Leading my first project

Art by Ily Phelps

During my first year as a Product Designer, I found myself leading a complex project. This occurred as a result of my manager’s maternity leave and the hefty workload shouldered by the new design lead. Initially apprehensive, this unanticipated responsibility ultimately proved immensely beneficial. I will share the valuable lessons learned from this experience, should you encounter a similar scenario.

Ask questions, and lots of them

At Phaidra, we have a project kickoff meeting where key collaborators across different teams meet to review the requirements. During this meeting, we go over objectives, user flows, and requirements while addressing any project-related questions. Initially, I shadowed the lead designer to grasp the product process and serve as design support. In these meetings, I often refrained from asking questions openly due to my limited understanding of the product. Instead, I sought clarification from the lead designer privately to prevent any delays in the meeting. However, that would change when it came to this project I was leading.

• Ask clarifying questions. Frequently, questions may seem dumb, but I quickly realized the importance of asking them regularly and and early. This practice helped me steer clear of uncertainties regarding my designs and ensured that I moved forward in the correct direction. Whenever I encountered a high technical response to my question, I made a point to summarize my understanding to the industry expert to confirm comprehension.
• Ask questions to the right people. Initially, identifying the appropriate individuals to address specific questions might be challenging. However, as you engage in iterative processes and actively seek feedback, you’ll gradually pinpoint the right individuals to approach. In my case, a key player was a front-end engineer .We would have small huddle sessions to understand each other and create a solution that worked well for both engineering and design. This approach helped speed the design process and answered questions before a review with cross-functional team members.
• Use your resources to ask for help! As a design team, we have bi-weekly design workshop, where we meet to help each other on all areas of our design process. I utilized this time to discuss any challenges or areas of struggle with my team. We brainstormed together to find a solution that surpassed what I could have come up with on my own. Additionally, asking my manager for help and guidance also helped me during this process. During our 1-on-1 meetings, we would address blockers, celebrate wins, and brainstorm any parts of the design process I was struggling with.

Time management

One of the project’s most significant takeaways for me was learning the importance of time management. It’s not to say I’ve got it down because that is not the case. Trial and error have helped me find a structure that works for me.

• Set deadlines and prioritize. I envy people who can work on multiple projects without becoming fixated on just one single task. More often than not, you’re working in parallel on several tasks.To maintain productivity, I found it helpful to set deadlines for myself throughout the entirety of the project. This involved prioritizing projects and setting deadlines accordingly. In my meetings with my manager I would communicate these deadlines as a form of accountability.
• Setting hourly tasks. As previously noted, I often found myself fixated on a single task, so I decided to plan my task in advance in the form of hourly blocks. I wrote down what I intended to work on for the day and gave appropriate time blocks for each task. A soon as the block was over I would focus on the next task at hand. I won’t lie, sometimes it was easy to ignore the time block, but it did make me more conscious in moving forward.

Be ready to iterate

As I prepared for my first review, I was convinced that my design solution was perfect. I thought there would be minimal design changes, but as I know now, that’s almost never the case. Reflecting on that phase, I now find those earlier designs somewhat comical in comparison to the current build. I know the importance of being open-minded and being willing to listen to new ideas and feedback.

• Intentionally listen. Trust me, this one is important. I am not an industry expert in the space Phaidra is in, and the project I was leading didn’t have many comparable references I could refer to. So, when it came to getting feedback, I carefully listened to it because I trusted the experts. Every piece of feedback I received was an opportunity to improve my designs further. Sometimes the feedback might not make sense from a UX perspective, and it’s okay to not take all the feedback or to question it. When I was conflicted, I would talk to my manager to understand the feedback value from a UX perspective . Remember, you’re the UX expert. So listen to the feedback, and determine whether or not it makes sense.
• Feedback is your best friend. During the early stages of my project, I quickly understood the importance of feedback. I’ll admit, requesting feedback is daunting at times, but not asking for feedback early and often will lead to more work, and can become a blocker. Whenever I encountered challenges or uncertainties regarding requirements, I mocked up a few different designs and sought feedback. This helped me understand what was working and what wasn’t early on.
• Don’t take it personally. This point can be particularly challenging, especially for junior designers . As someone who tends to internalize things, it’s crucial not to take feedback/critics as an insult to your character. In our jobs, we are constantly sharing our work early and often. Getting a lot of feedback is just part of the process.

After hand-off

It’s easy to get into the mindset of ‘I’m finished’ once the spec document is handed off to the engineering team. However, that isn’t the end of the process. Front-end will typically have questions regarding designs, user flows, visuals, and more. So be ready to continue to ask questions and iterate on your designs. To this day, we are still actively working on improving this feature.

• Celebrate. I did it! Submitting the final hand-off spec document to engineering filled me with joy. Not because it was over, but because I achieved something I thought I wouldn’t get to do so early on. Reflecting on this project, I realize it was instrumental in my growth as a designer. Although I was hesitant at first, the confidence I gained throughout the process is invaluable. Remember to celebrate your accomplishment.
• Answer questions & continue design iterations. Again, the hand-off document didn’t mark the end. Front-end engineering had questions regarding the designs. Some questions were small clarifying questions while others needed new user flow designs to make the user experience better. Even now, months later, I address questions and iterate on the designs because of new uncovered pain points by our users.

Conclusion

If you’re about to lead your first project, embrace the excitement! While it may seem daunting and overwhelming, think about all the growth you’ll achieve during this time. For me, it was like leaving the bird’s nest — I needed this for my personal growth, and I’m grateful I got this opportunity early on in my career. Remember, you got this!