Original Article here.
There are a lot of different approaches to doing design in the digital and software fields. Some companies allow designers to communicate with clients directly, so they can explore all of the client’s business processes on their own and create design templates based on the information they receive from the client.
Some companies have project managers and team leaders who communicate with clients and discuss all the business logic, later transferring this information to the designers. Once designers receive information from the project manager, they can begin their design work.
What is most important in the design process is that designers should not just design, but also understand the kind of business or process for which they are designing, the programming language or technology that will be used in the project and a lot of other things. If the designers have more information about the project, they can create designs that are easier to use and have more functionality.
DESIGNERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE CLIENT’S BUSINESS
From the first day of the project, the designer should participate in all meetings with client representatives, such as product managers, etc. This is important for the designer to understand the client’s business objectives, product logic and general processes.
The designer should ask the client all the questions about the business that are necessary to get information which will be helpful when creating wireframes, prototypes and design templates.
This work process is more efficient for designers because they can communicate with the client directly, asking questions and discussing the business workflow. When project managers or team leaders gather business and design requirements, the process is not as effective. When project managers transfer information to the designer, they can forget or misunderstand aspects of the process. Designers can do their best work when they can communicate with the client directly.
In our company, Diatom Enterprises, designers have already successfully applied this approach, working directly with clients and discussing their software products. By using this approach in real projects, we know that it is the most effective way to build successful projects and long-lasting relationships with our clients. If you need help creating designs for your software product, you can explore our design services or contact us for more information.
DESIGNERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY CONSTRAINTS
Every designer should at least be familiar with some development and programming languages on a basic level. It is not necessary for designers to also be developers, but they should at least understand the meanings of terms such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, back-end and front-end.
This is important because designers should create functional and well-thought-out design templates which meet basic web standards and technology requirements. Also, designers should be familiar with some technical terms in order to work closely with their development team. Designers should be able to explain their designs and how they work to the development team in the development team’s technical language, using their programming terms.
At Diatom Enterprises, we arrange different kinds of technical trainings for our designers, where they can learn basic things from the development world and apply them in their design work. If you need experienced designers with knowledge in design and development for your software project, please contact us for more information and we can help find the right solution for your project.
DESIGNERS CAN WRITE USER STORIES
Designers often understand the business logic of the product better than other people involved in the project. This is especially true if the designer is working and discussing all the logic with a client directly. In this scenario, the designer can also work on forming user stories for the development team.
Our designers always work very closely with the development team, providing them with all the necessary design information to do their programming job more efficiently. If you need a team of experienced designers and developers who can work quickly and effectively with each other, contact us for more detailed information.
DESIGNERS SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN PRODUCT TESTING
During the QA phase, designers should also participate in product testing. Designers should test the product for which they implemented the design because, as mentioned above, they get a very deep understanding of the business logic of the product during its development. Designers can find elements of the product’s design and design workflow which cannot be found by other team members.
This is an important aspect of product development because sometimes companies don’t want to spend a lot of money on design work and prefer not to involve designers in most of the product development processes, which might have a negative outcome in the future.
CONCLUSION
It’s very important to educate designers in different fields, not only in design, but also in development, project management, communication, marketing, etc. If you need design services from our experienced designers, we are ready to assist you and will find the best solution for your project. Please contact us for more details.