Why Design Supercharges Fast Teams—But Feels Like a Roadblock for Slow Ones

(And Why It’s Worth the Growing Pains)

At Flipside Innovation , we’ve seen firsthand how design can be the ultimate accelerator—or the ultimate frustration—depending on how a team collaborates.

If you’ve worked in product development long enough, you’ve probably heard (or said) something like this:

"UX is slowing us down."

At first glance, it seems like a fair criticism. Designers question settled decisions, push for more research, and sometimes take longer than expected to deliver. It’s easy to assume that design is the bottleneck.

But when you look closer, you’ll find that design isn’t the cause of the slowdown. Instead, the real culprit is how the team works cross-functionally. High-functioning teams experience UX as a catalyst for speed and clarity, while dysfunctional teams experience it as yet another layer of friction.

The UX Researcher’s Perspective: What’s Really Happening?

Whenever I hear complaints about UX slowing things down, I put on my researcher hat and start asking questions.

"Tell me about a time UX slowed you down."

The answers follow a familiar pattern:

• “The designers didn’t just go along with what we asked.”
• “They took too long to deliver.”
• “They wanted to change decisions that were already made.”

I then ask a follow-up question:

"Is this experience unique to UX? How do you collaborate with other teams?"

And suddenly, the floodgates open:

• “We argue about whether product or engineering priorities should take precedence.”
• “We fight with marketing over what the real user need is.”
• “We blame support for not wanting to do their jobs when bug reports pile up.”

At this point, the pattern is clear—this isn’t a UX problem. It’s a collaboration problem. When cross-functional teamwork is already chaotic, adding another function (whether it’s UX, marketing, or engineering) only amplifies the disorder.

Why Design Makes Fast Teams Faster—And Slow Teams Slower

At Flipside Innovation, we’ve worked with teams that thrive with design—and teams that struggle. The difference? Shared goals and clear collaboration.

Teams that already communicate well and align on a common purpose don’t see UX as a blocker. Instead, they experience it as a force multiplier that helps them make better decisions, faster.

That’s because UX, at its core, is about reducing uncertainty. It ensures that teams are solving the right problems, validating ideas, and iterating toward the best solution.

For teams that already struggle, however, UX doesn’t remove uncertainty—it exposes it. It forces teams to confront misalignment, unvalidated assumptions, and rushed decisions. This creates discomfort, and it’s easy to blame the discomfort on the designers. But in reality, UX isn’t slowing the team down—it’s revealing inefficiencies that were already there.

Pushing Through the Groan Zone

For teams that aren’t used to working cross-functionally, integrating UX can feel painful at first. This is what we call the groan zone—the period of discomfort as teams adjust to new ways of working. It’s easy to mistake this friction for design being “difficult” or “too slow.”

But teams that push through this phase and embrace design thinking come out the other side stronger. They find that working with UX:

• Eliminates wasted effort by focusing on validated needs instead of assumptions.
• Reduces rework by identifying issues before they become expensive to fix.
• Clarifies decision-making by establishing shared frameworks for prioritization.

Ironically, teams that resist UX because it “slows them down” often move the slowest in the long run. They spend more time undoing rushed decisions, debating priorities without a clear framework, and patching problems that could have been prevented.

How to Make UX Work For Your Team

If your team feels like UX is slowing things down, it might be time to take a step back and evaluate how you collaborate, not just how you design. Here are a few ways to integrate UX more effectively:

1. Shift the mindset from output to outcomes. Instead of focusing on how fast something is delivered, ask whether it solves the right problem in the best way possible.
2. Align early and often. Bring UX into conversations from the start—not just as a final polish at the end. Early alignment prevents rework later.
3. Define shared goals. Teams that operate on different priorities will always struggle. UX helps unify the team around solving the right problem for the user.
4. Embrace iteration. UX doesn’t slow things down—it helps teams avoid unnecessary pivots and expensive mistakes. Be willing to adapt based on insights.

The Flipside: Design as an Accelerator

At Flipside Innovation, we’ve seen what happens when teams fully integrate UX into their process. The results are clear:

• Faster decision-making. Design-led teams don’t waste time debating priorities—they have a structured way to validate and move forward.
• Smoother execution. When UX, engineering, and product are aligned, projects flow with fewer blockers and surprises.
• Better products. Teams that prioritize UX consistently deliver solutions that meet real user needs, reducing the need for expensive fixes down the road.

Final Thoughts: Design Won’t Slow You Down—If You Let It Work

Design isn’t what makes teams slow—dysfunction does. A well-functioning team experiences UX as an accelerant, helping them move faster and make better decisions. A struggling team experiences UX as friction, not because UX is flawed, but because it highlights existing misalignment.

The good news? Even if your team feels slow today, investing in better collaboration with UX will pay off. Push through the growing pains, and you’ll find that design doesn’t just help with building better products—it makes everything about working together smoother, faster, and more effective.