In these volatile geopolitical and economic times, companies are pausing or slowing hiring — especially in verticals like product design, experience and strategy. 

While tough times require tough choices — product strategy, experience and design are critically important to a businesses competitiveness, customer acquisition and more importantly retention. 

Combine this with what’s going on in the world with the rapid evolution in GenAI, Agentic AI, low-code no-code, vibe coding, and their disruptive effect on the methods, best practices, and toolsets that have been the hallmark of product design and development for years — how products are imagined, strategized, designed and built is changing at a rate where it will be unrecognizable in 12 months. And again 12 months after that. 

Now is not the time to pause. It’s not the time to stop. It’s is exactly IN these times of uncertainty that businesses should invest in innovation, strategy and design in order to leapfrog your competitors while THEY huddle around the fire and lick their wounds.

Those that pause now will inevitably be left behind — with the industry itself racing to an entirely new way of working. If and/or when businesses rekindle and reinvest in experience and design — the playbook will have changed so drastically, it will force many to have to rebuild their practices from scratch. Wasting months to retool once staff is on-boarded again. 

We get it: Times are uncertain. Costs are increasing left, right and centre. What will be, and where things go from here is very much in flux and consistently evolving and changing. 

We also know that hiring today is a far messier, complex spaghetti of too many resumes, under-qualified candidates, and ai-generated case studies, while independant contractors can take a long time to ramp up, cost significantly more than FT, and are just as much of a gamble as hiring staff.

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That’s why 5 years ago we created our fractional team offering. Consistent, experienced and talented teams — for as few or as many hours per week as you need us, for as long as you need us. It’s the best of both worlds: top tier resources who are always there when you need them, right-sized to meet your needs and budget, with cancel anytime confidence. 

It made sense then, and it makes even more sense today. Our clients have loved our fractional service ever since we launched it — and why wouldn’t they: we treat your products as if they were our own, and you as if you were our only client — you get all the talent, at a fraction of the cost. 

Now, with AI and our evolving toolset, our fractional teams can do even more with even less. In fact, a fractional tension team can effectively replace entire on-staff teams, temporarily or permanently as a cost effective, efficient and practical way to secure the best, most experienced talent available. 

Sound interesting? Of course it does.

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Let’s talk about how tension fractional can open your business up to new ways of working, delivering consistent, high quality and innovative products and services and run forward while others circle the wagons.