JAD SESSIONS — BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Exploring how JAD sessions enhance the development journey.
Joint Application and Development (JAD) sessions are collaborative meetings involving all teams in product/software development. They aim to understand business requirements, expected features, and functionalities, as well as technical workflows. The purpose is to facilitate brainstorming sessions and ensure proper alignment among all teams regarding expectations, requirements, and technicalities.
Some time ago, I was designing a product for a client. After gathering requirements and understanding features and functionalities, I proceeded to my research phase. Following that, I went on to create user flows, a sitemap, wireframes, and finally, the main design. Throughout this process, I was not in communication with the development team; I didn’t even know who they were. Upon completion, I had a work-through with the client and handed over the designs. Weeks later, during development, I was called to explain a particular workflow I designed. However, I discovered that the workflow was not feasible, and I had to redesign the entire process, significantly impacting timelines. I learned a valuable lesson.
In my years of experience, I have come to understand that many people do not recognize the importance of JAD sessions and how crucial they are to enabling a seamless development process.
More often than not, we design and share our screens with shareholders and clients, and that’s it. I have a developer friend who encountered similar issues in one of his projects. I advised him to contact the designer for iterations or clarifications, but surprisingly, he didn’t even know the designer. He had only worked through the prototype provided by the client, facing a scenario similar to my own experience.
Dear Clients and Designers, our job description doesn’t just end at designing; we should also be actively involved in development.
How it works
Once requirement gathering is completed, and the designer finishes the research, this is the point where JAD sessions should take place. It is a progressive process. The designer shares the requirements gathered, along with the data from the research and the proposed workflows, with the development team. The idea is to get their opinion on how some processes work and gain technical insights into how some features will be implemented during development. This helps the designer understand things from the developer’s point of view, and these insights aid the designer during the design phase. A comprehensive workflow is then created based on the outcome of this meeting, with the approval of all team members.
Participants of a JAD session:
- Client
- Business Analysts
- Development team
- UI/UX designers
- Users
- Subject matter specialists
- Project Managers
Benefits of JAD sessions:
1. Time Management: One of the most important benefits of these sessions is that it saves a lot of time. Back-and-forth and misunderstandings within the team would be avoided, as everyone is in sync with expectations, saving a significant amount of time.
2. Seamless Development Process: This session eliminates any misunderstandings encountered during the development process, thus facilitating a smooth development process.
3. Better Communication: The process facilitates team members having access to each other, hearing directly from each other, and communicating efficiently.
4. Better Documentation: JAD sessions contribute to better documentation of the process, keeping everyone informed of any updates or changes.
5. Accountability: JAD sessions foster accountability within the team. With these sessions, it is expected that each team member understands the process. Thus, when there is a delay or friction of any kind, it is easier to hold each person accountable than to shift blame and point fingers.
The benefits of JAD sessions are inexhaustible, and I implore anyone involved in software development to adopt this method into their process and encourage it. As previously stated, it is a progressive session and can happen as often as needed during the development cycle. JAD sessions are one of the most efficient and effective ways to ensure a seamless software development cycle.
I hope you find this helpful! Please do well to leave me a clap if you did, and have a lovely weekend!
