The cornerstones of a good UX project are a methodical approach and teamwork

One of the biggest dangers of user experience design projects is performing various tasks in isolation. In this way, the universal user experience can become the vision of a single UX designer and may not meet the expectations and needs of users.

A methodical approach and active team cooperation help to counter this. A properly executed UX process is methodical. This means that it uses a wide range of techniques, which in turn are structured and implemented according to a specific system and sequence.

Equally deliberately, tasks are divided in the UX team to create synergies, rhythm and results that meet the customer's expectations, which must always be central to the end user's needs (i.e. not central to the customer's and the design company's vision).

 "Silence in teamwork is not golden, but deadly" - M. Sanborn.

In this article, we discuss two roles in particular: UX and UI designer collaboration. In Trinidad Wiseman, both of the above roles may also be held by the same specialist.

Similar collaboration principles apply to all team roles - including systems analysts, developers and testers. Of course, in each UX team, the client also plays an important role, being the most important team member in any well-executed project.

Graph 1: Different roles involved in UX teamwork and two main roles with routine tasks. Of course, there may be more than one person performing different tasks.

UXPin-i founder Marcin Treder  offers three solutions for better cooperation between the customer and UX designers, which are also very well suited as cornerstones of teamwork. NB! Treder's solution has been supplemented and modified by the author of the article.

1. Less explanation, more presentation, showing and facts

Any explanation as to why I did or did not do so, could be accompanied by justifications and facts that emerged from research and analysis. Facts and best practices can come from the company's own internal projects, the current project and knowledge, as well as results found on the web and justified by someone else.

The best way to justify your ideas and thoughts is with a functional prototype. The interactive prototype quickly highlights potential problems that end-users may encounter in the user interface and is an excellent way to engage the views of other team members.

This results in greater objectivity at an early stage and reveals potential errors to which the UX designer can react quickly and which do not have to be detected later, for example, by the UI designer.

You can read more about the importance of prototyping in the post "Prototyping: better communication and smaller expenses"

2. Dissolving the ego in a team

The first point should already address half of the "who has more rights" situation.

Another simple solution is to involve project members as early as possible in everything they are involved in and keep them informed about what you are doing. This includes seeking advice and strength from other members.

This helps to avoid confrontation with the results, as the whole team is aware of, approved and participated in the specific stage.

3. Openness

Moreover, it is vital to involve the whole team in those steps in which each member is not actively and directly involved.

For example, a (UI) designer who is only actively involved in the user interface design phase should also be familiar with the results of user surveys (interviews, storytelling, etc.) to pick out additional information that is important in this phase or missed by other team members.

As the range of tasks of a proper UX designer is broad (see "Graph 1"), it is natural that different tasks are shared among the team. Depending on the size of the project, all UX designers involved in the project can be involved in all the different stages.

In addition, there are some steps that require the involvement of more than one UX designer. 

For example, creating storyboards can be quite challenging/exhausting for one person to do alone. It is common for user research and analysis to be performed by one UX designer and for the prototype to be tested by another and the prototype to be tested by a third party.

All of the tasks listed above can also be performed by a (UI) designer who is also responsible for the visual design that follows.

In Trinidad Wiseman, it is not uncommon for a front-end development to be done by a skilled UI or UX designer. It is also an excellent practice to combine so-called juniors and seniors into teams; more experienced members could also take on the role of advisor-supervisor.

Graph 2: One possible model for sharing the stages of the UX process between UX and UI designers

If the principles described above are followed, each stage (see "Graph 2") can be performed together or separately, and each step can be handed over to the next team member(s).

The specific model shows one possible division into four different stages (according to different colours), which can be performed without issues by various team members.

Successful division of work in a team makes it possible to follow a certain standardized methodology:

• All stages of the project are always available to everyone (e.g. in the cloud.
• The forms and structure of different work results and documents are always the same or similar, which also ensures valuable content.
• The team has common knowledge of UX milestones, design rules, etc.

In conclusion

Standardization of methods and cooperation between team members are the two main cornerstones the quality of each phase, which in turn allows other team members to continue with the next phases of the project, even if continuous active involvement has not been possible before (e.g. due to a tight schedule or limited project size).