Managing the Design Workflow Process

A smoothly functioning design workflow is crucial for any design team that wishes to ensure a new feature is completed effectively and efficiently. In this article, I describe my process for managing my team’s design workflow in the context of developing a new feature for an existing software application. My approach is heavily influenced by the “Design Thinking” methodology, and based on that, here is my process for managing my team’s design workflow.

The design thinking process

Defining the Problem

First, I schedule meetings with stakeholders to gain insight into their general workflow and identify any existing issues or frustrations with our existing product. Once we have identified a problem, my team and I work to develop clear and concise problem statements to ensure that we fully understand all aspects of the problem we are trying to solve.

Conducting User Interviews

Next, the team and I focus on resolving one problem at a time. We start by conducting user interviews with diverse stakeholders with various needs. Before each meeting, we prepare a set of questions for each stakeholder. The goal of these interviews is to gain a deep understanding of the problem we are trying to solve and ultimately create a comprehensive list of user requirements for the new feature. It is important to document and, if possible, record each meeting for future reference.

Confirming Requirements

After establishing all user requirements, I create documentation and submit for the approval of all parties. This document ensures that everyone is on the same page and limits the possibilities for future unpleasant surprises. The requirements documentation is the initial step that establishes the details of the MVP feature. In addition, it serves as a foundation for further enhancements in the future. It is often useful to focus on releasing a feature quickly to provide immediate value and then iteratively building on that design in response to additional feedback from stakeholders.

Starting Design

Once we have our defined list of requirements, the next steps depend to some extent on the team designer, the team members, and their creative processes. The procedures for developing the feature should be flexible to allow for variety in the team’s creative processes. Nevertheless, it is important to keep the list of requirements at the forefront of the design process, perhaps using a design tool, such as Figma, to maintain a focus on the design requirements at all times. Then, we can start establishing user personas and defining the user flows. At this point, the design team is ready to begin creating mockups.

Iterating Based on Feedback

It is crucial to receive feedback from all stakeholders frequently during the design process, especially once the team is ready to share mockups and then prototypes. The latter is especially helpful as it allows users to experiment with the new feature and see how they interact with it. My team and I can observe where users stumble or succeed and listen to their suggestions, and see if our changes resolve their issues. Based on user feedback, the team can change their mockups and prototype and improve user flow and overall design. This process should be repeated as many times as needed to ensure a positive outcome.

* Note — Developers Input

It is essential to involve the development team frequently and early in the design process. This helps the design team gain a clear understanding of the technical feasibility of its designs and determine whether they are realistic and can be implemented without inordinate difficulty. This limits the problems that arise when technical constraints create difficulties after a design is shared with stakeholders.

Handing Off Designs to Development Teams

After the team receives the approval of both stakeholders and developers, it officially turns over the design mockups to the development team. To ensure a smooth transition, I always organize a meeting where the design team can walk the development team through the user flows, mockups, and potential prototypes while reviewing different use cases and expectations. The use cases should also be documented in the Figma file for development teams. This meeting allows developers to ask the design team questions and gain more clarity on the project requirements.

Communicate Frequently and Often

As the developers work towards completing the new feature, the design team must maintain full communication between the design and development teams. In one case, I created a dedicated team slack channel to discuss the work in progress and ask questions. During the development process, certain user interaction questions may arise, and it is crucial to encourage the groups to feel comfortable reaching out to each other for guidance.

Preparing for Feature Production Release

After a new feature has been developed, it is important to schedule another meeting between the development and design teams during which the developers walk the design team through the new feature. It is also useful to provide the design team with the URL for the QA or Staging environment so they can test the new feature themselves and provide feedback. This feedback may include any final needed UI changes. Once the design team approves the new feature, it is ready for production. At that point, I can present it to stakeholders.

Defining Success

I announce the release of the new feature to stakeholders and the team and I observe how they use it to get ideas for possible improvements. It is also beneficial to add analytics examining the new feature to gather metrics on user engagement. This is valuable information to share with leadership to demonstrate the impact of the team. It is also often very instructive to conduct a retrospective on the team’s process and its successes or any failures. The goal is to ensure that the team’s work is beneficial and continuously improves the product with ongoing collaboration with stakeholders, the design team, and all other impacted parties.

In conclusion, managing a design workflow involves creating a well-planned, collaborative process that can successfully deliver features that meet user requirements. To achieve this, it is essential to deeply understand the user’s needs, create clear requirements, iterate based on feedback, and maintain open communication between design and development teams. By adopting this approach, the design team can achieve a smooth and more efficient workflow, develop more successful features, and ultimately provide a better customer user experience.