UNDER THE RADAR - Ciara McCarthy, Articulate Consulting:ENTREPRENEURS NEED unshakable focus to start and build successful companies. Often, though, having had that "Eureka" moment, they still need imaginative guidance on how best to commercialise their fledgling products. They still need to build a brand.
That’s where Ciara McCarthy comes in. She’s built her own business, Articulate Consulting, around working mainly – though not exclusively – with technology companies, helping them to develop their big ideas with an eye to the end-user experience.
“In the case of software houses, they’ll typically have a great technical idea and they’ll have programmers and developers who are hugely skilled at things such as writing code – but very rarely will they have design experience”, says McCarthy (28).
“In any business, but particularly in software, it’s critical that the product that goes to market is as user-friendly as humanly possible. So, essentially my input in such a case is to work with developers to put a front-end on their programming code.
“I also work alongside them during the development process to help them visualise how their product will ultimately be used by the customers who buy it – and that helps to give them direction in terms of usability.”
If it sounds as though McCarthy has more input and is taken more seriously as a technical collaborator than the average independent design consultant, that’s because she probably has and is. She graduated from DCU with a BSc in multimedia in 2003 and set up her first business, PDQ Webmasters, after teaching herself to design and build websites.
Realising that website design was a business whose time had come, she then decided to give herself a competitive edge – and took at master’s degree in applied computing for technologists at DIT Bolton Street. “So although Articulate Consulting works with a whole range of companies outside the technology area, I suppose you could say that behind it all I’m a bit of a techie myself.”
Wearing her design hat, she helps clients to overhaul an existing brand or build a new one, right from a company logo through corporate communications to developing an online presence – and then devising and implementing a marketing strategy to go with it.
Not surprisingly for a technology fan, online marketing is an area of particular expertise – making the most of e-mail newsletters, landing pages, blogs and social networking sites.
“Companies can leverage all these tools to their advantage, and not to use them means excluding a huge potential market. You must have an online presence because, when you think about it, the first thing we do when we hear about a new company is to Google it and, to be found easily online means you have to do search engine optimisation on your site as well.
“Then the newcomers, social networking sites, blogs and social bookmarking, can be a very effective way of driving traffic to your company’s website.”
petercluskey@ireland.com
On The Record
Name:Ciara McCarthy.
Company:Articulate Consulting. www.articulate-consulting.ie
Job:Founder and principal designer.
Age:28.
Background:Graduated from DCU with a BSc in multimedia in 2003, followed by an MSc in
applied computing for technologists from DIT Bolton Street in 2005. Set up her first business, PDQ
Webmasters, in 2001 while still an undergraduate. In 2006, joined legislative software company
Propylon, with whom she spent a lot of time in the US. Set up Articulate Consulting in November 2007. A member of the Usability Professionals Association and the Interaction Design Association,
she also works voluntarily with charities, most recently on a website for NGO Bruce Peru, which aims to educate Latin American street kids.
Challenges: "There's no doubt about it, building a business in a recession. I believe it will foster
entrepreneurial spirit. For instance, we've positioned ourselves as a business that can respond to our clients' requirements quickly – at an affordable price."
Inspired by:"My parents, Mick and Mary, who were always supportive and told me, 'whatever
you do, you'll do it well'. I'm also constantly inspired by blogs that I read. I realise it's absolutely
essential to keep abreast of what's going on out there and what's new in emerging technology."
Most Important Thing Learned So Far:"In terms of the day-today running of the business, managing workflow efficiently. In the software and internet business, small things can go wrong and cause big problems, so you have to be organised and pay attention to detail. Also, be responsive: answer e-mails and phone calls – that's essential to maintaining relationships with customers."
