
help steady the ship and set the sails. When
digital is more important than ever, we’re not
only there to say what should be done, we’re
there to do the work. For many during this
time, a partner who can control the chaos is
actually more valuable than one who drives
disruption. But agencies should be able to
do both.
The value of disruption is still high. That’s
because disruption breeds opportunity.
People are losing their taste for anything
inauthentic. We’ve seen genuinely interesting
opportunities fail because they weren’t
believable. The idea that you can easily and
quickly change one facet of your brand and
succeed in today’s times is risky. If you try,
customers will see it as a stunt. Or worse,
they’ll think it’s disingenuous. And if they
don’t believe in the change, they won’t believe
in the brand. What customers really want is
authenticity and consistency. So how can we
help brands be disruptive in a way customers
will embrace?
Focus on the holistic experience. We have
to get good at identifying and articulating
the human needs that drive a businesses
purpose. Digging into the human needs is
more than choosing the right shaped button
– this work requires a fascination with what
makes us tick and a willingness to embrace
intangible qualities alongside verified proof
points. A plan that considers both, and
places their needs across every micro and
macro touchpoint, is holistic. There may be
pushback on this approach. It’s human to put
action before insight. Action feels good in the
moment – you’re taking charge. But action
alone doesn’t inspire loyalty or payoff in the
long run. Brands must remain true in all their
forms, across all their platforms. Those that
do will win their customers’ love and loyalty.
Holistic isn’t the easy path, but it offers
a better payoff. Done well, it’s just as fast
and cost efficient as blunt action. But it
does require a different type of relationship
between brands and agencies.
Integrated partnerships are the new
agency/client relationship. The old
transactional agency/client relationship
just doesn’t work anymore. One silver lining
of the pandemic is that new pressures
and overnight changes drove us and our
clients closer together. Mutual trust and
collaboration became the foundation of
the new agency/client relationship. No
more working in secret to present a grand
reveal. That approach wastes time and often
requires avoidable rework. Being fast and
being good means abandoning formality and
rolling up our sleeves together. We finally
have the true partnerships we always craved
with our clients. And the work that’s coming
out of these partnerships makes you question
why we did it the other way for so long.

The reality is that change is a constant and
current circumstances make agencies more
needed than ever. Those who can be both
disruptive and stabilizing will be sought
after. Those that champion authenticity
and holism will win hearts and minds.
Those that insist on true partnerships over
transactional ones will be doing the best
work.
The pandemic gave us an extra push, that
is sure. People are bringing more humanity
and desire for connection to the workplace.
It’s overflowing into everything we do.
Everything we’re talking about sums up to
one common thread–human-centered design
is becoming more human. Adaptability,
authenticity, holism, and connection are
some of the best things about humanity. Let’s
embrace their bold entrance into our work. •
About the author: Born and raised in small-town
Texas, John developed a deep interest and passion
for internet technologies at a young age, connecting
him to the worlds of art, design, and community.
Collaborating with a small group of friends with
a shared vision, John co-founded and became the
CEO of handsome in 2012. In addition to leading
and guiding the agency with his vision and industry
insight, John collaborates with and advises several
local startups, technology and design organizations,
and non-profits in the Austin area.
10
“
Those that champion
authenticity and holism
will win hearts and minds.
”
A U G U S T 1 8 , 2 0 2 1
Managing Operations, Culture, & Creative
Excellence in a High Growth Environment
We discussed the challenges, pain points, and changes required as an agency
grows from less than $5MM (USD) to $10MM, $20MM and beyond. We talked
about new areas of focus for the management team, the evolution of your
operating structures and the changing face of your workforce.
S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 2 1
From Digital to Indispensable -
Navigating the Competitive Landscape
We discussed with agency leaders about how they evolved and grew from a
specialized “web design agency” to become a more integrated, strategic partner
helping to drive everything from brand positioning, customer experience, product
design and much more. We also talked about partnerships, agency collectives,
smart positioning, new areas of specialization and the moves digital indies are
making to stay relevant and differentiated in this cluttered, competitive landscape.
O C T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 2 1
The Modern Agency Operating System
Market demand for digital strategy, creative and technology services is booming
but agencies still face immense competitive and operational pressure. In
this session, we dig into the ways in which agency leaders are evolving their
operating model and making investments in modern technologies to enhance
visibility and accelerate productivity, team collaboration, talent management
and overall business performance.
D E C E M B E R 7 , 2 0 2 1
Year in Review and A Look Ahead
We spoke with agency leaders about performance in 2021, the big moves
and subtle shifts that had a big impact on their business. We’ll also discuss
the outlook for 2022 and the issues, trends and opportunities these leaders
expect to be grappling with.

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The Next Partner
Model Must Build
Business Value,
Not Ads
by Bruno Lambertini, Circus Marketing
The past year has seen significant
change in the way people connect
with brands and each other digitally.
While this has been great for some
major players—Disney+ surpassed
50 million subscribers in just five
months since its launch, a milestone
that took Netflix five years to achieve,
while Netflix added another 40
million in just a year—it’s also led to
heightened complexity for marketers
to navigate in the form of touchpoints,
channels and technologies to serve.
These changes also come at a time
when marketers feel the pressure of
accountability like never before.
But 2020 was not only an accelerator but
also a testing period: the rapid change in
environment forced brands and their partner
agencies to put their agility to the test, the
results corroborated that a modern way
of advertising was not just an ideal but a
necessity. Those who came out victorious
showed a flexible and nimble way of working,
while the one who were not as successful
had a hard time stepping away from their
traditional ways. Today’s CMOs want a
partner that can build business value, not
just marketing campaigns. And they must do
so at speed, connecting an integrated offering
that enables a seamless brand experience.
With No Silos, Agencies Adapt at Speed
One of the fundamental ways that agencies
must change to meet the modern marketer’s
needs is to do away with the big idea. Big ideas
are outdated—they’re not transformative.
Instead, the next partner model must
create new types of ideas that touch every
aspect of business from top to bottom and
everywhere in between: in the app, in media,
in communications, in experiential and in PR,
in addition to advertising.
Every brand wants to be the most talked-
about in their category but doing so means
keeping an ongoing drumbeat of the brand
narrative, end-to-end and everywhere.
Eliminating stakeholder silos and offering
uninhibited access to multidisciplinary
talent will become more and more important
to marketers as the decade continues. A
traditional holding company divides up its
influencer teams, video production and
platform developers into different agencies
and teams—requiring new SOWs, briefs and
the like to utilize each—but how can they
show up for brands the moment they need
to tell a new story or support a new channel
before the conversation moves on?
To tell an overarching brand story across
the CDJ, agencies will likewise need to adopt
a unitary model that spans disciplines
and speaks to those different stakeholder
needs. Consider content studios composed
of not only advertising creatives, but also
strategists, interface designers, PR officers
and more. This setup will prove essential
for helping brands offer values to audiences
where and when it matters most.
The Next Agency Model is Local and
Data-Driven
Brands need a partner who’s fit for brand,
fit for market and fit for format. This means
driving consistency throughout the myriad
channels where consumers connect, but
also taking into account local and regional
relevance—delivering actions, not just ads,
that truly resonate with consumers and how
they engage with the world.
As brands aim to drive this level of cultural
relevance with greater precision, agency
partners must strike a careful balance
between aligning the brand narrative
globally, but implemented with hyperlocal
relevance. This means more than just
speaking the language: the next agency
model will connect teams around the world

who are better capable to cast talent and
tell meaningful stories that reflect the local
audience. At the very least, they will have
strong DEI practices in place to speak to
diverse audiences. Being multi-local is about
understanding, interpreting and speaking to
multiple markets to convey a unified message
while resonating in a local way.
Finally, content must be data-driven and
delivered at scale—and what resonates
with one audience segment or channel
might not make sense to another. A content
studio that includes data scientists, data
analysts and creative technologists will
make all the difference through the use and
implementation of dynamic tooling.
Again, the next agency model will thrive on
bringing these talents together across the
organization, helping marketers prove the
value of marketing as an investment that
builds the business. Today’s brands are in a
constant state of navigating disruptions from
every direction; partners and agencies must
evolve to bring together strategy, media and
creative capabilities in a way that offers the
flexibility brands require to not only keep
up with the conversation, but truly lead it in
ways that consumers find meaningful—both
now and well into the decade. •
About the author: Bruno Lambertini is Founder and
CEO of Circus, a digital integrated agency that he
co-founded in 2005. As a result of Bruno’s shared
vision of business and advertising with Sir Martin
Sorrell and Wesley ter Haar, Circus Marketing joined
S4Capital in January 2020. Bruno has worked with
some of the most influential companies including
Netflix, Spotify, Uber, Google, Warner Bros Pictures,
Kayak, Facebook and the California Lottery. Under
Bruno’s leadership, Circus has won more than 100
awards, including Best Independent Agency at El
Ojo Festival, Best Agency at IAB Mixx, as well as
numerous Cannes Lions. Additionally, Bruno serves
on the boards of Oceana, Echo Center and Clayton
Museum for Children.
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“
A content studio that
includes data scientists,
data analysts and creative
technologists will make all
the difference through the
use and implementation of
dynamic tooling.
”
Visit sodagmm.squarespace.com to register
for 2022's Global Summit.

