Pros
As an agency, Artefact will surround you with creatives - talking, reading, sharing, doing side projects - immersed in design and tech. Most are highly skilled as well. You’ll always have new things to learn from each other. Your clients (and in-house UXers) have days full of meetings, diverse and competing interests, and many stakeholders. You, on the other hand, get to stay focused on high-quality design, research, and service, from process to deliverables.
You’ll also have a wide variety of subject matter over time, including many well-known companies and emerging tech categories. In the span of a year, expect to switch gears several times among very different client industries and problems. Many roles work on one project at a time, so the people you’re working with daily (clients and team members) have a big impact on your experience at Artefact. It can make it seem like you have distinct "chapters" in your time.
The cofounders practice transparency. That includes company strategy, business and finance, personnel, policies, and more.
I’ve seen that people with skills that blur lines between roles are given opportunities to use them. This was important to me and worked out well - your mileage may vary.
Like many agencies, Artefact is talking about design for good; using the design process as a tool to fix systemic problems and avoid creating new ones. Without going into detail, there is some concrete progress and still plenty of room for new people to make contributions in theory, tools, processes, and skills toward this end. There have been a number of challenging and rewarding projects for social good with both for- and non-profit organizations, and it continues to grow.
The compensation and benefits are excellent. Also the most responsive IT and benefits staff of anywhere I’ve worked. You can find better total compensation at a few companies in Seattle if that’s your top priority and you want to work for them. But even then, a few Artefact advantages are worth calling out. Generous vacation even for new employees. If you’re injured or seriously ill, you’re told by execs or the cofounders to forget work and get well. Same for caring for sick family or bereavement. There is no impact on your vacation. You might take this for granted until you need it. Parental leave, too, is generous and fully paid.
Cons
While there’s plenty of room to specialize in skills, there is less room for deep focus on one topic or domain. If you’re passionate about something and can make a good case, eventually you may get time or even a team to work on it outside of client projects. You may string together a series of related experiences over time. But an agency isn’t the best place if you want to work only on one specific topic. It may not be a con for you - the flip side is the diversity of clients and project types you'll add to your experience.
Occasionally, some last-minute travel comes up. Travel itself may be a plus for you - you may get to go around the world - but sometimes it’s unpredictable. Similarly, there will be late nights once in a while.
'Tinkering with the company' showed up in other reviews. The leadership goal is to set a vision and get all the diverse and talented employees engaged to find a path. The employees, busy with billable work, may like the vision but find it hard to contribute and wish for more clarity. It’s worth remembering that the issue arises because leadership (A) is trying to make a great place to work, and; (B) chooses transparency.
I saw another review mention a “competitive” culture fostered by leadership and I was sad to read it. It may be related to the emphasis on autonomy, which was actually meant to be empowering. There are sometimes daunting challenges and I'd agree there is no "hand-holding." We could work on making the people who are most hands-on feel supported. I've seen some positive steps, including coaching improvements and senior people willing to assist directly. And while I certainly had challenges, I also often felt I had a support network that shared issues and helped each other. In the end, it comes down to the people next to you and there are some great ones.
