It sounds like you may have misunderstood the point of my article. I'm not suggesting that creative directors should take over as user experience designers, but the opposite: agencies should realize that if they work in digital, interactive design, they need to bring the people who have a background and understanding of interaction design more to the forefront, rather than trying to employ them as a group of niche workers, subject matter experts who get to work through only parts of the creative process. In short: user experience designers and interaction designers need to be given a prominent role at agencies.

I've also targeted this post specifically at advertising agencies going through the process of transforming their business from traditional marketing via print, TV and radio to marketing in the digital age. I feel that the term 'user experience design' is a little too broadly applied these days and I personally prefer to speak of 'interaction design', but there are loads of different variations of these roles depending on the business requirements, the clients, the product, and the team you work with. The message in my post may not apply directly to the types of work you do and the kind of teams you work with.

What do you mean by User Experience Design, Information architect…

If you mean someone that have an interest in user experience at large, but no real academic training in human factors, I agree that a Creative director can have such a profile. If it is someone with a human factors background… I am very skeptic.

I am an ergonomic expert and work with many different Creative Director and Art Director. I have a great respect for them but in my 12 years of experience in Agencies I never met a Creative Director that was well verse in both user experience (as I define it) and creative.

In my industry a truth ergonomic expert is a professional that as a background in either industrial engineering cognitive profile or cognitive psychology. It is a real title! It is not something that you invent. I would not hire someone as a information architect with no university training in taxonomy. Information architecture is more then content boxes! Before (15 years ago) we didn’t have real training for this type of jobs because is as new, we were pioneers. But now there is. They learn about research techniques, taxonomy, human limitations (cognitive and physic), and systems.

Other point in my views an agency that produce a important amount a complex sites should have the resource in house for many reasons: 1. Client rather that. 2. Can be costly 3. Difficult to find (good one) 4. And not always available. 5. Nothing better for a website development to have a real synergy between the artisans that are building it!!!!

I am actually conducting a research on tree different types of expertise that are usually included in the conception of interactive product (copywriter , art director and Expert in cognitive ergonomics). I am trying to trace their psychology profiles in order to detect pattern of attitudes. The goal is to produce better tool and a better understanding of this relationship and the different approach and attitudes that each of these experts has.

For me … you don’t become a creative… it is in your DNA, and it is the same thing for an Ergonomic Expert. That is my postulate. A creative Director should judge/direct and inspires the Art Directors. Asking him to also think about the user and be verse in taxonomy, human factors, and the systems… is way too much. I don’t believe in “ homme orchestre”.

Who knows, maybe my research would help us answer this question. Can a Creative Director be at the same time verse in creative and creative technique and lead for user experience? Should ergonomics expert be in the Creative team?

julie
Sorry for my poor English writing skills. English is not my first language.

But I completely agree with you that everyone in advertising, and creative directors especially, need to be part UX designer themselves, instead of just hiring one. (Maybe in addition to hiring one.) The modern ad agency doesn’t just make ads, it makes experiences. That started with the whole concept of branding. It’s about time we realized that.