How I
Adapt to project
team or state
Every project is different, requiring flexible approaches depending on the team, organisation, and stage of development.
Joining an Established Team
🛜 Identify key team members with the most knowledge and build relationships to understand:
💎 Core journeys and team dynamics.
💎 Past successes and failures in the role.
💎 Roadmap challenges and blockers.
🛜 Review existing research (avoid “Death by 100 Miro boards”).
🛜 Collaborate with the BA to clarify and document requirements.
🛜 Work closely with Policy, as they can significantly impact design decisions.
🛜 Engage super-users for rapid testing and keep them informed of their impact.
Joining a New Team for Discovery
🔶 Understand team experience to build professional relationships.
🔶 Identify members with relevant expertise or user insights.
🔶 Leverage personal and team networks for user connections.
🔶 Ensure the roadmap is collaboratively developed to gain full team buy-in.
🔶 Collaborate with the BA for clear requirement gathering.
🔶 Use business research networks to find users for discovery.
🔶 Assess and refine the research panel, removing users who provide minimal insight to save time later.
Leading a Project as a Design Team of One
🧲 Identify key decision-makers and their stance on user-centred design.
🧲 Engage stakeholders to understand their hopes and fears for the project.
🧲 Run a workshop to help stakeholders think like user researchers and see the value of UCD.
🧲 Clearly define the project brief and roadmap.
🧲 Use personal and team networks to find users.
🧲 Work closely with senior decision-makers to document evolving requirements.