A “One Hat” Framework for UX teams

Co-written by Allen Chambers
Edited by Amanda Clark Renzulli & Deena Bernstein

It can feel difficult to create impactful user experiences without a collaborative UX team structure. Time and time again, we continue to see companies assign research, design, content strategy, and a handful of other tasks to one individual rather than providing a singular focus with supporting team members. There are many risks in doing this, with one of the biggest being burnout.

To escape this commonly flawed approach, Vanguard has coined a supportive structure for its Client Experience Design (CXD) UX teams called Labs. Vanguard UX Labs experiment, collaborate, and communicate daily to craft the best experiences for our clients as they move towards financial success.

Cross Functional Support

Vanguard’s UX Labs incorporate cross-functional experts working together within a single client journey within our digital products. Each lab consists of several key UX disciplines:

• UX Researchers
• UX Content Strategists
• UX Writers
• UX Designers
• UX Strategists

In addition to these UX roles, our teams have support from:

• Journey/Product Owners
• Scrum Masters
• UX Producers
• Data Analysts
• Tech Leads
• Full Stack Developers

All of our lab roles combine to establish a foundational workflow integrated into the development and planning processes of each lab. Simply put, these disciplines help craft the lab’s future work and short-term iterative enhancements that can improve a client’s day-to-day experience. Within this environment, both business and client needs get the attention they need and deserve and help drive positive client outcomes.

To learn more about the key UX disciplines at Vanguard, check out this blog post by Joshua Talley and Ted Liljestrand.

Labs are Like Mini Startups

Labs definitely have a startup feel to them. Each one has their own team name, team norms, set of meetings, and frequency of communication that aligns with Vanguard’s key principles of collaboration. By allowing labs to be independent, we’ve seen our culture thrive because our crew can work as a team on the ways they feel are most efficient in context of their many strengths.

Labs have their own personal branding element as well; each designer on a lab takes on the responsibility of providing a custom logo for the team to show off on stickers, mugs, and more. These culture-building branding elements are also used to further define teams for cross-lab collaboration.

Cross Lab Collaboration

We sometimes lose count of how many labs there are here because we are constantly growing. Without these labs complimenting each other and collaborating on a broader vision, this may seem like a disjointed infrastructure. Because labs are independently run, our UX teams often participate in cross-lab communication. Here are a few notable ways in which we come together to create One Vanguard:

• UX Design Critiques
• UX Content Strategy Syncs
• UX Research Readouts
• Sprint Reviews
• Zero Based Design Sessions
• Ideation Workshops

Think of this structure as many startups working together for a bigger purpose. In our case, it is our clients’ financial success.

As you can see, the lab structure and cross-functional collaboration allow us to focus on client problems and design solutions for them. With this framework, we continually strive to fulfill Vanguard’s Mission: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

If you have questions about Vanguard UX, our lab structure, or how you could be part of our team, send us an email or check out our open roles.