Developers and designers have very different job profiles. We often hear designers complain about developers ruining their work. Developers avoid designers as they make their job more complicated. Instead, we should learn to work together to make our difficult jobs easier and to create the most efficient process for everyone. Nadia is sharing some tips that helped her team of UX professionals to work efficiently with developers in a highly development-driven organisation.

1. UX & DEV:
How to BUILD KILLER FEATURES
and not kill each other
Nadia Udalova
UX Team Lead @ XebiaLabs

2. Scrum team = Building team1.
PO = House owner2.
LET’S IMAGINE…

3. Scoped work

4. Work started…

5. Impediments!

6. Sprint delivered!

7. The goal was…

8. COMMUNICATIVE teams achieve
greater results

9. Nadia Udalova
UX Team Lead @XebiaLabs
Joined XebiaLabs in 2014 as UX designer
Leading UX Team since 2017
Co-founder of Ladies That UX Amsterdam
Certified Design Sprinter (2017)

12. Allocation of UX resources1.
UX and Dev work alignment2.
MAIN CHALLANGES

13. Allocation of UX resources1.
UX and Dev work alignment2.
MAIN CHALLANGES

14. TWO ways to integrate UX into Agile
1. Allocation of UX resources

15. Lead
UX
UX
UX
Feature Team 2
Feature Team 1 Feature Team 3
Feature Team 4
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
UX agency
A. INTERNAL AGENCY MODEL
1. Allocation of UX resources

16. Lead
UX
UX
UX
Feature Team 2
Feature Team 1 Feature Team 3
Feature Team 4
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
UX agency
A. INTERNAL AGENCY MODEL
UX team culture & rituals
UX focused on future features
Better consistency across products/features
+
+
+
Difficulty in prioritisation between features
Less connection to Feature team’s focus
-
-
1. Allocation of UX resources

17. Feature Team 1
PO
DEV
UX
Feature Team 2
PO
DEV
UX
Feature Team 3
PO
DEV
Feature Team 4
PO
DEV
UX
B. CROSS FUNCTIONAL MODEL (Hub and Spoke)
UX Lead UX
1. Allocation of UX resources

18. Less alignment within UX team
More likely consistency problems
Lots of focus on day to day things
-
-
-
B. CROSS FUNCTIONAL MODEL (Hub and Spoke)
Fast response to change of plans
Direct UX involvement with Dev team
UX feels connected to Dev team’s
focus
+
+
+
Feature Team 1
PO
DEV
UX
Feature Team 2
PO
DEV
UX
Feature Team 3
PO
DEV
Feature Team 4
PO
DEV
UXUX Lead UX
1. Allocation of UX resources

19. A or B?
1. Allocation of UX resources

20. It depends…
1. Allocation of UX resources

21. • Ratio Designers vs Developers
• Maturity of an organisation
• Level of development teams autonomy
• Organisation structure and goals
1. Allocation of UX resources

22. "SPOC” Designer

23. Lead
SPOC
UX
Feature Team 2
Feature Team 1 Feature Team 3
Feature Team 4
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
PO
DEVs
UX agencySPOC
UX
SPOC
UX
Plugin team
UX
1. Allocation of UX resources

24. Sharing UX resources across teams

25. Allocation of UX resources1.
UX and Dev work alignment2.
MAIN CHALLANGES

26. UX is ice breaker

27. v 1
v 2
v 3
Release Release Release
UX work
Development work
2. UX and Dev work alignment

28. Lean UX:
1. Move from uncertainty to clarity
2. Driving away from long debates to actions
3. Removing waste - early validation
4. Shared understanding!
2. UX and Dev work alignment

29. The BIGGEST challenges in communication
2. UX and Dev work alignment

30. - UX is not involved in Engineering day to day work!
UX Team member attend Dev team daily stand-up.
NO EXCEPTIONS!
2. UX and Dev work alignment

31. - No learning together between UX and Dev.
UX Team member at Dev team retrospectives.
NO EXCEPTIONS!
2. UX and Dev work alignment

32. - Design decisions are taken WITHOUT Design.
1. “Needs UX” column on sprint board of each Dev team.
2. Scrum master and SPOC designer are always in sync.
2. UX and Dev work alignment

33. - Actual implementation is different from the design.
1. Detailed refinement sessions with Dev and UX.
2. UX as a part of Definition Of Done.
3. UX is a part of QA check.
2. UX and Dev work alignment

34. atomicdesign.bradfrost.com sketch.io
framer.comzeplin.io sketchapphub.com/resource/abstract/
- May TOOLS HELP you!
2. UX and Dev work alignment

35. Summary

36. Summary
1. Communicate teams achieve greater results TOGETHER
2. Correct allocation of UX resources is a baseline of success
3. UX is icebreaker
4. Lean UX: more important than ever before
5. UX team in Dev rituals, Dev involved into UX

37. and…
RESPECT each other!
Nadia Udalova
UX Team Lead @ XebiaLabs