When integrating a UX designer into your project, you’re not just hiring someone to enhance your product’s interface; you’re engaging in a partnership aimed at fundamentally improving how your product or service resonates with users. This process involves deep collaboration and a strategic approach known as Design Thinking, which is crucial for addressing user pain points effectively and meeting business objectives.
A UX designer’s goal is to transform user experiences by leveraging Design Thinking practises that prioritise understanding your user’s needs and your organisation’s goals. A UX designer invests time in understanding the intricacies of your organisation, its functions, and its significance for your users. This investment in taking the time to understand your organisation is vital for achieving project success.
The project kick-off is a critical phase where the groundwork for collaboration is laid. A UX Designer brings a variety of skills to the table, including workshop facilitation and research / testing.
Workshop facilitation involves structured activities using tools like Miro (for remote collaboration) or traditional methods like whiteboards and post-its. Workshops are designed to align project goals among stakeholders and understand short-term and long-term implications and challenges for the organisation.
Stakeholder interviews are informal, focused sessions with key stakeholders or Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Their purpose is to delve into business goals, user behaviours, and problem areas using a funnel-style questioning approach, extracting valuable insights. It’s an opportunity to better understand what we know and what we don’t know.
UX designers perform extensive research online and review documentation provided by the client to gain context and clarity. This helps in understanding existing data and identifying any gaps.
If the project involves a live site or we have competitors to reference, UX designers conduct evaluations to identify usability issues. They may also collaborate internally with other UX/UI team members to refine strategies and approaches.
Successful collaboration hinges on identifying and engaging the right stakeholders at the right time. It’s difficult for an outsider to understand who these individuals are in your organisation and what value they can bring to the project. A UX designer will ask the right questions, but you may need to connect them to the right stakeholders. Here’s a few collaborative members that (generally) provide great value in collaborative UX projects:
It’s important to involve individuals who interact directly with users, such as customer service reps or sales team members. Their insights early in a project can save time and budget. If the agency isn’t handling development, those with technical knowledge can verify constraints, to avoid feasibility issues.
Engage team members who are involved in related projects or products to ensure that the design aligns with other initiatives and doesn’t contradict or overlook their goals.
If you’re the main contact for the project, understand the questions a UX designer might ask and direct them to the most knowledgeable team members. This prevents bottlenecks and ensures that relevant insights are captured.
Setting up appropriate communication channels really helps smooth collaboration.
Typically, an agency UX designer will have a Producer or Project Manager and an Accounts Manager to establish communication. However, these channels may not be suitable for all internal or third-party contributors.
Early in the project, introduce the UX designer to stakeholders who will be crucial for different aspects of the project. This includes internal team members and any third-party vendors who need to be involved.
Keep your team informed about project updates, major milestones and decisions. This ensures that everyone understands their role and how their input impacts the project, reducing the risk of late-stage surprises or misalignment.
Getting everyone on the same page can be difficult these days … Emails, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, Zoom, Comments in Google Suite/Miro/Figma, video conferencing vs text, daily standups vs check-ins… and the list goes on!
If your organisation doesn’t have a fixed means of communication that’s suitable for a collaborative project, reach out to the agency Producer/Project Manager or UX Designer to help set this up early. It will help you keep your stakeholders informed on project progress and engaged.
Wireframing and UI design are often the most exciting phase for stakeholders because they involve visual representations of the final product. However, this stage can also lead to subjective opinions and biases that can warp outcomes. To ensure that collaborators feedback is constructive:
UX designers use a defined process that incorporates past research, business goal discovery and alignment while validating user needs. These are covered in initial works within the project and if collaborative stakeholders don’t have that background their feedback may be contradictory or rooted in personal bias.
A UX Designer will assist in advising when a stakeholder can best collaborate – but this relies on you being transparent of your internal team members and their roles & responsibilities.
The design process is methodical and logical. UX Designers try and avoid inefficiencies, such as discussing features that are not technologically feasible or investing hours in designs that are at the lowest priority. Introducing stakeholders late or at inappropriate times within the design process can create unwanted distractions or contradict initial project goals. This often results in a one-step-forward-two-steps-back scenario, jeopardising deadline dates and impacting the budget.
Onboarding and interaction with a UX Designer is crucial within any project – especially when work kicks off. It’s an opportunity for the designer to articulate the design process and strategy needed to produce the highest quality works while also learning from you and your team. Avoid speaking for your team members or relaying meeting outcomes with them. Instead, encourage them to be present in these early sessions. This keeps the process efficient, avoids misinformation being relayed to key stakeholders and ensures the designer knows who in your team should be engaged at key points during the project.
Breaking down the ‘UX Design’ formula for success:
For agency projects, the challenge often lies in the “Users” component—particularly in accessing and interpreting data and insights. UX designers actively seek to fill this gap through collaboration with your team, ensuring that the final design is grounded in a solid understanding of user needs and business objectives.
Early and ongoing collaboration with your internal team is crucial to achieve a successful outcome, as it ensures that the design process is informed by relevant insights and aligned with project goals.
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