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Digital First, Digital Fast
Delivering at
the Speed of
the Customer
by Brian Flanagan, Perficient
As long as I’ve been creating web
experiences, I’ve heard people use the
“building a house” analogy. To build
a house, first you need a blueprint
(strategy), and then you pour the
foundation (platform), build the walls
(wireframes), install the plumbing
and electrical (APIs), put in the
fixtures and flooring (content) and
finally decorate (visual design) and
move-in (launch).
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Ok, so I’ve never built an actual house before,
so I might have missed a step or two, but
you get the point. It is a very sequential,
“waterfall” type process. And if you’re
building a home it makes a lot of sense. You
can’t re-pour the foundation once it’s been set
or add another bathroom once the plumbing
has been installed.
But what if you were building a virtual house?
What if you had the power to make changes
on the fly. You could have the Architect,
the Builder and the Designer, all working
together AS the house was being built. You
could design, build, evaluate and revise in
real-time. Don’t have enough room to fit the
farmhouse table that the customer wants?
Just bump out the kitchen wall by a few feet
and you’re all set. Need more natural light,
to make the hardwood flooring shine? Try
adding some more windows. If that doesn’t
work, you can try changing the paint color. In
this way, you could iterate collaboratively to
reach the best solution. That’s not possible
in the physical world, but it IS in the digital
world.
In the digital world, we’re not building
houses, we’re developing technology-based
experiences. We are not limited to the
constraints of the physical world, so why
would we follow the same methodology? The
dynamic nature of digital technology gives
us the power to adapt. And with constantly
changing customer expectations, we NEED
to adapt. As Jason Jennings and Lauren
Haughton put it in their best-selling book:
“It’s not the big that eat the small, it’s the
fast that eat the slow.” In order to succeed
in this highly competitive digital landscape,
designers and developers need to work closely
together to deliver on what their customers
expect. It’s time for Design Thinking and
Agile to blend together.
Think Big. Start Small. Move Fast
Design Thinking is not a methodology. It is
an approach to problem solving that helps
designers think like business people and
business people think like designers. It
consists of 5 different modes: Empathize,
Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Each
mode serves a clear purpose and can be
invoked at any point in the process. At the
heart of Design Thinking is a clear focus on
the needs of users/customers and challenging
current assumptions. It encourages
divergence, exploration and iteration. Agile,
on the other hand, is a methodology. It’s a
collaborative development process in which
teams work together to define, prioritize
and deliver incremental functionality. This
process results in greater transparency and
opportunities for feedback, the ability to
pivot and make changes to the solution, and
more manageable deployments. When you
combine Design Thinking with Agile, you get
big picture thinking along with the speed and
agility required to keep up with customer
expectations. In other words, think big, start
small and move fast.
illustration:
Design Thinking
Meets Agile

Create a Shared Vision
In order to move more quickly, designers
and developers need to be on the same page
from the start. This means developers are
included in the design process. They need
to understand the needs of users, identify
the challenges and be part of the solution.
The best way to accomplish this is through
Design Studio sessions. Design Studios
are collaborative workshops where you
apply the Design Thinking principles in
order to explore multiple solutions from
different perspectives. This typically
involves sketching, or whiteboarding in
order to visualize a concept and then discuss
amongst the group. The has traditionally
been an in-person activity but can easily be
conducted remotely by utilizing tools such
as Mural, Adobe XD or even Google Docs.
The key to success is establishing a shared
vision amongst the team so that everyone
understands what is to be created and their
part in making it a reality.
Less PowerPoints, More Prototypes
Once you have established a shared vision,
your team is less dependent on incremental
deliverables. Deliverables are great for
communicating information between teams,
but when the team is working together on the
solution that communication already exists.
Within the course of a project, deliverables
eat up time. There is time required to
create the deliverable, time to develop a
presentation around the deliverable, time to
present the deliverable and time to review
and revise the deliverable. That is time that
could be spent developing the actual solution.
With an agile approach, a small, focused
team can work closely together and utilize
informal communication methods in order
to quickly reach consensus. The team may
still produce artifacts, but they are simply
a means of demonstrating an idea, not a
document that requires a series of approvals.
This enables the team to focus on creating
prototypes of the solution and not static
PowerPoint presentations. That distinction
is huge in terms of velocity, but also in
creating a shared understanding based on
reality and ultimately may be the difference
between meeting expectations and leaving
your customers dissatisfied.
Include the User
Every experience should be designed to
meet the needs of customers. Customers
are first considered within the Empathy
mode of the design thinking process, but
they should never be forgotten. When you
focus on developing the solution instead of
deliverables, you will soon have a product
that you can test with users. Not just
wireframes or static comps, but a working
model. This allows you to capture feedback on
the entire solution, because every part of the
experience is important. Not just the layout,
the creative or the content, but also the
functionality, responsiveness and rendering
across devices. Sure, it’s not always going to
be perfect in the middle of development, but
it enables you to learn what works and what
doesn’t work so that you can analyze, adapt
and modify the solution to better meet the
needs of customers. Besides, the solution is
going to be usability testing anyway, once you
release it to the public. So, it’s best to include
the users in the process in order to catch as
many issues as possible before the launch.
Conclusion
As digital design and development evolves,
we can move away from traditional working
models that are rooted in the physical world.
The digital world enables us to create and
recreate at an accelerated pace. In fact, many
times it is easier to update the code than it is
the visual comps. So, working faster doesn’t
mean working harder. It’s about working
together and bringing the concepts of Design
Thinking and Agile together in order to keep
pace with your customers. •
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About the author: For more than 20 years Brian Flanagan has worked with clients to design and execute
cutting-edge user experiences. As a digital experience strategist, he is responsible for driving digital strategy
for enterprise clients and oversight in delivering best practices. In this role, Brian keeps Perficient Digital
and its clients on the cutting edge of new design strategies for next-generation technologies to consistently
exceed client and peer expectations.
Webinar Spotlight IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Digital First, Digital Fast.
Now, more than ever before, agency and business leaders are adapting to disruption by
operating in a digital-first mindset; creating innovative experiences that raise the bar for
customer’s expectations. But staying competitive also requires speed without sacrificing
quality. Join us for a deep dive as we discuss how these leaders are bridging the gap between
reality and customer expectations in the digital-first era.
Jonathan Whiteside
Principal Technology
Consultant @ Dept
Andrew Kumar
Director, Platform
Strategy @ Contenful
Brian Flanagan
Digital Experience
Strategist @ Perficient
Eric Konzelman
Partner @ Free Association
SPEAKERS:

20
Rapid Delivery
with a Focus on
Customer Value
by Eric Konzelman and Kyle Truscott, Free Association
Rapid delivery is required to thrive
as a digital product team these days.
But as expectations for speed mount,
the pressure to ship can increase the
risk of building the wrong feature
or the wrong product altogether. In
the end, it doesn’t matter how fast a
product goes to market unless it is
valuable to its customers.
Digital First, Digital Fast Fortunately, it is possible to increase
speed without sacrificing the product’s
effectiveness. It starts with redefining what
“rapid delivery” really means. Release cycles,
velocity, and other measures of productivity
are important operationally, but they
overlook the key dimension of customer
value. For our teams at Free Association,
rapid delivery means determining a product’s
most valuable features and delivering
their optimal user experience as quickly as
possible. To balance expediency and value
maximization, we have a few tools in the
toolbelt.
Let’s start with job story development and
opportunity analysis. The Jobs to be Done
(JTBD) framework is based on a theory by
Professor Clayton M. Christensen. It asks
innovators to think about their product or
service in these terms:
“What job does a user hire your product to
do?”
Within this, it’s key to understand that
“customers don’t buy products and services;
they hire various solutions at various times
to get a wide array of jobs done.” The basic
format for writing a job story is:
To surface the unmet user needs, we give
each job story an opportunity score, using
a simplified version of Anthony Ulwick’s
methodology for opportunity analysis:
• Rate each job 1-10 based on the importance
to the user of the desired outcome
• Rate each job 1-10 based on the degree to
which it is currently satisfied
• Opportunity Score = Importance +
(Importance - Satisfaction)
Compiling job stories and conducting
opportunity analysis should be informed by
customer and design research. Focusing on
the job stories with the highest opportunity
scores maximizes the chances of creating
high-value features. It safeguards against
waste and feature bloat, both of which greatly
diminish a team’s ability to truly deliver
rapid value.
With understanding of the highest scoring
opportunities, our team can quickly
synthesize an initial product strategy and
high-level roadmap. Prioritizing accordingly,
we plot design sprints against the highest-
value job stories.
As our sprint plans take shape, it’s key to
consider how to de-risk big design decisions,
and quickly land on an effective UX that will
satisfy a given story. One method employed
by our teams at Free Association is called
“divergent/convergent design.” To “diverge,”
the team goes for breadth and determines as
many viable UX design solutions as possible.
To “converge,” we try to pull from the best
ideas, refine, and test concepts or prototypes
with potential users.
But, does exploring many different ideas,
only to choose one, actually save time? It does
for a few reasons. Done right, the process of
exploring and arriving at a winning concept
helps orient the product team and key
stakeholders towards a singular experience
When ___[situation]___,
I want to ___[motivation]___
so that ___[outcome]___.
21

