In my years as a creator and now a manager, I’ve found that the best work comes from the support of a process, but not by following the process itself. Let me explain. Designers alike generally follow an order of operations when solving a challenge, just as many professions follow some semblance of order. But in all my years, I’ve never found two challenges to be alike. Of course, there are always similarities, but never two instances of the same, at least when you’re at the granular level. Which leads me to the broader theme – “use a process, don’t let it use you.”
Process ≠ Prescription
Designers within the teams I’ve worked on have regularly requested guidance. Generally, that guidance has looked like one of two things: a process, a methodology, a playbook; or a template for a designer to follow. But once those designers have that playbook or a template, they’ve typically succumbed to it. Primarily in that they view the process as a prescription, allowing for little freedom of thought and creativity. And then pair this with an environment where tools and methods could be akin to, comparatively speaking, the Wild West. Meaning that designers had free choice in what tools or methods they used in any given situation. When designers moved on from one effort to the next, their toolset and the direction of said toolset would change based on their lead. We now have a cycle that’s setting no one up for success.
This challenge led me to developing a standard for the team which I had influence over. I began with the idea of mixing together simplicity and support. With the amount of noise and sheer quantity of tools, technologies, methods, practices–you name it–I saw the need to narrow the scope of what we used and how we used it. And to underscore the simplified toolbox, there was a need for a supportive approach in coaching its use. (Read more on empowerment)
Share in a common way of working
We started this journey by creating a design flow. This flow is generally what we all know within the design community and goes by many names and flavors. For the sake of this discussion, I’ll reference the 5Ds: discover, describe, design, develop, and deploy.
This flow was also supported by the introduction of the design brief, where designers would gain a shared understanding and vision of the effort. Given the environment we’re in was a development-centric one, we opted for a design process that explicitly incorporated those phases of work in an effort to better represent the element of time within the process of creation. This also lended itself to the idea of supporting a lean UX process and the practice of Scrum on our development teams. (Read more on agility)
Leverage a toolbox
With the idea of an expected flow laid out, we also needed to curate the right tools and how best to use them. Through our journey, we’ve used a broad set of the expected tools we all know. From Sketch and InVision, to Adobe XD, finally landing on Figma. For our team, as we progressed through tools over the years, we’ve found that Figma—with its consistency and its regular feature updates—is the tool that can support our developer-friendly flow.
In addition to Figma, we developed file recommendations, which included elements such as file organization, layouts, documentation samples, and tips for collecting and managing feedback.
The right tool for the right time
Now I could talk all day and get in the weeds about the foundation toolset we curated, but what I’ve found to be more impactful is the idea that the most successful designers not only have the right tools but, more importantly, know the right tool to use at the right time. With a simplified toolbox, designers aren’t hindered with the paradox of choice and can focus their attention on the challenge versus the means to the end. And when paired with coaching and a supportive environment (read more on empowerment), designers have the potential to do their best work and co-own that success with their teammates.
At the end of the day, supporting designers with an intentionally focused toolbox and a supportive process, we can create the building blocks for confident designers, powerful teams, and more successful products.
