Designing a mobile app or website can be a challenging and rewarding process, but sometimes you have to deal with tight deadlines that can put pressure on your creativity and productivity. How do you manage a design project with a tight deadline without compromising on quality and user experience? Here are some tips that can help you deliver a great design in a short time.
The first step to managing a design project with a tight deadline is to clearly define the scope and goals of the project. What are the main features and functionalities that the app or website needs to have? What are the user needs and expectations that the design should meet? What are the constraints and limitations that the design should respect? By answering these questions, you can create a project brief that outlines the scope and goals of the design, as well as the timeline and deliverables.
Leveraging frameworks like MoSCoW to prioritize what are must haves, should haves, could haves, and won't have is an effective and collaborative way to minimize scope for design projects with tight deadlines. It also creates good discussion across team members around why certain aspects are important, which can be valuable to consider later down the road
Clearly defining the scope and goals helps set the foundation for the entire project and ensures that everyone involved is on the same page. it is essential to begin by articulating a clear project overview. This involves providing a concise description of the project's purpose and its overall significance, whether it involves the creation of a new design, a redesign, or updates to an existing product. In conjunction with this, establishing well-defined goals and objectives is crucial. Clearly stating the primary goals of the design project and breaking them down into specific, achievable objectives provides a framework for the team to work towards. like they say; well begun is half done!
Jumping into this insightful conversation, I'd like to emphasize an often-overlooked aspect of experience delivery: ensuring that a solution is both usable and more importantly useful. In my view, the choice of goal-setting frameworks, like OKRs or SMART, is secondary to the critical task of properly sizing the project's scope. It's essential to balance atomic value delivered in a way that aligns the company's value proposition with user usefulness, creating tangible business opportunities. This approach becomes incredibly beneficial during the inevitable discussions around scope reduction versus deadline adjustments, fostering realistic and effective product delivery schedules.
One thing I found helpful to get this right is to do this as a workshop with core team and stakeholders to have clear understanding that the features and function should be the last and treated as solution in context of capabilities, time and budget. The primary focus should be focused on team and project clearly outlining the customer definition their pains and needs and actual value delivery the running a JOBS TO BE DONE framework can align this really well! The second part should be based on journey map you would envision based on JTBD framework and finally a data taxonomy and backend capability, this will align the scope nicely with team and will show true effort needed with everyone on the same page.
A primeira coisa a se fazer para entender o escopo e as metas é realizar entrevistas com responsáveis pelo negócio para entender compromissos e datas alvo. Conversar sobre os resultados esperados de cada um dos artefatos a serem projetados ajuda no recorte do escopo e no sucesso da entrega. Uma funcionalidade com o objetivo de entregar informa??es legais terá características e prazos de projeto diferentes de uma funcionalidade com a fun??o de manter o usuário interagindo com a interface.
The next step is to prioritize and simplify the design elements and tasks that are essential for the project. You can use a framework such as the MoSCoW method, which stands for Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have, to categorize the design requirements and features according to their importance and urgency. This way, you can focus on the must-haves and should-haves, and avoid spending time on the could-haves and won't-haves. You can also simplify the design by reducing the number of screens, colors, fonts, icons, and other elements that can clutter the user interface and increase the complexity.
Be realistic about what can be achieved with the highest quality possible. Prioritize the most critical aspects of the project to ensure they receive the attention and resources needed. In this context, MVP means focusing on the 'Most Valuable Player' of the project – the core elements that will have the greatest impact or value, rather than spreading efforts too thin over a 'Minimal Viable Product.
YAGNI stands for 'You Aren't Going to Need It'. This is our shield against feature bloat, ensuring we sculpt experiences that solve real problems, not add noise. It helps us prioritze and focus our efforts. Before adding a "shiny new feature" ask yourself: Does it solve a pressing user need? Will it actually be used? Does it add complexity? Remember, ship first, iterate based on real data, not guesses. That's the YAGNI way: prioritize, simplify, and delight users.
Absolutely! Prioritizing and simplifying design elements are key to conquering tight deadlines. By utilizing MoSCoW and embracing simplification, you can prioritize essential features, reduce design noise, and deliver a focused, user-friendly experience even within tight deadlines. Remember, sometimes less is more!
To establish the correct priorities, it's essential to possess a thorough comprehension of the scope. Therefore, invest time in precisely defining the scope. Additionally, bear in mind that priorities are subject to change, so maintain an ongoing communication channel with key stakeholders.
another commonly used method in UX design for prioritization is the "User Story Mapping" technique. This method is a visual tool that helps teams understand the user's journey through a product and prioritize features accordingly. User Story Mapping provides a holistic view of the user's experience, making it easier to prioritize features that align with user needs and business goals. It ensures that development efforts are focused on delivering a coherent and valuable user experience, starting with the most critical features.
The third step is to prototype and test the design as early and as often as possible. You can use tools such as Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD to create low-fidelity or high-fidelity prototypes that show how the app or website will look and function. You can then test the prototypes with real or potential users, or with stakeholders, to get feedback and validation on the design. Testing the prototypes can help you identify and fix any usability issues, errors, or gaps in the design, as well as improve the user experience and satisfaction.
While prototyping (especially for high-quality prototypes), remember to use components. This way, (1) you'll make adjustments to repeating elements on multiple screens much faster, and (2) you can easily experiment using component variations.
Forget pixel-perfect mockups and embrace the ugly prototype revolution! This ain't a beauty pageant for screens; it's a user-testing mosh pit. Throw Figma at the wall, sketch on napkins, build with duct tape – anything to get a rough draft in front of real humans, fast. Feedback is your currency, not your enemy. Each prototype's a love letter to your users, riddled with typos and broken links. But with each iteration, you polish the gem, shaving off usability barnacles and revealing the magic within. Remember, minimum viable prototypes are the MVPs of design – validate your vision early, often, and loudly.