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vision. Alignment on a vision upfront builds
excitement and momentum. It prevents
confusion, conflict, and rework down
the road. But the main reason divergent/
convergent design contributes to speed, is
that it (almost always) yields a better design
solution faster. By quickly trying many
materially different solutions in a low risk
environment, the team lands on a superior
solution sooner vs. building out and serially
enhancing an initial design solution that
seemed obvious at first. Throughout the
diverge/converge process, we rely on a mix
of user research and prototyping to help
prove we are indeed honing in on the optimal
feature, flow, or product concept.
After converging and de-risking key UX
decisions, we can confidently run design
and engineering sprints. We now execute
against our roadmap and make our winning
prototypes real. Though our focus becomes
executional, each sprint is still rooted in
maximizing customer value, especially on
the UX/UI level. Executional sprints can be
more effective and efficient by following a few
best practices and getting the most out of a
modern design stack.
First, don’t reinvent the wheel. Leverage
the API economy of existing services and
platforms to power routine parts of a
product. Use it to de-risk implementation
and move faster. There are many modern
development platforms that help here:
• Headless Content Managers - Rigid
platforms and frameworks so often
block creative UX solutions. Tools like
Contentful decouple an application’s data
layer and frees the UX from constraining a
templating system.
• Authentication & Identity Providers
Customers expect top-notch security
and multiple ways to register for an
application. Platforms like Auth0, Okta,
and OneLogin can quickly remove this
traditionally complex and time consuming
aspect of product development.
• Edge Hosting - Platforms like Netlify
and Vercel dramatically speed up
infrastructure configuration. At Free
Association, we frequently leverage
Netlify to build and serve single-page-
apps, static sites, and prototypes.
Second, create and adhere to a design system
early in the process. A system of atomic
elements will empower UX innovation
and unlock efficiency across the full team.
Designers can focus on composing divergent
UX concepts instead of routine UI elements.
Similarly, developers are able to quickly
assemble and wire complex experiences.
Third, set up a design ops process that
yields transparency and fosters flow across
different business functions. True rapid
delivery comes from cross-functional
collaboration. Collaboration between design
and engineering is increasingly made easier
with cloud-based design software. We use
Figma to keep our teams in lockstep when it
comes to design componentry, versioning,
and collaborating across discipline. This
removes the “let me work on this problem
in a vacuum and share the file when I’m
done” workflow of the past. Instead, Figma
allows iteration through design challenges
together, in real-time. Figma also includes
design system management features so that
an update to a component can be made in one
place, then deployed and used system-wide.
Throughout execution, rapid delivery still
means proving value and user experience
fit as quickly as possible. By definition,
technology will always grant an ability to
move faster. The latest tools are rapidly
lowering barriers to design and development.
No code/low code platforms are dramatically
reducing the time and effort needed to create
complex applications. Despite the toolset
and the speed it affords, the critical question
-
remains: with each release, feature, or new
product, how can we ensure we’re delivering
the most value for customers? •
About the authors: Eric Konzelman is a Partner at
Free Association. Kyle Truscott is an Engineering
Director and leads the UX Engineering discipline at
Free Association.
23
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best in their creative industry.
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at Top Agencies

Ecommerce Trends 2021:
Innovation Amid Rapidly
Changing Customer Behavior
by Design Leaders at Barrel, Build in Amsterdam, Voltage, and WeAreDigital
Ecommerce is a fast-growing, fast-evolving industry anyway, but the
COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated this transformation – some say
by as much as 10 years. According to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, global
online sales are expected to reach $4.2 trillion this year. The U.S. accounts for
close to one-quarter of that spending, and in March alone – in the wake of the
American Rescue Plan – consumers spent an extra $8 billion online.
The SoDA Series is a perspective on leadership, design, culture
and emerging trends from the Society of Digital Agencies; a global
community of pioneering and renowned agency founders, creative
visionaries and technology disruptors.
SoDA Series on
Two years ago, just 13.6 percent of
worldwide sales were made from online
purchases. In 2021, it’s thought to go up
to 19.5 percent, even while brick-and-
mortar businesses are reopening – a
45.8 percent increase in ecommerce
market share over two years (source:
Shopify). What’s especially striking is
that a big part of the growth, which is set
to continue, comes from new shoppers.
Adobe found that 47 percent of U.S.
consumers had never bought certain
types of items online before, while 9
percent said they had never purchased
anything online at all before March 2020.
These new ecommerce customers are
likely here to stay.
“As ecommerce sales
continue to explode, there’s
a growing need to make the
virtual product experience as
real as possible.”
To find out how the industry is innovating
during this record expansion, we spoke
with five design leaders from the Society of
Digital Agencies (SoDA) in the U.S., Europe,
and Australia. Here we highlight what
they believe to be the most important, and
exciting, shifts in ecommerce shaping how we
experience online shopping now and in the
future.
“As ecommerce sales continue to explode,
there’s a growing need to make the virtual
product experience as real as possible,”
said Tom Beck, executive director of SoDA.
Here are a few examples of how emerging
technologies are going mainstream:
Switch to photorealistic 3D design
The benefits of photorealistic
representations are vast – replacing product
photography with 3D visualization removes
the need for expensive live photoshoots
and replaces environmentally wasteful
physical samples. Pull in a little AR allowing
customers to virtually try on, or view in place,
these 3D rendered items, and you have a fully
virtual commerce experience.
Enhance customer interaction with
augmented reality
Previously mostly used for high-end or niche
experiences, augmented reality is now also
transforming online shopping – and not just
for high-end purchases, for more low-cost
purchases too. Customers can now find AR
tools in home decor, fashion, cosmetics and
even on food sites. AR offers consumers the
opportunity to visualize their purchase – in
room or on person – ahead of hitting that buy
button; ultimately helping customers feel
more confident in their purchasing decision
and minimize returns (as well as positively
impacting carbon footprints).
Build in Amsterdam has partnered with
international lifestyle and design company
Moooi to deliver added business and customer
value using AR. Build employs both AR and
voice search on Moooi’s fully accessible
multi-sensory shop to help customers assess
products (some of which have extravagant
dimensions) without having to travel to a
physical showroom. A product configurator
for a part of Moooi’s catalogue enables
customers to view furniture in 3D and create
custom-made products tailored to their
needs and preferences. And, as industry
fairs and physical exhibitions were canceled
during COVID-19, Build in Amsterdam
created an imaginary showroom for Moooi:
A Life Extraordinary, helping overcome the
cancellation of Salone del Mobile, one of the
company’s major sale events.
INDG’s photorealistic 3D
renderings for New Era
Caps, created in Adobe
Substance, replace
existing 2D illustrations
when the physical
products do not yet exist.
24

AR is also being used to drive fun brand
experiences as you’ll see in this partnership
with Pizza Hut.
Figure A:
Tool of North America teamed up with Pizza Hut for an AR
experience that transforms a pizza box into classic arcade game
Pac-Man.
Go contactless with NFC-technology
Already widely used for contactless pay
options at brick-and-mortar checkout stands,
during COVID-19 Near Field Communication
(NFC) as well as QR codes rose in popularity
as customers became more conscious of what
they touched.
NFC is increasingly being explored for
contactless ways for customers to interact
with products, for example to get product
information, read reviews, and connect to
social media. Build in Amsterdam went one
step further: The agency recently enabled
Moooi customers to ensure they are buying
an authentic product. As counterfeits are
multiplying, the team created an NFC-chip
called The Button to place on Moooi products,
which acts as proof of authenticity.
Set brands apart with immersive
storytelling
To make ecommerce sites stand out and
showcase products at their best, agencies
increasingly turn to storytelling techniques.
Storytelling helps create interest around
a brand or a product, attracts customers
and moves them through the purchasing
cycle. Ensuring the ecommerce experience
is consistent with the story the brand or the
product is telling is essential to building a
long-term customer connection. If customers
feel an emotional attachment to something
they are more likely to care about it, as well as
share about it.
“It’s one thing to simply get visitors and
potential customers to your site, but it’s quite
another to persuade them to buy,” points
out Eric Fowles, founder and CEO of full-
service design agency Voltage in Louisville,
Colorado. “To achieve that, you need branding
and immersive storytelling as part of your
ecommerce design, alongside optimizing the
purchase funnel and checkout experience.”
Figure B:
Voltage creates online fundraisers to enhance a brand’s
ecommerce presence. For Chipotle, for example, the agency drew
attention to local good causes that customers can donate to
when ordering online or in the app.
Figure C:
Build in Amsterdam’s Mammut Expedition Baikal, Awwwards’
Ecommerce Site of the Year, combines an immersive experience
with online shopping to get the customer closer to the brand.
Following athlete Dani Arnold on an extreme expedition to Siberia,
visitors get an in-depth back story that wouldn’t be possible to
tell if they shopped for the mountain sports collection in a brick-
and-mortar store.
Implement smarter and more targeted
personalization
To differentiate themselves from the
competition, brands increasingly aggregate
consumer data, which enables them to better
understand shopper behavior and then target
and personalize the ecommerce experience
A
B
C

