• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 14, 2011

While much of Madison Avenue seems consumed with concepts like UX and UI, acronyms for the "user experience" and "user interface" people have when using media, Publicis' MediaVest unit is taking a somewhat more human approach, literally. The agency is creating a "Human Experience" practice and has tapped Richard Hartell, chief strategy officer of parent Starcom MediaVest Group's U.K. operations, to lead it.

Hartell, who has the title executive vice president-managing director of human experience strategy, will report to MediaVest CEO Bill Tucker, and will be based in MediaVest's New York offices.

In a statement, Tucker said the goal of the new practice is to mine a "real-time human understanding" about people and how they use media that can be applied to brand strategies.

He said Hartell is the ideal recruit to lead a new team of "human experience strategists" - human beings employed by the agency to figure out how other human beings experience media and advertising - because he has more than 15 years of media and strategy experience. He also has extensive personal experience being human.

Hartell's appointment follows MediaVest's recruitment of another human being, Coleen Kuehn, as president-strategy and planning for the agency earlier this year from chief strategist at Havas' MPG unit.