{"id":12318,"date":"2017-09-22T10:26:43","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T09:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=12318"},"modified":"2020-09-03T13:01:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T12:01:31","slug":"7-things-wished-designers-working-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/7-things-wished-designers-working-developers\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Things I Wished Designers Did More of When Working with Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collaboration between designers and developers is essential for creating great products. Every company has different organizational structures for designers and developers. Some companies have designers and developers on two separate teams. Those development teams may also break up developers in sub-teams as well. For example, they may separate by front-end developers and back-end developers. In other companies, designers and developers may be on the same team. Regardless, regular collaboration between designers and developers is essential in the success of a project.<\/p>\n

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\"Regular collaboration between designers and developers is essential in the success of a project.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

From a development perspective, I\u2019ve been involved in the design process from influencing the design to building out designs passed off to me (not my favorite scenario). I\u2019ve also worked as a designer, brainstorming ideas to creating prototypes. Having been on both sides, I wanted to share some tips for designers to better collaborate with developers.<\/p>\n

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1. Involve developers from the start and on a regular\u00a0basis<\/h2>\n

I find it beneficial to interact with designers beyond at a kickoff meeting and a handoff. Being involved in conversations that define how the product functions gives me the chance to give input before it\u2019s too late. Design is about co-creating; developers are as integral to this as anybody else. <\/strong>For certain conversations that don\u2019t require the larger team, involving the project manager from the development team is enough. He or she invites other team members as needed. Making sure we feel included is important to building a good relationship and a good product.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Design is about co-creating; developers are as integral to this as anybody else.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve come across many designers and front-end developers who share similar tasks. Many designers write their own code; many developers are involved in wireframing, prototyping, and visual design.<\/p>\n

When designers are unsure, I would rather them consult my teammates and me. We aren\u2019t that scary! Designers have asked me for input about what I\u2019ve seen on other projects. I\u2019ve also approached developers even when I\u2019m working on low-fidelity wireframes. Some experienced developers I\u2019ve worked with have a ton of knowledge and valuable insight. If a developer has been working on a product for a while, they may be able to bring up points you may not have thought about.<\/p>\n

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It is awful to find out after four months that certain features face unnecessary technical complications, or would function differently from what you expected. From a client\u2019s perspective, it reflects poorly on the team if he or she has signed off on a design but was later told that it cannot be done or that the team is considering another design instead.<\/p>\n

2. Annotate interactions thoroughly<\/h2>\n

Annotations and documentation help me to make sure I don\u2019t miss anything, especially when it comes to how an interaction works. You can create your own annotations, or use a tool such as Sketch Notebook<\/a>. Specify what different states of buttons look like, create diagrams, etc.<\/p>\n

Below are some questions that run through my mind you hand me a screen design that shows a list of search results:<\/p>\n