accordingly. This is made easier by driving
down the cost of and increasing access to
data collection and analysis.
“Understanding how customers spend their
money, when and in what quantities they
buy, and what competitors they visit helps
form more effective personas and marketing
campaigns,” said Peter Kang. “Brands that
leverage data in smart ways can really shape
their products and services to be superior
and targeted at the appropriate customers.
For example, a Netflix or Amazon home screen
that did not personalize according to your
behavior at all would most likely feel like a
poorer user experience.”
Personalization has been especially useful
during the pandemic when customers
couldn’t visit brick-and-mortar stores.
“Presenting dynamic product
recommendations and personalization
powered by AI and predictive technologies
informed by deeper customer understanding
replicates the experience of helpful store
staff,” said Karson Stimson, founder and CEO
of WeAreDigital in Melbourne.
Figure D:
Build in Amsterdam developed a tool for tailor-made fashion
brand Suitsupply that enables users to get style advice, on- and
offline, from a personal style advisor.
Consider easier and more user-friendly
online payments
A lot of innovation in ecommerce is also
happening around online payments. Mobile
payment services such as PayPal’s Venmo
and Square’s Cash App, for example, enable
customers to transfer money directly from
their bank account. Both also support
cryptocurrencies.
Shopify’s Shop Pay, meanwhile, lets
customers save their shipping and payment
information to help them check out faster the
next time. Buy now, pay later providers like
Affirm, meanwhile, allow customers to make
purchases today and pay in installments over
time without being charged interest or fees.
And that’s just the start.
“We’re in the early stages of more seamless
and user-friendly applications of online
payment technology,” said Peter Kang,
co-founder and CEO of New York-based
independent creative and digital marketing
agency Barrel. “There are opportunities
to make payments easier, faster, and more
valuable to customers.”
An example are different ways to reduce
the transaction fees of two to three percent
that are typically levied on all credit card
payments. Kang believes these could be
connected to ACH payments or different
forms of digital currency.
“Getting payment transaction costs closer
to zero will have large ramifications on
how brands can reinvest into better loyalty
and retention strategies as well as product
development and pricing,” he said.
Continue to respond to changing
customer behavior
During the global pandemic, online shopping
became an essential way of purchasing
products and staying in touch with the
products and brands we love. As a result, we
now expect more from an ecommerce store.
WeAreDigital’s Karson Stimson believes
that replicating what’s great about in-store
shopping, while minimizing the traditional
drawbacks of buying online, is the next big UI
and UX challenge.
“We can bring that ‘being there’ feeling online
by investing in rich content that highlights
fit, feel and quality through the use of
images, video, AR, intelligent size guides and
social proof,” he says. “Equally important is
designing a post-purchase experience that
focuses on speed by providing same-day
D
E
29

delivery and a seamless returns process,
encouraging repeat buys and unlocking
opportunities to deliver lifetime value
through loyalty programs.”
Smaller retailers are thriving
While the pandemic may have had a
devastating effect on many physical retailers,
the growth of ecommerce, advances in
technology, and decreasing costs also mean
that smaller brands can thrive alongside the
big players, as long as they find their niche
audience.
“Especially in fashion and accessories, there’s
a move to offer more unique, limited edition
products as a reaction to big box retailers
and mass-produced fast fashion,” Stimson
explains.
Some brands sell primarily through social
channels like Instagram, while others
use platforms like Shopify to build a
robust catalog with a traditional checkout
experience. Brands targeting Gen Z and
younger millennials specifically also often
use scrolling text and flashy animated GIFs
reminiscent of the Y2K free-form internet
aesthetic but in a more UX-friendly format.
Figure E (previous page):
Lunch is a season-less concept store for fashion, jewelry, and
accessories focused on promoting a slow and sustainable style.
Direct-to-consumer is booming
During the pandemic customers have
also become more comfortable with the
idea of buying directly from brands. A
lot of businesses are now cutting out the
middleman or any third parties.
“We’ve seen a real acceleration in the
willingness of brands to grow their direct-
to-consumer relationships, whereas in the
past they might have let most ecommerce
transactions happen on Amazon or a third-
party merchant service,” says Barrel’s Peter
Kang. “Now brands are launching their
own ecommerce websites with marketing
spend on search and social channels to drive
customers towards subscriptions and bulk
purchases, so the shipping economics make
sense.”
The power of embracing creative
constraints
The pandemic accelerated ecommerce
transformation by about 10 years. All kinds
of businesses, old and new, now pay closer
attention to the way they operate, who they
partner with, and the technology they use to
sell their products online.
To stand out from the competition and meet
rising customer expectations, companies now
invest more in experimenting, which has led
to a lot of innovation in ecommerce. AR and AI
are breaking into the mainstream, creating
more immersive and personalized customer
experiences, while the payment process is
getting easier and faster.
A lot of the innovation we’re currently seeing
in ecommerce is borne out of necessity, as
COVID-19 restrictions made online shopping
the only way to stay in touch with customers,
but it’s proof that creativity indeed thrives
under constraints. •
With thanks to the following design leaders
that contributed to this article:
• Peter Kang, Co-Founder and CEO of Barrel,
New York, USA
• Tim Weers, Founder and Managing Director
of Build in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
• Karson Stimson, Founder and CEO of
WeAreDigital, Melbourne, Australia
• Tom Beck, Executive Director of SoDA, Ann
Arbor, USA
• Eric Fowles, Founder and CEO of Voltage,
Boulder, USA
About the author: Oliver is an independent editor, and the founder of the Pixel Pioneers events series.
Formerly the editor of net magazine, he has been involved with the web design and development industry
for more than 15 years. He also co-founded the international web conference Generate, and is particularly
passionate about user experience, inclusive design, and advocating for social good.
30
Webinar Spotlight
The past year has challenged agency leaders
to rethink everything from building culture
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becomes more accessible, these leaders
are defining what a return to office will look
like and how their teams will continue to
collaborate. SoDA legal partner, Frankfurt
Kurnit Klein & Selz, joined SoDA members
for a discussion on vaccine mandates, legal
implications for remote work, and policies
to be mindful of when crafting the return to
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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
31

3 Content Design Trends to
Adopt Right Now
by Nate Butler, Column Five
Strong content design is about much more than applying your brand identity
or basic design principles. Good design is inherently good storytelling,
delivering a core message through visual communication. But the way you tell
that story through both content and distribution is changing.
As society, technology, and communication channels evolve, there are many
more layers to consider if you want to create meaningful, impactful content
that resonates with people. Here are three trends that are influencing the
way we can—and should—design content.
The SoDA Series is a perspective on leadership, design, culture
and emerging trends from the Society of Digital Agencies; a global
community of pioneering and renowned agency founders, creative
visionaries and technology disruptors.
SoDA Series on
1) Inclusive design
Good design is good storytelling, but
the story you’re telling isn’t just the
one in your creative brief. Every piece
of content you create reflects your
brand story—who you are, what you do,
and what you care about. The way you
design your content can say just as much
about your brand as the content itself.
Ultimately, despite your intentions,
it’s how your content is received (and
perceived) that matters most.
For example, I recently saw a promo
video for a product for the visually
impaired that included no voiceover
narration. It was completely inaccessible
to the very audience it was trying to target.
While the brand had done well in designing
the product, the promotion of said product
was notably misguided.
As more and more organizations focus on
Diversity & Inclusion initiatives, and larger
cultural conversations continue to spotlight
these gaps, designing for inclusivity will
become more important. Remember that your
content will be consumed by many people,
especially if it’s early stage content focused
on awareness, so it’s important to think about
who your audience is, what their unique
needs might be, and what barriers they
may face when trying to interact with your
content.
There are many factors that may affect how
someone is included or excluded by content
design, such as ability, language, culture,
gender, age, etc. The goal of inclusive design
is to create content that a wider diversity of
people can consume. (Learn more about the
difference between inclusive and accessible
design.)
You need to consider how the core elements
of design—color, type, imagery, animation,
etc.—may be interpreted by or affect different
people. What might that look like in practice?
• Designing websites for low or limited
bandwidth, as many people don’t have
equal access to Internet.
• Using tools like Adobe’s color blind safe
palettes.
• Adding captions and alt text to online
content.
• Breaking up large blocks of text to improve
comprehension for people with learning
disabilities.
These are little design tweaks that can
drastically improve someone’s experience,
make them feel included, and make them feel
better about your brand.
Note: You probably won’t be able to flip the
switch and make everything you create
perfectly inclusive overnight. But you can
start to apply these frameworks and look for
opportunities to improve your content—both
inside and outside of your company. (See
Microsoft’s inclusive toolkit for more on this.)
2) Designing for platform
People consume content on a variety of
platforms, but designers are often asked
to take a one-size-fits-all approach to their
design.
However, each platform has its own culture,
audience, and technology, all of which
should be considered in your content design.
Ultimately, these platforms are about
connection and engagement—not auto-
publishing content. When you use the same
content design across all channels, you can
come off as uncreative (at best) and out of
touch (at worst)—especially to devoted fans
that follow you across all channels.
Whereas you may have once designed an
infographic, then shared a preview of it
on Twitter to promote it, to make a bigger
33
32

