UX design and engineering are some of the critical components of creating a winning product. The key to successful collaboration between the two lies in understanding the roles and responsibilities of each team and how they can work together in harmony. While there are many things that UX designers and engineers can do to improve a product, there’s one thing we can do that will have a significant impact on the success of a product — build together.
While there are many things that UX designers and engineers can do to improve a product, there’s one thing we can do that will have a significant impact on the success of a product — build together
However, often there are challenges that can arise such as poor communication, a lack of understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities, and conflicting priorities as the teams work in silos. Designers may not always clearly communicate their design decisions and reasoning to the engineers, leading to ambiguity and confusion. Engineers, on the other hand, may not fully understand the design decisions which results in the inability to implement them as intended.
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This can cause delays and rework, which can be costly and time-consuming. Also, the lack of understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities can be a major stumbling block. So, what strategies can you use to navigate these challenges in the real world and get your design and engineering teams to build a winning product? Let’s take a closer look.
Forging a strong partnership
To build a successful product, it’s imperative for UX designers and engineers to establish clear lines of communication. Designers should ensure that they clearly communicate their design decisions and reasoning to the engineers and involve them in the design process early in the product lifecycle. Engineers, in turn, should make sure that they understand the design decisions and provide feedback and suggestions for implementation.
To build a successful product, it’s imperative for UX designers and engineers to establish clear lines of communication
Additionally, it’s important for both UX designers and engineers to have a basic understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities. While designers should be coached to have a basic awareness of how coding works and the limitations that engineers face, engineers should be coached to have the fundamental know-how of design principles and user experience. This will help them to work together more effectively, understand each other’s language and at the end, create solutions that deliver better end-user experience.
Another tip would be to encourage the design and engineering team to work in a co-located environment to build trust, understanding, and improve communication. This can also help to build a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the final product. Creating this conversation promotes a cohesive team dynamic enabling both designers and engineers to comprehend each other’s challenges, motivations, and objectives so that they can work together to define a common purpose that everyone on the team is motivated to help achieve.
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In a nutshell, creating a seamless communication flow between the different teams requires bridging the gap to build an effective product. This does not happen automatically and requires aligning the teams in a way that caters to everyone’s needs and strengths. So, devising a framework for designers and engineers to be collaborative and work efficiently together at every step of the development process will be the winning formula to achieve a successful product delivery that ultimately is tailored to the needs of the end-users.
Guest contributor Priyank Kapadia is Head, Digital Practice at Accolite Digital, a digital transformation services provider, delivering design driven complex digital transformation initiatives to Fortune 500 clients. Any opinions expressed in this article are strictly that of the author.
