Is the design delivery smooth or do you get questions and rework coming through? If so, it’s time to review your design delivery workflow. I suggest taking advantage of Design Thinking – discover, design, and deliver (optimise).
The discovery phase
First, document your current process. Where is it working and where is it not working so well? Discover and document your current workflow so that you can review it with your team, managers and stakeholders.
Ask them for feedback:
How can I improve my design delivery? What information do you think is missing? What can I take for granted that is already systemised in code so I can save time by communicating the things you don’t know?
Figure out your dev team’s goals and that way you can deliver designs that have impact and propel them forward. Understand their workflow so your design delivery feeds well into that instead of causing confusion.
Common workflow issues
Some common workflow issues you might observe:
- Changes made to designs that are already in process (freeze changes when a design is “ready for development”)
- Changes not communicated in a timely manner
- Requirements are not clearly designed
- The design deviates from the design system
- The design does not clarify the user flow
In short, look for inconsistencies between the design and the result and look for delays that are caused by miscommunication.
Treat this analysis like a service design blueprint and make sure to add in the pain points and blockers that occur. In this discovery phase you are looking for issues so be brave and be honest.
In my case I use Miro and a service design template to map out the workflow starting from requirement approval and ending at finished development. The steps in between is your current design delivery workflow. Use this as your baseline to make improvements and to determine how successful your changes are.
Design the new workflow
As a designer it’s perfectly ok (and expected!) to use your own techniques to fix problems you encounter in your process. You and the development team are the users in this case, so make sure you understand these personas (validate them!) before you start on the new workflow. Are there personas you didn’t consider such as internal or contractors, or recent staffing changes like new hires or interns?
Diagram the new, ideal steps for your design process and then start connecting that to the development process. These bridges make clear what your new workflow should be and they highlight communication gaps.
For example, are there overlaps and checkins between you and the development team along the way and not just at the beginning and the end? Can QA help you understand how the software works so you can then reenforce existing patterns in your designs?
Make sure you know whom to talk to and when. Do you need to talk to the lead developer or do you need to talk to the whole team all at once? Your team and company culture defines this process. This is important, you want to make sure you broadcast your message as few times as possible and to the right audience so that it is understood. You also don’t want to cause any confusion or start work that the Lead Dev has not agreed to yet.
Your design system is your bridge to the dev team
Your design system is your bridge to the development team. Keep your design system in as close sync as possible with the development code so you can all speak the same language.
Is the spacing right? The fonts? Are messages outlined and the user flow steps highlighted? Developers love knowing why something works and also how it works. Have you thought about extreme states and not just the happy path?
- What happens when there’s no data?
- What happens when a page loads very slowly?
- What happens when a user doesn’t input the right information?
- What happens when the system fails?
Whatever design software you use, make sure it allows for sync and async communication (commenting). It’s much easier to respond to questions and changes quickly when the line of communication is open.
Once you have a clear design for your delivery process then you have something to review with the team. March onward when you all agree on your delivery process, but remember your job is never really done (sound familiar? Design is a continuous process).
Optimise your delivery workflow
Run your new delivery workflow for a couple of weeks and observe the results. Make sure to keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to be really critical. You are always on the lookout for things to improve.
Gather feedback from your team:
How can I do better with design delivery? What went well on the last project? What didn’t go so well?
As you build feedback then you get a clearer picture of opportunities you can pursue. Compare the new process to the old on a regular basis so you can track effectiveness. Have development projects of similar size decreased their time to delivery? That is the main goal. Track ROI, rinse, and repeat.
How do you improve your design delivery workflow?