impact, you might tailor your visuals to the
specific audience on a specific platform.
What is the aesthetic? The tone? The sense
of humor? What type of content does your
audience enjoy most?
The good news is this doesn’t have to be a
chore. It’s an exciting opportunity to be
creative, make the most of the tools at hand,
and genuinely and authentically connect with
audiences. That can take many forms, such
as…
• Recreating a TikTok challenge in a unique
way.
• Turning your regular content into an
entertaining meme.
• Designing unique visual stories for
Instagram.
• Incorporating video, polls, etc.
For example, Glossier is a beauty brand that
could use TikTok to post beauty tutorials
all day long, but they make the most of their
presence by adding their own unique twist to
popular TikToks.
Remember: The more effectively you do this,
the more you can demonstrate that you “get”
your audience, know what they like, and are
invested in giving it to them. This transforms
the interaction from a one-way conversation
(where you’re telling them what you want
to tell them) to a two-way conversation that
helps you form a genuine bond and share an
experience, all through strong content.
3) Maximizing design
Marketing budgets have shrunk in the wake
of the Pandemic. And many brands already
struggled to produce high-quality content
consistently, thanks to a lack of resources.
(According to the Content Marketing
Institute’s 2021 B2B Content Marketing
Report, 63% of marketers cite content
creation as a barrier to success.)
There are many other opportunities to get
more mileage from your content. You can
also…
• Combine existing assets to create a larger
piece of content. This is an easy way to
increase your content output without
much additional work. For example, you
might turn a series of blog articles into a
new e-book.
• Repurpose specific assets in additional
content to add a visual element without
having to design custom assets. For
example, a data visualization from a
report may be reused in a blog article or on
Twitter.
Not only does this cut down on design time
(increasing ROI), it makes the content
you have created far more effective by
increasing…
• Reach: Creating smaller assets or teasers
from cornerstone content can help you
promote across platforms, helping you
reach more people through a variety of
formats.
• Shelf life: Some pieces of content go stale
quickly, especially if you’re talking about
data or recent research. But there are
elements of design, such as illustration,
that are easy to repurpose into any
number of pieces of content.
• Creativity: If you plan to turn a single
piece of content into multiple supporting
pieces of content, you have more freedom
to experiment with format, design styles,
etc.
That said, to do a divisible content strategy
successfully, you do need to apply your visual
language consistently. This ensures your
content remains uniform and recognizable,
no matter how you use or reuse it.
Design may not seem like a priority in these
times, but it can drastically affect the way
people consume your content and experience
your brand—in ways that translate to your
bottom line.
In fact, a 2018 McKinsey & Co. study found
that design-driven companies experienced
32 percentage points higher revenue growth
and 56 percentage points higher total returns
to shareholders (TRS) growth over a 5-year
period. (One online gaming company they
studied experienced a dramatic 25% increase
in sales after making a small tweak to the
usability of its home page.)
Tl;dr? Design is something you don’t want
to skimp on, but you can maximize your
investment by being more intentional about
the design you do create. One of the best
ways to do this is by using a divisible content
strategy, wherein you design content with the
intention of using it in multiple applications.
This often involves the creation of a larger
piece of cornerstone content, which is then
broken into smaller assets. For example,
you might produce a single e-book, break
the e-book into a series of infographics, and
create an Instagram story detailing the most
interesting data points to promote the e-book
on social media.
Looking toward the future
The design world is ever-evolving, but the
key to all content—regardless of what you’re
creating—is providing true value to your
audience. As you go forward, think of ways
to apply design more intentionally, optimize
for comprehension, and increase appeal
one piece at a time. The more successfully
you do that, the more you’ll outshine the
competition and create lasting connections
with a community of fans. •
About the author: Nate is a creative director,
designer, numismatist, and lifelong curmudgeon
located in Southern California. He enjoys
unnecessarily complex grid systems, data
visualization, self-imposed creative hurdles, writing
bios about himself in the third person, and the
tedium of near imperceptible perfectionism. Nate
joined Column Five in 2013, where he currently
serves as Creative Director.
34 35

36
SoDA Series on
Tom Beck, executive director of SoDA
spoke with Wesley ter Haar, founder of
MediaMonks and executive director at
S4. Wesley reflected on the past 20 years
of MediaMonks, the ways in which S4 is
building the future agency model, a new
wave of innovation in digital content and
experiences and what it takes to build a
creative, data-driven culture.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS:
On the founding of MediaMonks
We’re getting very very close to the official 20-year date – a week and a half away… When we started
MediaMonks, I was a flash developer; we were doing it as a hobby. It was such a long and winding sort
of process, and if you would run the algorithm a million times I don’t think we would ever get to the same
spot because so much of the outcome was dependent on the talent and the teams joining along the way.
The luck, the randomness, the good and bad choices.
On merging with S4 Capital
… with S4 we were able to find a spot that celebrates our team and what we enjoy. It allows us to start
with scale, while still foundationally creating something that’s new. That is the most exciting, energizing
thing I could possibly imagine from an entrepreneurial perspective. We’re working in very different ways.
There are data people and media people and content people that are all part of the same teams. There’s
production that’s part of ideation… there’s just a very different vibe to it. It’s more hands on, it’s more in-
tegrated, its teams are more collaborative and more partnership focused… When it comes to innovation
and change, we have an opportunity to be quite a disruptive player for a long time to come.
On the second reawakening of digital
… digital has gone in waves, from the initial celebratory, very joyous wave of the 2010s where content
was really tactile, exploratory and fun. Creators focused on things like storytelling and story doing, and
then put that narrative on digital channels to create some form of consumer experience, but at that time
we didn’t have any meaningful way to show value against that… We’re now at the point of maturity in
the industry where we can go, hey, it’s not just cool, it’s delivering impact, business impact. It’s allowing
us to create a fair exchange of value so people willingly share data, instead of us sort of shortcutting to
relevance… There’s a celebration of digital beyond just being a channel for direct response. We truly
believe doing amazing things in digital helps build brands and helps drive business.
On blending creativity and analytics
Today creatives get briefed constantly with data – strategic insights, often based on personas that are
mostly based on a few interviews and a few research pieces. It would be much more valuable for them
to have the real data from the
real people interacting with the
product. Actual analytics provides
the opportunity to fight for the idea
that didn’t make it through that
process because they can now see
how actual people in the wild are
interacting with it. Meaningful data
gives creatives the opportunity to
get more diverse work out of the
market because they can lobby for
change based on testing with real.
37
S4Capital leadership
I N C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T H

On making digital personalization better
If I look at it from our perspective, we build everything into what we call the data spine… there is a
foundational understanding that we collect as much meaningful data on our platforms as we can to
create a better personalized experience for the consumer.
We like personalization in the real world, I call it the “Cheers” effect – you go somewhere and everybody
knows your name. Normally that’s a good thing. But online we’ve turned it into the sort of personal panic
moment, “is my phone listening to me?”. There needs to be a fair exchange of analytics and data used
to optimize the experience. The goal is to deeply understand what type of creative and messaging is
influencing the performance: is there a reason behind this performance that can actually provide some
type of understanding of what resonates with our consumers in that channel? That’s where everything
we’re doing is moving. And if it’s done in the right way, it’s very fun and empowering for creatives.
On building a data-driven, creative culture
I think the simplest part is the people; if I look at the data and creative teams, they were just happy to
finally start looking at things more broadly. It can be very frustrating if you’re stuck on one side of the
business – you either feel limited by your lack of access to meaningful information or ability to influence.
At the people level, everybody was very enthusiastic about the idea of removing these silos. For us, it was
less about technology and more about process: how to find the right cadences and how those cadences
align to client expectations and deadlines.
Still, we realize our want and willingness to remove these silos isn’t necessarily reflected in how we can
work with the client. That’s just part of the journey. We’re seeing more and more of our clients following
our lead as we prove the value. The easiest path we’ve seen for clients is the moment they have a good
understanding at the data level of what their work is doing, where it’s going and how it’s impacting. It
opens up the next level where we can actually start experimenting with our messaging and content and
we can start seeing what the difference is between one message and 1,000 messages.
On content as a reflection of your brand
Content, when made well, can still have both a conversion
and a campaign influence – it can still build brands. A lot of
digital native companies have been very smart about that.
They’re aware that the level of detail they put into all of
the parts of their digital ecosystem translates back to the
broader understanding of who they are as a brand. But a lot
of the traditional companies still view campaign content and
conversion content separately. We need to try and get people
out of that headspace. Everything you make is a reflection of
your brand evolution.
On augmented reality
There is a logical use when it comes to maker brands, when
it comes to fashion brands – the virtualization of the product
experience. It’s about making the product easier to buy through
virtualization of trying it on, fitting it, putting it in your room. There is a next evolution now around food,
driven by COVID, quite literally a virtual window.
Ultimately AR is about bringing the subject a bit closer, making the barrier to buying a little lower. But
the real unlock is when, at scale, we are able to connect AR to image recognition. The idea of being able
to get people at scale to understand they can use their camera to look at something and that triggers an
interactive component. That to me is the big scale moment. We’re just waiting for a cohesive roadmap
around image recognition and then for a way to put AR at scale against that. We’re still maybe two to
three years out.
On finding talent
It’s very top of mind. We don’t have a problem of finding talent, but our issue is keeping the company
open for good energy and a new mindset – we want people that are going to bring a different point of
view. Sometimes it can be easy to be too elitist in your hiring – focusing on people needing so many years
of experience, a stellar portfolio. It’s important to keep the door very, very open to make sure you’re not
just hiring the same bubble. Some of my best hires were the people who I knew were just going to go get
it. They take initiative. Sure they have a baseline of talent and understanding, but when I think about
hiring people – energy, initiative, those are the qualities that tend to work really well in our organization. •
About the author: Tom Beck is Executive Director of SoDA, a global community of digital agency
leaders, creative visionaries and technology disruptors. With 100 agencies across 20 countries, SoDA’s
members help the world’s most progressive brands imagine and create the future of digital experiences.
Air Jordan AR app
38 39
Intel Studios: Soul & Science
Volumetric AR app.

