How to Build Your UX Design Team

The individual needs of real users are progressively driving innovative software development and design. As design is increasingly becoming more recognized as a dominant driver for business expansion or growth, many organizations have started swapping external UX (user experience) design agencies for in-house UX teams who will be able to work in conjunction with product developers. By the same token, as user experience (UX) continues to grow in importance, a lot of small businesses have begun to respond to the opportunity by deepening and broadening their UX design team, thereby enabling them to carry out higher and more lucrative projects. But why would any large enterprise need a UX design team, you ask? The truth remains that global organizations that focus majorly on revenue without paying attention or being aware of the importance of an excellent user interface (UI) and UX (user experience) will pay dearly for it. This is because whatever applications that are designed for such an organization will be defective as it will severely lessen user experience and incur ridiculously long task completion times, which will cause a massive dent in the status of the brand or organization. This is the result of poor quality of interaction and overall experience with products by users.

At times, these negatives are rather obvious; but because most people never recognize the missing link – as a result of unawareness of the importance of a good user interface – customers that are not tech-savvy will never demand a better user experience. Additionally, some large enterprises may surprisingly not have the required tools or resources to get things done the right way.

In the next few paragraphs, we talk about how to build a resourceful UX team, and this includes:

• Recognizing the unique attributes to look out for when recruiting team members
• Identifying several core disciplines that you need to take into consideration when building the UX team
• Showcasing some avenues that you can look at to find members for your dream UX team

Here are the steps to follow when creating a UX design team:

1. Encourage or support a UX-friendly environment

For a UX team to be successful at their duties, they need the support of the entire organization. So before you make your move towards creating a UX team, examine your organization’s environment. Do you have a group of people advocating for an UX-enabled climate or team within the organization? Or are they spread out in various departments throughout the company? If you find that other people would be interested in such a venture, but are in other parts of the building, you can start involving them in meetings, ask for feedback, share results, etc.

2. Engage the right people

Hiring people is not the hard part; hiring the right people is. It is not going to come easy, but it will be worth the effort in the end. People interested in UX are a bit rare, so be unperturbed if it takes a little longer to gather the right people who will fit the profile. You need dedicated individuals who are highly interested in and share the same passion that your organization has for building a great UX team. Be open to people who are comfortable with working in cross-functional teams and are receptive to feed. Such individuals can be excellent candidates. A UX design team should consist of people who cannot only work with others but must also be able to make use of available resources to get their assigned tasks done on time. A fully-developed UX team should also have individuals with diverse skills who will be able to hold the following positions well:

3. UI designer

The person will be in charge of ensuring that users can interact with as well as understand the product intuitively through the layout and design of visual components.

4. UX designer

This individual will not only be responsible for researching as well as designing the user experience, but will also conduct field research, user testing, and prototyping. The person will also be expected to comb through analytics from time to time.

5. Developer

This person’s sole responsibility is to bring whatever idea you and the other members of the UX design team have to live via coding.

6. Content strategist

It is not all about aesthetic design; content also has its part to play. Therefore, the individual assigned to this position must ensure that the words that users read are easy to understand, legible, and by the brand.

7. Set goals

You should establish a few goals for your UX team, chief of which must focus on the impact of whatever the team comes up with regarding design on the end-user. This will entail creating or practicing empathy within the team: the goal is to make the users to enjoy interacting with your brand’s product, not to alienate them. Each design must be created to meet and fit in with the needs of users.

8. Test everything 

User testing is paramount since the primary reason for creating a UX team is to deliver a profound experience for users. The best way to ensure that your team is meeting the goal you set for them is to see how users interact with your product during prototyping or production. Undertake user testing over and over again; ensure that the team observes how users navigate from one part of the product to another, intuitively or not. Then make the necessary improvements and corrections that are required to ensure that users have a trouble-free and smooth experience with your products. Therefore, test often and early as well.

No matter the size of your team – whether large or small – the fundamentals for providing a great user experience remains the same. Therefore, advise the organization on the importance of enhancing user experience among its customers. Then build and empower your UX team to design and enrich those experiences.

Article Posted 5 Nov, 2019