Developer Engagement and Inclusion in User Experience Research and Design

Deborah Warren
Sep 5, 2018 · 3 min read

If time is money, is it beneficial for a company to allocate some of a Developer’s time to their inclusion in User Experience (UX) research, design, and access to the design’s supporting documentation?

Yes!

Why should Developers be included in User Experience (UX) Research and Design?

The strategy for designs catered to a good User Experience is important, but it is arguably more important that developers who will be building the necessary code are willing to support the design strategy. The participatory approach of including Developers in the user research and design process can promote buy-in from Developers who are willing to code, and advocate for, the proposed designs because they begin to share a collective focus about the end user with Designers.

Cross-functional teams, such as those including both Designers and Developers, have a better understanding and context of the problems impacting end users and how to best address those issues than either discipline alone can propose. The workflow and thought process of a Developer complements that of a Designer. Designers are generally creative but may not understand the complexity or time necessary to code and implement a conceptual design. In contrast, a Developer may not be as creative as a designer or have the knowledge of what makes a great design, but they can quickly identify potential technological limitations and offer acceptable alternatives to meet the needs identified during UX research. After all, designing with the understanding of what is possible in mind, reduces the time from conceptual design to successful implementation.

Including Developers in the user research process can also present Developers with the opportunity to see first-hand how the end user’s needs may be different from their own, and why usability testing by themselves or those close to them might not be truly representative of the end user. This allows for a paradigm shift to occur in their mindset around what development priorities should be and agree upon a project’s urgency and specific prioritization schedule. In addition, building relationships between Designers and Developers through the user research may shorten the iteration process, increase the speed of sprints to delivering features and functionality, and offer an overall better user experience.

Why should Developers have access to supporting design documentation?

Presently in Web and App development there exists a large disparity in the ratio of UX Designers to Developers; with the number of UX Designers being significantly less than that of corresponding Developers. If Developers rely solely upon relationships with Designers to obtain findings from user research, the process can’t scale effectively. Through a willingness from UX Researchers and Designers to share findings and documentation, Developers can improve their understanding about the users, increase their efficiency and boost their productivity when a Designer may not be readily available. However, Designers can also become single points of failure in the process if their documentation is not easily accessible, interpreted or understood.

Withholding information and a lack of willingness to share supporting design documentation by Designers can also lead to internal segregation and reduction in support of their Designs by their Developer colleagues, an internal unfamiliarity with the end user, and a broken customer experience.

Conclusion

Transparency and inclusion between departments, such as Developers and Designers, can improve understanding about the users, increase efficiency, boost productivity, and facilitate the decision-making process in an organization. The process of cross-collaboration and cross-functional teams alone can deliver a better user experience and provide value to a business faster than each discipline working separately can provide. Designers and Developers should work with an understanding of how their work impacts the other discipline; and recognize how to best incorporate and utilize each other skills to offer the best user experience possible.

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