About Wesley: Founding Monk of MediaMonks and board member of S4, Martin Sorrell’s new era, new
age services company. Co-founded MediaMonks in 2001 to wage war on mediocre digital production,
working tirelessly to grow MediaMonks into a creative production powerhouse with global reach and
recognition.
Former COO and lifeline for deadlines, SoDA board member, served as the inaugural president of Cannes
Lions’ Digital Craft jury in 2016, inducted into the ADCN Hall of Fame in 2018 and named an AdAge
creative All Star and part of the Adweek50 executives leading the way in transforming the industry.
Drinker of tea, giver of high-fives.
About MediaMonks/S4: S4Capital plc is the tech-led, new age, new era, digital advertising and
marketing services company, established by Sir Martin Sorrell in May 2018. Its strategy is to build
a purely digital advertising and marketing services business for global, multinational, regional, local
clients and millennial-driven influencer brands. It is integrating leading businesses in three practice
areas: first-party data, digital content, digital media planning and buying, along with an emphasis on
“faster, better, cheaper” executions in an always-on consumer-led environment, with a unitary structure.
S4Capital combined with MediaMonks, led by Victor Knaap and Wesley ter Haar, in July 2018, and with
MightyHive, led by Peter Kim and Christopher S. Martin, in December 2018.
Webinar Spotlight
Revenue
Forecasting
Summit CPA joins SoDA members to explore methods for creating and managing a solid
revenue forecast across booked and potential revenue. Some of the questions and topic
areas that were addressed are:
• Booked/known revenue and tracking it as it changes during the year as existing projects
are invoiced and new projects added, changes of scope, project delays, lost clients, etc.
• Integrating and reconciling the booked/known revenue forecast with client invoicing and
the roles of account/project management teams, finance/ops leads and sales leads in
ensuring the consistent data (and timing) across the forecast and the actual invoicing.
• Beyond booked/known revenue, how to project pipeline revenue and not yet existing
future engagements. Based on historical data? Based on the pipeline? Based on Account
Growth goals?
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Adam Hale, CPA
Co-Founder & COO
Jody Grunden, CPA
Co-Founder & CEO
Jamie Nau, CPA
Director of Accounting
The GMM was hosted in Savannah, GA from
September 21-23, 2021. The event was abbreviated
to one full day of sessions with informal conversations
and member activities on either end. There were 55
attendees (including speakers and partners) from
22 member agencies. Given the travel restrictions
from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and even
impediments coming in from Canada, the group was
largely comprised of members within the US along
with a handful of our colleagues from Latin America
and Russia. We were grateful to be together, but we
certainly missed the presence and participation from
our entire global community. We’re looking forward to
meeting as a full group again in 2022!
41

WEBINARS
42
Ogilvy’s VP, Design & UX, Dan Saltzman,
discusses building experience design
teams, the tools and methodologies to
create great design, and what’s next on
the UX frontier.
For more than 20 years, DPDK has
transformed and empowered brands
through exceptional digitalism. DPDK’s
CEO Pim van Helten and Creative
Director, Michael Vromans, discuss
DPDK’s legacy and how the agency
approaches digital customer experience
to keep brands differentiated and
competitive.
MediaMonks’ founder and executive
director at S4 Capital Group, Wesley ter
Haar, discusses how brands should think
about purpose, developing experiences
that create connections, and the
technologies and trends which he is
most excited to explore.
As Managing Director of Free
Association, a design agency focused
on digital products and brand systems,
Andy Titus leads teams to not only
create great work, but to build lasting
partnerships with clients. In this
conversation, Andy and Brendan
Truscott chat about the components of
a great design team, the key to creating
design systems that drive collaboration,
and building trust with clients.
As co-founder of Column Five, a
content marketing agency specializing
in visual content marketing, Ross is
an expert in the use of infographics
to convey data-intensive topics in
an easy-to-understand format. Ross
and Asher Rumack (Column Five’s
Director of Strategy) discuss turning
mediocre design into effective visual
communication.
Having worked with brands like Google,
Spotify, and Beats, Mark Pytlik,
CEO at Stink Studios, knows how to
leverage technology to build better
brand experiences. He discusses fusing
creativity, innovation and craft; and what
it means to lead a company that believes
in a “better” internet.
JD Hooge, Co-Founder and CCO,
and Jessica Hartley, VP of Strategy
at Instrument (a digital product and
brand experience innovation agency in
Portland, Oregon) discuss the evolving
role of strategy, digital customer
experience, and how the creative
industry can deliver transformational
change for people of color.
With a career working in countries as
diverse as Russia, Switzerland, England
and Australia, Kath Blackham (Founder
and CEO at VERSA) has been involved
in the digital space for more than 15
years and is responsible for some of the
leading websites in Australia. In this
discussion, Kath discusses the paradigm
shift to conversational AI and omni-
channel design.
A software engineer, designer and
filmmaker, Phillip Tiongson is the co-
founder of Potion, a New York based
interactive design studio that crafts
technology into intuitive interactive
experiences. Joined alongside Myles
Bryan, Director of Design, they discuss
creating cutting-edge digital interactions
and fostering a transformative
experience of the physical world.
Henry Daubrez, CEO/CCO at Dogstudio,
and Chris Huban, ECD of Product at Big
Spaceship discuss the future in design
and predictions from creative trailblazers
alongside Talin Wadsworth of Adobe.
Ann Ystén, CEO and Managing Partner,
and Design Director Mattias Mattisson
at Perfect Fools (an international
creative agency) discuss creating a
culture of innovation with a focus on
mental health and wellness.
Josh Goldblum, Founder and CEO at
Bluecadet (an experience design agency
that works with cultural institutions,
universities, and mission-driven
organizations) discusses the growing
opportunities for physical spaces at the
intersection of architecture, technology,
and design.
JAN
APR
JUL
OCT
MAR
JUN
SEP
DEC
FEB
MAY
AUG
NOV
The SoDA Series Live brings you candid, in-depth discussions with
agency leaders from around the world. We dig into trends and key
topics that are shaping the digital creative, design and technology
community. The SoDA Series Live is a collaboration between The
Society of Digital Agencies and Adobe XD. You can access more
articles and interviews from this series on the XD Ideas content hub.

Rebooting the
Web Experience
With Motion UI
by Bernie Johnson, Adrenalin
SoDA Series on
44 1
We can’t talk about Motion UI without
talking about its ancestor, Flash. The
build-up had been coming for 8 long
years and then, just like that, on the 12th
January 2021 Adobe finally killed Flash.
For good.
Across the globe, legions of old-school
creatives who lived through the epic rise of
Flash in the early 2000’s let out an emotional
sigh. Damn those Flash security risks.
The irony is that Flash was the original
– and at the time ultimate – enabler for
cinematic-quality motion and animation
on the web. Designing in Flash meant the
shackles had come off amongst the design
community, creativity was allowed to flourish
unimpeded, eye-candy was rife across the
web and branded Flash “splash pages” were
ubiquitous.
In reality, the death of Flash had been a slow
and painful experience – with Steve Jobs
putting the first nail in the coffin back in
2007 when the iPhone was released with no
support for Flash. Since that time, Adobe
had been quietly dialling-down life support
for the plugin, whilst the broader web design
community – aware of what was coming –
gradually transitioned over to using HTML5.
Over the next decade, motion design and
animation matured and became more grown-
up; designers moved on from the party days
of bandwidth-killing (often meaningless)
transitions and animations to today – where
it’s generally accepted that motion design
should be used with restraint and, ultimately,
provide functional utility to end users.
What is Motion UI?
Motion UI is the art of leveraging movement
and animating within an interface to help
guide the user experience and communicate
a sequence, next step, transition or action
for a digital product. Motion is also used
extensively as a branding tool, reinforcing
visual cues and interactions which we might
associate with a particular brand.
As humans, our brains are hard-wired to
respond to movement. It’s part of our fight-
or-flight response and the reason why over
40% of all the nerve fibers connected to the
brain are linked to the retina. It’s super-
useful when we’re using our peripheral vision
to discern danger and protect ourselves. It’s
super-annoying when our eyes are attracted
to pointless movement and animation on a
website which only serves to degrade the
functional user experience.
Motion UI Today
From the beginnings of motion on the web
with the use of the <marquee> tag (to scroll
text sideways) to today’s cinematic-quality
Motion UI frameworks used by everyday web
designers, motion has become one of the most
important tools for delivering engagement
and interaction across the web.
These days, the majority of web interface
motion is controlled through the browser,
leveraging CSS, HTML5 and JavaScript
Frameworks. This negates the need for 3rd-
party plugins or video players to display
motion and animation.
As the online battle between platforms and
brands rages on in the fight for our attention,
the need to leverage motion and animation
to cut through the noise of the web has never
been more critical. When used with restraint,
Motion UI is a powerful enabler of beautiful
user experiences and can transform a flat,
static interaction to a memorable moment of
deep engagement with a brand.
Many pioneering brands obsessed with great
45

