I think that there are three things engagement leaders such as myself can do to make for a successful design. First, the designers have got to have the tools to clearly define the problem to solve. I sometimes see projects where designers are given a pen and then told what to draw with that pen. Or they are given a screenshot or even a PowerPoint diagram and instructed to design that layout. This may get you to your desired state, but it isn't designing.
To get maximum benefit from your UX designer, it's important to give them a problem statement and let them explore various possibilities and solutions. Iteration is really important here and iterating doesn't mean the design didn't work. It means that you've discovered that there are other elements that need further consideration, that you're refining what you have.
Just as iterating code to get to right functionality in software is important, iterating design is important, too. (By the way, in those cases where designers were told what to design, the final products either didn't succeed or were scrapped for a new design.)
Second, you have to make your designers part of the requirements process. I see a lot of projects where designers are treated as developers within a sprint. Designs and requirements should work hand-in-hand with product owners and designers working together to determine the best solutions for a given problem statement.
When this happens, you end up with much more thought out designs with much more detailed requirements along with the supporting wireframes or prototypes to communicate that solution to not just developers, but stakeholders and customers, too. All of a sudden, your requirements are in both written and interactive form. Ideas of how to interact with a component are easy to communicate, what the product owner is trying to accomplish becomes evident, and stakeholders and customers get excited seeing the feature come to life.
Third, product owners and engagement leads need to knowing when to tell designers when they've crossed the finish line. It's a tough thing to do, telling someone that we finished.
Designers, just like every other person who works really hard, like to get things just right. But, there are times when just right happened last week or just now. You need to have a relationship with your designer, judge everyone's feedback, look at everyone's body language, and listen to everyone's tone of voice to know that the design is complete.
That's not to say that designers don't know when done is done. But the entire team will feel good about done when everyone agrees when that is.
I think that the evolution of my role is one towards the use of visuals and data. Today, I see lots of people in my role take status or count hours or points and call it a day. I don't subscribe to that concept.
My role is to get things done and that means knowing what our starting point is, knowing what our finishing point is, and knowing what levers I can pull to successfully get to the finishing point. That means not just counting hours or measuring velocity and points, but also understanding the interpersonal nature of the role. Would stakeholders be responsive to this idea? Who will a change benefit and how does that impact the end goals everyone has? What is everyone's desired end result and how can we all get what we need and want?
My role will also involve more understanding of how things happen. Not only do I need to know the process, but I need to know how people accomplish that process. What tools do designers use? Who receives the output of their work, and how do they use that output? What inputs do designers need to be successful and how do I get that input to them?
I'll end with a question and answer on my philosophy.
Quickly, your team needs clarification on some outstanding sprint requirements, your client manager really needs a progress report, and your boss is screaming for a time to meet on budget. Who gets your attention first?
The answer is your team. Without them, it doesn't matter what your progress report or budget look like; you won't have either if you don't keep your team moving along.
Eddie's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edchin