How to Join a Design Project Midway and Still Hit Home Run?

Taking over a project while it’s being passed to engineering is like jumping onto a moving train — it can be challenging to keep up and deliver what’s needed. In this article, I’ll share some hard-won lessons from my own experiences and show you how to thrive in these challenging situations.

What do I mean by “mid-way”?

As designers, we are often brought into projects at various stages. Some are just starting, so we’ll be involved in the design phase. For others, we may take over during the handover process, or maybe even during the design QA phase (although this happens less frequently). However, out of all these phases, I have found it the most challenging to step in when a project is being handed over to engineering.

When you’re designing something from scratch, you get a clear understanding of the context and rationale behind every decision. But when you’re taking over a project mid-way, things can get complicated. The team may have different expectations from you, and they might need you to help unblock any design-related issues they have. If the transition is somewhat rapid and you don’t get a chance to shadow the previous designer, then running the course in these projects can be tricky.

So here are some valuable lessons I have learned from taking on a project at this tricky stage — when handover is in progress, yet new requirements are emerging and some new designs are also needed.

Gaining context

Gaining context is the key to understanding the overall picture. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to this process but, one thing that works is getting contextual walkthroughs from the previous designer, or getting help from the PM. ASK for such formal walkthrough sessions to get up to speed!

One thing that I realized the hard way was that it’s not enough to just rely on a walkthrough. To test if you’ve understood the area and requirements well, try creating a rough paper-pen-based solution and flow based on how the product behaves. Then, compare it with the existing flow. If they’re similar then you’re on the right track. If not, well, either your understanding is not solid yet or there was something wrong with the previous solution.

Although this exercise takes some time, it can help you gain the confidence you need to move forward.

Setting the right expectations

Taking over a project can be especially challenging if you have other projects that demand your active participation. Setting the right expectations with the project team is crucial for smooth project delivery. You should let your stakeholders know that you need some time to get completely up to speed and answer their specific questions.

The stakeholders sometimes want answers immediately as that would unblock them but, it’s better to ask for some time deliberately and give an approximate ETA by which you can get back to them. Unless the cost of making the correction is tiny, it’s better to be sure before committing to things in the team meetings.

Prioritizing and unblocking

While you gain context, the team can’t just sit around waiting so it’s important to ask which item requires your attention at the earliest and by when you need to act on it. Again there might be a lot of items sometimes based on what kind of a project it is, but there’s always a way to prioritize. If needed, seek help from your manager to prioritize the work.

• One reason behind the ask to expedite design delivery may be for Frontend Engineering teams to take a look at the designs and give estimates. In that case, even if things are not 100% refined visually, Frontend Engineering teams can still estimate timelines, so don’t let that hold you back.
• In some cases, you might have to do a phased handover as every flow of the project can’t get design attention at once Prioritization is the key to success in these situations.
• If there’s a requirement for another flow that wasn’t mentioned earlier then by default the team will resort to a phased handover.

Seeking timelines proactively

Being unaware of project timelines can be a major issue for both you and your stakeholders. To successfully deliver the project, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the overall project timeline, the timeline for design handover, and how other teams are progressing in relation to those timelines. If other teams are falling behind you, then you can help your design colleagues by slowing down the review process.

For example, if I sense that engineering will take more time to catch up than anticipated, I communicate that to the Visual Design and UX Writing teams so they can adjust their review pace accordingly.

Ending note

Perhaps this isn’t as important but knowing the stakeholders and what kind of a team you’re working with is crucial as well. Some teams are proactive and they don’t intend to overwhelm you initially but that’s just their pace and way of work. It helps to get this context while you’re taking over any project. With some teams, you might have to drive changes a bit more whereas for proactive teams a gentle push is enough.

That’s all for now, I hope you found this article informative and useful.

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