user experience have released their own
design guidelines with standards and best
practices around motion, including Google’s
Material Design, Apple’s Human Interface
Guidelines and the incredibly motion-
centric Lottie framework from AirBNB.
These guidelines look to synthesize classic
principles of good design with the innovation
and possibility of technology and science. It’s
ultimately about the provision of a unified
experience across platforms and devices.
Storytelling through Motion
Motion can be used to tell a story and invoke
emotion. Storytelling is a powerful way to
drive engagement online, but at its heart,
a story is simply a sequence of events. As
digital experts we strive to deliver the most
intuitive stories to website users and motion
is the perfect guide. Storytelling with motion
and animation can create exceptionally
aesthetically-pleasing moments but also
reinforce incredibly functional user
experiences.
Motion UI can play a vital role in how a user
engages with a digital platform; our eyes
follow motion and we instinctively look for
visual clues and narratives to follow. We also
know that motion is much more memorable
for visitors than static images, so we can use
it for not only simple visual elements such
as text and shapes, but also to take people
on a journey, engaging their visual sensory
receptors with motion sequences to better
communicate more memorable ideas.
Microinteractions through Motion
Microinteractions are those subtle, specific
moments of interaction with a user interface
which bridge the experience to the next-best-
step a user should take. This might mean
tapping on a hamburger menu icon which
Bringing Data to Life with Motion
For most of us, data (in its purest form of
zeros and ones) is visually uninspiring. Our
brains don’t instinctively apply effort in
trying to process complex tables and numbers
when first presented to us on a screen. For
most people, it’s hard to get excited about
tabular data on a screen.
Enter Motion UI. Visualizing data with
motion provides both aesthetic satisfaction
and interpretive usability, essentially
bringing data to life. Data can be represented
by shapes, colors and gradients, breathing
vibrancy into tabular layouts through rich
data visualizations and dynamic movement.
Brand Recognition
One of the most effective uses of Motion
UI is to reinforce brand recognition. Many
pioneering brands use Motion UI to add
a layer of recognition and depth to their
interfaces, invoking instinctive brand recall
and generating a much higher emotional
response than would be achieved through
static imagery. Motion design ensures that
digital interactions stay true to a brand and
resonate with the consumer. It’s essentially
a way to convey a coherent brand narrative
for consumers through a consistent user
experience.
pulls down a navigation, swiping left or right
or toggling a control on or off. Motion makes
these interactions feel more organic and less
abrupt.
When implemented correctly,
microinteractions enabled by motion and
animation are barely noticeable for a user
– until the moment when a user faces the
problem of their absence. Other examples of
microinteractions include animated buttons,
switches, system status animations, load
indicators and other notifications.
Microinteractions help boost the overall
usability of a product. They inform users
that tasks have been successfully completed;
buttons have been pushed, the toggles have
been moved or the required form fields have
been filled-out.
Creating Anticipation with Motion
Anticipatory design means creating an
interface which responds to user needs
one-step before they actually express those
needs. Motion UI is an excellent tool to inform
users and highlight relationships between
elements, action availability, and action
outcomes.
Motion helps guide visitors across the
website or app experience, with movement
and animations intuitively communicating
where to focus, what to do next and what the
most important elements are on a page.
Motion builds an understanding about
the flow between two elements and can be
used for hierarchy and connection between
navigation, element transitions, function
change and other effects. Motion is used to
hold attention waiting for a page to load,
creating the illusion of speed, making users
more likely to wait patiently for page content
to display.
In Summary
So, does this more contemporary focus on
utility and functionality mean that the glory
days of using motion to create epic eye candy
and impactful visual experiences on the web
are over – or are there still opportunities to
leverage Motion UI to surprise and delight
visitors, without diminishing the user
experience through gimmicky distractions?
The answer is that motion is absolutely
critical to the web experience of the future
and should be used by designers to breathe
life into the static and monotonous world
of web design. Once basic user needs have
been met and a digital product works as
expected (or better), motion is the ultimate
amplifier and enabler of a positive, long-term
relationship which a brand can have with a
customer. •
About the author: In 2004, armed with a passion for
big brands and online marketing, Bernie Johnson
recognized the potential for Australian digital
marketing to be at the forefront of the world in
terms of innovation, technology, and customer
engagement. He established digital media agency
Adrenalin Media in the same year and is currently a
Director at the company.
E F G
A B C D
1
47
46

SoDA Series on
48 49
Where does your brand invest most
of its creative resources? Probably in
high-profile content: your big campaigns,
commercials, and pieces for lead gen.
Since these are the most visible, and have
the most money behind them, this is where
your brand needs to shine most, right?
Not always.
While a flashy new video may convince your
Instagram following to ring your doorbell,
it’s the much less glamorous content that will
move them along the buyer journey. Things
like newsletters, presentations, ebooks,
sales materials, and other miscellaneous
pieces of content are just as crucial to your
brand experience—sometimes even more
than the big ticket stuff. Yet, when it comes
to design, this content is often overlooked,
underdesigned, or ignored entirely.
If you’re trying to create a seamless brand
experience that effortlessly delivers
customers from awareness to purchase, the
design you think doesn’t matter may be the
one thing holding you back.
Content Design Is Brand Experience
While we often think of brand experience as
customer service or product performance,
every interaction someone has with your
brand is a part of your brand experience. This
extends to content too.
In big and small ways, your content
communicates a lot about your brand—copy,
format, design all reflect who you are, what
you do, and how you conduct your business.
If you’re not intentional about it, you may be
sending messages you don’t want to send.
We’ve seen these issues both inside and
outside of organizations.
• The sales presentation that gets
frankensteined together every time you
have a new client to pitch.
• The sales brochure full of stock imagery.
• The generic CTA on your website.
• The dry annual report.
Your Most Important
Content Design Isn’t
What You Think It Is
by Nate Butler, Column Five

And that’s just for external communication.
Content design can also be a huge part of
your employer brand experience, influencing
employee engagement, satisfaction, and
retention rates. This content is notoriously
neglected, although it is something that
employees regularly consume.
• The less than inspired About Us page.
• The boring announcement for your next
team event.
• The stock company holiday card.
• The text-only employee handbook.
Creating a cohesive and engaging brand
experience is the key to lasting success—but
if this content isn’t consistently designed,
you’re missing out on major opportunities to
differentiate yourself, connect with people,
and compel them to become a lifelong fan
(or dedicated employee). At worst, you’re
actively degrading the integrity of your
brand. Overlooking the power of design might
even affect your bottom line. (According to
research by Motiv and DMI, design-driven
companies outperform the S&P 500 by
228%.)
The Power of Good Content Design
But what is good content design, really? It’s
designing content in a way that increases
its appeal, comprehension, and retention—
all of which will help you build a lasting
relationship with your audience.
• Appeal
Let’s say you’re exploring a brand’s
website and want to know more. You
probably don’t want to go hunting for
their contact info. Instead, an intuitively
placed, highly visual CTA would 1) grab
your attention and 2) enhance your
experience by feeding the next step to
you (instead of making you waste energy
finding it).
Similarly, Everlane’s About Us page (figure
B) features interactive data visualizations
that break down the price of their clothing
pieces compared to the industry standard.
This simple visual element communicates
their brand ethos and lets you actually
see how much value they deliver—at a
significantly lower price.
While both of these brand stories could have
been communicated through text alone,
adding a visual layer elevates the content and
makes a stronger impact.
Begin With the End In Mind
“Begin with the end in mind” is habit #2 in
Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People. If you want people to have
a good impression of you from the jump (and
maintain that impression at every stage of
the buyer journey), consider how your entire
content ecosystem does or doesn’t support
that experience.
This is crucial, especially for early-stage
awareness content, which is often the first
way people encounter your brand. The
microdecisions you make about this content
design can have lasting effects.
Some things to think about as you audit your
content design:
• Comprehension
Good content design can transform the
way you communicate. When done well,
you make it easier—even enjoyable—for
people to synthesize the information
you’re giving them. Would you want a
text-only manual guiding you through
instructions to program your new device,
or would you prefer a pretty pictorial that
guides you through each step? Since the
brain processes visual information much
faster than text-only communication,
strong design can help you better
communicate with people (regardless of
their learning style).
• Retention
In a competitive marketplace, you want to
stand out. Good content design can foster
an instant connection by creating an
emotional moment. We’ve all experienced
a jolt of delight from surprising brand
content, whether it’s the confirmation
email that made you laugh (shoutout to
Native deodorant) or the clever copy on a
CTA (Cards Against Humanity welcomes
you to submit your bad idea). This type
of content creates a momentary reprieve
during our busy days—and makes you
want to interact with the brand even
more. The more your brand can use
design to make these moments, the more
memorable you’ll be. Whether people
become a customer that moment or in a
year, it’s the first step to creating a lasting
relationship.
Ben & Jerry’s About Us page (figure A) is the
perfect example of how content design can
transform seemingly dull content. Through
a playful, entertaining, and highly visual
timeline of the company’s history, we are
informed, entertained, and given a sense of
their creativity. (It’s memorable enough that
I stumbled on this over a year ago and still
remember it.)
• Can you introduce more design?
Beyond what’s present in a creative brief,
there may be more opportunities to turn
copy into compelling visuals. Think about
how both format and visuals may enhance
the viewer’s experience.
• Who is overseeing content design?
Things often slip through the cracks
because no one is specifically assigned to
oversee it—or because people don’t feel
empowered to take ownership. Identifying
stakeholders is key. (This is one area
where brand teams can be particularly
helpful. Learn more about how to build a
brand team that will grow your business.)
• Are you treating all content equally?
Granted, every piece of content you create
may not require as much people power to
produce, but every piece of content should
be treated with the same level of analysis.
Who is the audience? What do they need to
know? What format is most effective? How
can you add your brand personality? What
next step do you want them to take? How
can design support these goals?
• Can you design more effectively?
Even if you have limited resources,
there are templates, tools, checklists,
and other resources that can let your
team replicate all sorts of on-brand
content pretty painlessly. (For example,
Visage is a convenient way to create data
visualizations and other content.)
50 51
A
B

