UX Points of Contact
How I get UX incorporated into Project Teams

Brief

We all think about cross functional engagements as this triangle with Product, Dev, and Design in their respective corners. But the sequencing making an idea a real product often takes a linear path, going through a spectrum of Abstract to Absolute. Design is a conduit between these 2 extremes. 

This entry is the material I share with my team on how to become an effective stakeholder in the team they are partnering with.

New product/scrum teams will approach me and ask “What is the best way for us to engage your team.” The chart below is often helpful in getting my clients to visualize where they are in context of the idea-to-product spectrum. The chart kicks off the conversation of what type of homework my designers need to start, when, and with whom. To me, this conversation is the genesis of a  successful UX engagement model. The product teams & Designers are forced to shift perspective and think about the high level as well as the factory floor operations. I empower my team to understand the product inside and out, as they are stakeholders responsible for the outcome.

Common Scenario

The most common scenario is where a product team already has the vision/objective, the finding, the dev team, and most importantly, a deadline. When a designer is brought in at the execution phase, they struggle because the context that is needed to come to the right solution is missing. It is necessary for the designer to spend a significant amount of time to understand the context of the product well enough to contribute to the product vision, as they are stakeholders responsible for the outcome.

How the designer follows up

While the designer executes on requests coming in every sprint, the designer must be tenacious in educating themselves in the Context described in the chart above. The best way to start is to look to the product backlog. What’s coming down the pike and how has grooming been conducted so far? Do the breakdown of features make sense? What is the project teams cadence for Market Facing Releases? Designers have the responsibility to not only understand the context of the project, but to elevate themselves as thought partners, as they are stakeholders responsible for the outcome.

How the designer follows through

The easiest way for a designer to follow through in the execution & development phase is to understand the technical limitations upfront. There is absolutely no sense in questioning platform capabilities mid-sprint. By understanding how the dev teams operate, what are their strengths/weaknesses, their purview into the product objectives, the designer will be able to deliver the right assets in the right way at the right time to the right person. For a designer, asset hand-off doesn’t end until the product leaves the door, as they are stakeholders responsible for the outcome.