Case Study
ZS’s consulting business was generating consistent demand for UX support — demand the Product UX team was declining. Over 2012 and 2013, 65 requests from consulting practice areas for pre-sales and delivery support went unfulfilled. Each represented a missed revenue opportunity and a client relationship that could have been strengthened. The 65 declined requests became the business case.
Company & Position
ZS Associates, Associate Partner (2011-2017)
Details
The User Experience Expertise Center (UXEC) launched in early 2013 with two designers in India — both immediately and fully utilized. As client demand shifted toward more strategic work, the practice expanded to a U.S.-based team in 2015, unlocking direct client relationships and larger-scope engagements. The practice grew from a two-person offshore team to a global capability of more than 50 people across India, the U.S., and Buenos Aires.
Actions
- Tracked and documented 65 declined consulting requests as the evidence base for a formal business case; reframed a capacity constraint as a market signal.
- Built the business case for a dedicated UX consulting capability; secured Shareholder Council sponsorship.
- Negotiated an operating model enabling leadership of both Product UX and the consulting function simultaneously — a structure held for approximately ten years.
- Established competency models, job descriptions, a phased hiring plan, engagement model, offerings, and methodology.
Outcome & Impact
- Practice grew to serve ~15% of ZS’s $700M technology consulting business, generating ~$11.8M annually in net fees at peak.
- Enabled an additional ~$24M in fees for Custom Development through integrated delivery.
- Offering evolved from UI-focused engagements to strategic Experience Transformation work — increasing average deal size and repositioning the team from order-taker to strategic partner.
- Global team scaled across India, the U.S., and Buenos Aires.
Work Samples
Some of our early work on Business Intelligence solutions:
Over time, the practice area messaging evolved to incorporate UX benefits:
Progression through the Maturity Model led to larger strategic engagements:
Our close collaboration with Custom Development enabled us to engage with our clients across the product lifecycle:
And deliver a broader range of digital solutions to our clients:
In later years, a new Experience Transformation offering enabled us to move from UI-only work into more strategic, high-value engagements. :
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