Why Is It Important to Integrate a UX Process into a Project?
A defined UX process provides clear structures for collaboration between UX design, the development team, and the customer. This is particularly important in the initial phase of a project, when collaboration has not yet been established. At the beginning, the tasks and responsibilities of the roles are often unclear, and a process for collaboration must be found. Defined processes also help new team members get up to speed more quickly. Ideally, UX design is integrated into a project right from the start and establishes a UX process that is consistent with a software development process, for example, based on the Scrum framework.
When developing UX processes and establishing UX methods in a project, a few fundamental aspects are important:
1. Have an Open Mindset
Not all team members are familiar with the scope of UX design. Some teams have never worked with UX professionals and have developed design concepts themselves when necessary. Every project is different and comes with its own challenges. In any case, team members should have an open attitude toward the use of UX methods and processes. In addition, roles and workflows should be discussed together at the beginning.
→ We recommend holding a workshop at the start of the project in which the team defines its roles, workflows, and tasks.
2. Ask about Expectations
At the beginning, it makes sense to ask about concerns and wishes regarding the collaboration between the UX professional and the development team. Knowing the expectations of the team members and their level of knowledge about UX design helps to provide necessary information at an early stage and to resolve potential conflicts.
→ We recommend asking about expectations, concerns, and wishes at the beginning of the project, documenting them, and deriving the necessary measures. This can be done within a role workshop.
3. Create Transparency and Understanding
Team members and customers often have different levels of knowledge about UX design. It is therefore important for the UX professional to explain their own plans and, when setting up a UX process, to ask at an early stage whether it has been understood and fits in with the development process. A common understanding of the process ensures acceptance by the customer and the team.
→ We recommend regularly educating the customer and the project team about UX design methods and artifacts so that the knowledge is internalized. The documents used for this purpose should be made available to all participants for review.
4. Introduce Methods Step by Step
People react differently to working with UX professionals. Introducing UX methods step by step promotes acceptance. This helps team members better understand the background and context. In general, it takes a while for methods to be accepted and established within the team in the long term.
→ Before implementing a method, we recommend explaining it clearly to the team and the customer. It has proven helpful to let people watch or participate in the implementation of methods.
5. Visualize Processes
Visualizations help the project team understand. A graphic representation of the process can highlight connections and is a medium that facilitates discussion of the process. The individual UX methods can be assigned to the different phases in the process.
→ We recommend creating a graphic representation of the process with all the important steps. It should be filed for documentation in the project and kept up to date. The graphic can also be used as a basis for transferring the process to a tool.
6. Anchoring Processes in Tools
The use of interactive tools can enable transparency within the team and improve communication. UX processes can be set up in such a tool to make them easier to use in everyday life. The team should discuss together how the process steps can best be mapped there.
→ We have had good experiences with managing UX design tickets on a Kanban board. A separate board for UX design enables transparency of tasks within the team. If necessary, a Scrum board for the development team can be connected to this Kanban board.
7. Avoid Complexity
The scope of the process must be appropriate to the type of project, the time frame and budget, the team size, and the technical subject matter. Small applications with a corresponding development team can keep their process simple, for example. However, good basic structures for UX design should be in place in projects of any size.
→ We generally recommend reducing the number of columns in the Kanban board for UX design to a minimum so as not to complicate the process unnecessarily.
8. Continuously Adapt Processes and Methods
Once the process has been run through several times, aspects that can be adapted for improvement become apparent. However, corresponding changes should only be made once the sequence and the effects of individual steps on the entire process have been understood by everyone involved.
→ We recommend using retrospectives to regularly evaluate the process and identify potential for improvement.
Which Process Models Are Suitable as a Basis?
There are many different models for UX design processes, such as the human-centered design process, Double Diamond, or Dual Track, which can be used as a guide. It helps to be familiar with basic models and to research how other project teams structure their UX processes and collaborate with development teams. It is important that the selected model works for the project in question. Standardized process models provide a good basis, but they always need to be customized.
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Jennifer Baaske
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