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Common pitfalls between designers and developers and how to overcome them

Myself and Thiago (a developer teammate) presented what we've learned from working with other disciplines. We shared our stories from 2 years of working together, problems we identified and actionable solutions. Here is a summary of the talk.

Pitfall #1 - Stereotyping

Our view of people limits their involvement. We can limit others in their capabilities, talents, contribution and interest areas.

How to overcome it?

• Be aware of stereotyping and be open to differences
• Find the strengths in others
• Encourage involvement in your discipline's activities. Be proactive about inclusion.

Developers are not robots and designers are not painters.

Pitfall #2 - Different views of complexity

Thinking things are too complicated or not possible means that ideas are shut down too early.

How to overcome it?

• Suggest things out loud
• Ask why, and adapt, to achieve the goal in a simpler way

Complexity requires discussion.

Pitfall #3 - Thinking details are set in stone

Taking things too literally, believing every detail is required without questioning, can result in unnecessary work. Ultimately, this results in slower delivery.

How to overcome it?

• Share, and ask for, the reasons why
• Understand what is crucial
• Understand the purpose of your team - North star objective
• Informed deviation

Details are not equal to requirements.

Pitfall #4 - Working in isolation

Silos can mean we over-prepare for scenarios that may not be important. We may over-engineer solutions. This means wasted effort and clunky solutions.

How to overcome it?

• Don’t get too far ahead of the other - just enough, not just in case
• Proactively include others and get input
• Attend things together - stand ups, retros, customer interviews
• Pairing - prototype together, in code

Working separately means a loss of ideas and a loss of productivity.

In summary

1. Stereotype responsibly
2. Openly discuss complexity
3. Know that details are not set in stone
4. Work together

It is crucial to build the right environment for collaboration.

This results in stronger solutions and happier teams.

It is not about design handovers, or designers vs. developers. It's all about cooperating. Seriously, that's it!

A little tweet summarising the talk

https://twitter.com/product_anon/status/1194173645100175362?s=20

Recording of talk

https://youtu.be/vKc_gODSG0A?t=25

Event description

Effective communication & Common pitfalls between designers and developers