Ultimately, building and growing a strong
brand through content is a learning process.
Remember that you don’t have to be perfect,
and you’ll continue to evolve as your business
goals change. Even if you have many areas
for improvement, prioritize one and go from
there. What matters most is knowing the
experience you want to deliver, then taking
the steps to get there. •
52
About the author: Nate is a creative director,
designer, numismatist, and lifelong curmudgeon
located in Southern California. He enjoys
unnecessarily complex grid systems, data
visualization, self-imposed creative hurdles, writing
bios about himself in the third person, and the
tedium of near imperceptible perfectionism. Nate
joined Column Five in 2013, where he currently
serves as Creative Director.
53
It’s a question that terrifies modern-day
web designers and developers, keeping
them up at night.
Will Artificial Intelligence see the
end of traditional website design and
development as we know it? Does the
rise of Machine Learning mean legions of
digital experts across the globe will be out
of work, their jobs made redundant from
AI, their skills rendered obsolete?
Not so fast.
Whilst there has been plenty of hype in
recent years around the impact AI will have
to the website design and development
community, the reality is that Artificial
(Design) Intelligence technology is still
very-much in its infancy …and there’s a long
way to go before we see web designers and
developers being replaced by robots. AI-
powered platforms and tools are actually
making digital creatives and engineers more
productive and more effective, allowing them
to produce higher-quality, digital experiences
at a lower-cost.
The concept behind using Artificial
Intelligence to create websites is quite
simple: AI-powered code-completion tools
are used to “make” a website on its own
and then machine learning is leveraged to
optimize the user interface – entirely through
Will Artificial
Intelligence Be the
End of Web Design &
Development?
by Bernie Johnson, Adrenalin
SoDA Series on
Webinar Spotlight
THE nEXT aGENCY MoDEL
A global pandemic, escalating social unrest and economic volatility has created an
uncertain operating environment last year. SoDA and Deltek proudly launched the next
installation of the SoDA Report On series, exploring how agency leaders are responding,
their level of preparedness for disruption, business performance in 2020 and the
outlook for 2021.
SPEAKERS:
John
Roescher
CEO,
Handsome
Bruno
Lambertini
CEO,
Circus Marketing
Chris
Lombardo
Sr. Marketing Manager,
Deltek
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

54
adaptive intelligence, with minimal human
intervention.
The challenge with this model however,
is that it assumes the process of human
creativity can be substituted by machines.
It can’t.
Well, at least not at the moment.
The power of human creativity brings with it
an innate curiosity; we are always looking to
challenge the status-quo and experiment with
new forms and aesthetics. Creativity will
always be a human endeavor. Using Artificial
Intelligence for web design shouldn’t be
viewed as a binary “replacement” option
for human creativity. Instead, AI can be
leveraged as a very powerful extension to the
creative process.
Artificial Intelligence should essentially
be looked at as an augmented intelligence.
Humans and machines, working together.
Rise of Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)
Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) has been
creating huge hype recently with its potential
to be the generational game-hanger when it
comes to web design and development.
ADI can be defined as technology which
makes websites on its own, with human
intervention only needed at the initial stage
to frame the context and desired output
through a set of “input” parameters.
With recent advances in AI algorithms and
machine learning capabilities, ADI has been
Another key consideration is that ADI does
not take into account the many semantics of
a typical “client” when generating ideas for
a website UI. There is always an extensive
amount of client preference, nuance and
human subjectivity which needs to be
considered to successfully deliver a website
project – all of which is not currently in the AI
remit.
Artificial Intelligence for Optimization
Where AI is making a huge impact in web
design and development is in its extensive use
in marketing and campaign optimization.
This includes the many AI-based predictive
tools which negate the need for traditional
website A/B testing or multivariate testing.
Powerful AI-driven product recommendation
engines are also empowering marketers
by analyzing not only purchase history
and consumer behavior, but also via social
listening to determine where sentiment
lies with consumers. AI is then using these
learnings to influence recommendations
around conversion funnel optimization.
Artificial Intelligence is the surface
personalized content that delivers deeper
engagement and better outcomes for the user
experience. Accurate targeting of leads and
segmentation, whilst delivering personalized
content, can create huge improvements in
both ROI and the performance of tactical
campaigns.
AI tools and applications are being used
to streamline the evolution of new digital
experiences to develop and test different
types of campaign layouts and tactical
bridging the gap between human cognition
and machine automation with a view to
create more intuitive functionality and
better user experiences. When it comes to
web design & development, there is huge
potential to leverage ADI to understand
creative rules and apply them independently.
Whilst ADI and machine learning will
never replace the creative process, AI will
continue to be more useful as an augmented
intelligence that designers and developers
can leverage to improve customer outcomes
and create better user experiences.
The way ADI works is that machine learning
is used to analyze existing data sets (such as
customer purchase data, time on site data,
click through rates, product catalogue data
and other behavioral metrics). Once the
data set is available, the AI then applies the
human “inputs” or preferences such as color
schemes, content and context to generate an
entirely unique design for the user interface
(or website).
Whilst it won’t replace the need for designers
and coders, AI technology should soon be
advanced enough to automate a lot of the
tedious process work web designers and
developers currently do. From an enterprise
web development perspective – where
extensive, bespoke, architectural planning
is needed – human engineering, business
analysis and critical-thinking cannot
be substituted entirely with Artificial
Intelligence. AI however can make the
architectural process go faster. From coding,
review, bug detection and regression testing,
AI-powered tools can reduce keystrokes
and provide code optimization and snippet
recommendations on the fly.
approaches and validate their viability,
authenticity and estimated outcomes against
marketing and campaign KPIs.
In Summary
Our world today is already influenced
extensively by Artificial Intelligence and
this impact of AI in our lives will only grow
exponentially. AI however will empower,
rather than replace workers in website
design and development. The exciting
potential comes when viewing humans and
machines as a collaborative “partnership”
– identifying which tasks people can do
better and which tasks machines and AI
can do better. The most important kind
of intelligence will not be AI alone, but
“collective intelligence” that includes both
people and machines. The future will be about
web designers and developers “co-creating”
with AI as part of their wheelhouse, enabling
them deliver more optimal user experiences
in a much quicker time.
So, if you are a web designer or developer you
can rest easy that AI and robots probably
won’t eliminate your job anytime soon.
And even if it does in the future, then you’ll
probably get a more interesting one.
About the author: In 2004, armed with a passion for
big brands and online marketing, Bernie Johnson
recognized the potential for Australian digital
marketing to be at the forefront of the world in
terms of innovation, technology, and customer
engagement. He established digital media agency
Adrenalin Media in the same year and is currently a
Director at the company.
55

BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
56 57
OPERATIONS
& ADVISORS
Andrew Howlett
Struck, Board Chair
Tom Beck
Executive Director
Wesley ter Haar
MediaMonks
Jessica Ongko
SoDA Brand Designer
Pauline Ploquin
Struck
John Haggis
EU Legal Advisor,
Kepler Wolf
Cain Ullah
Red Badger, Vice Chair
Kendyll Picard
Operations Director
Hannah Kreiswirth
AREA 17
Pamela Strother
Partnerships
Johnathan Tann
Spring Advisors
Maileen Flores
Finance & Operations
Advisor, Richtr
Mike Dobell
Jam3
Lakai Newman
Communications Manager
Michael Lebowitz
Big Spaceship
Bradley Gross
P.A., General Counsel
Ann Ystén
Perfect Fools
James Graham
Finance & Operations
Advisor, Richtr

2021 SoDA Year in Review

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