Spot on!! Regularly testing prototypes before handing off to development is essential to ensure that all user flows function smoothly, aligning with expected user goals.
Prototyping early helps generate new discussions that may have gone unnoticed during the MOSKOW phase and helps the team to see how the elements in the screen are related.
Building prototypes early and often gives us valuable feedback, so we can improve features and user flows quickly. It's a cycle: make a prototype, get feedback, improve, and repeat.
The fourth step is to communicate and collaborate with your team and your clients throughout the design project. You can use tools such as Slack, Trello, or Asana to communicate and coordinate your tasks, deadlines, and progress with your team members. You can also use tools such as InVision, Zeplin, or Marvel to share and present your design deliverables with your clients and get their approval and feedback. Communicating and collaborating with your team and your clients can help you avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or delays in the design project.
Design maturity within organizations can vary and I find the less mature they are the more often you have to share and evangelize your process. The design process can feel like a black box for those not familiar. Constantly socializing your process and the results can create a culture where design variances are more tolerable and allow the larger team to contribute towards a better way of executing.
Add a cadence of team meetings to gather stakeholders and teams to interact and communicate progress against the timeline. Design changes, prototypes, user testing results and completed dev should be reviewed and discussed. An email of meeting notes, links to work and decisions made should be sent out after every meeting. The conversations can thread to the whole team. Slack, Invision and other team preferred tools can be used for smaller team conversations. Large issues should be communicated to the whole team via email.
A good product is not the result of just one person's effort, it involves the combination of many mindsets. To ensure that team members understand what you're talking about, ask them several times in different contexts and focus on the big picture to make sure the team is exactly aligned with the business goals. Then, you and your team can create a good product without any misunderstandings.
In my experience, setting up routine check ins with a clearly defined agenda for project visibility or stakeholder feedback can help reduce churn. When the frequency of communication is low, or expectations for the meeting are not defined, it can invite ambiguity and lead to unhelpful rabbit-holing on unhelpful/unnecessary topics. Mechanisms for communication are best when they serve a function, keep contributors informed, and have a clearly defined set of expectations. Further, when outcomes or decisions from communications are clearly noted or recorded in a central location, team members can stay up to date and stakeholders can stay aligned with the most current direction.
I always insist the team to be transparent with the stakeholders and the client to have a better delivery process. We follow agile methodology to communicate promptly with the client and have a better communication between the development team.
The final step is to review and refine the design before delivering it to the client. You can use tools such as Lighthouse, Google PageSpeed Insights, or WebAIM to check and improve the performance, accessibility, and SEO of your design. You can also use tools such as Grammarly, Hemingway, or ProWritingAid to check and improve the copy, tone, and readability of your design. Reviewing and refining the design can help you polish and perfect the final product and ensure that it meets the client's expectations and standards.
Se a entrega acontecer e ainda tiver algum tempo a mais, pense em anima??es e transi??es de telas inteligentes, guiando o olhar e gerando um momento incrível na experiência.
Project Reviews and Iterations is one step that shouldn’t be overlooked. At this phase, you can get feedbacks and iterates before handing off for implementation.
When you have built a mock-up screen, you have to get periodic review on the draft version itself instead waiting till completing all the modules design.
A meticulous review and refinement process play a pivotal role in polishing the design to perfection. By addressing technical performance, accessibility, SEO, and content quality, the final product is not only visually appealing but also aligned with industry standards. This ensures that the design meets and even exceeds the client's expectations, contributing to a successful and satisfying project outcome. Regularly incorporating feedback from stakeholders and end-users during this phase further refines the design, making it a robust and effective solution.
In the final stage of a design project, collaboration is key for review and refinement. I work closely with Technical Writers to fine-tune the text for clarity and impact. Partnering with the Accessibility (A11y) team ensures our design is inclusive and meets accessibility standards. Regular interactions with the engineering team are crucial for optimizing performance. This collaborative approach ensures a comprehensive review, enhancing each aspect of the design. Through these combined efforts, we achieve a polished, high-quality final product that not only satisfies client expectations but also upholds industry standards.
If a client comes with a project "for yesterday" we don't take that client on, because it means they're not organized properly, meaning both this project and all further work would be stressful. And avoiding stress is the most important part.
Completing the project is not so difficult, but building the right team is. When your team is well built, then regardless of any constraints, a complete and well optimised product can be delivered.
There is a level of maturity that is needed for design and tech team to run on short deadlines and tight budgets and the biggest mistake Iv seen is to do this on hypothesis “try and see”. To build with confidence quickly you need to know and validate the problem and solutions and testing is the only way if you validate the issue and understand the value then you can afford to be Lazer focused on the solution this often gets overlooked so many times and creates problem down the line.
I am a firm believer that a good start sets the stage for success, and I also believe that to have clear communication and the project's overall goal establishes the tone for the entire project.
When managing a project with a tight timeline, it's crucial to first identify who controls the timeline, whether it's the client, upper management, or another stakeholder. Understanding their perspective allows for effective communication and negotiation, ensuring that goals are realistic and aligned with their expectations. This knowledge is key for prioritizing tasks, managing risks, and adjusting strategies as needed. Regular collaboration and feedback with the timeline controller help in maintaining focus on critical aspects and enable prompt adjustments to stay on track. Essentially, recognizing the timeline's controller shapes the entire approach to goal-setting and project management in a constrained time frame.