Collaboration & Teams Articles & Videos

  • UX & Marketing: Balancing Business Goals and Supporting Users

    There are inevitable tensions that form between UX and marketing teams because of their differing approaches to users and differing priorities. Regardless, both teams can still work together to find effective solutions that address those tensions.

  • Democratization of UX

    Democratization of UX work, or making it acceptable and accessible for everyone, must be accompanied by due diligence: setting guidelines, educating others, and demystifying the process.

  • When to Empathy Map

    Empathy maps can be used to plan for future research studies, capture insights during current user research, and communicate research insights from research that has already been conducted.

  • Prototype Specifications: 3 Types

    Element, functionality, and content are three types of prototype specifications that help us document design details that are otherwise easily overlooked.

  • Lean UX & Agile Glossary

    Unsure of what a word means and how it applies to UX in-practice? Use this glossary to quickly clarify key terms and Agile concepts.

  • Discovery Kick Off Workshops

    Starting discovery with a structured kick off workshop can create alignment and set your discovery efforts up for success.

  • The Product-Manager Archetype

    Product managers share common goals, strengths, activities, and skill sets. Awareness of these commonalities helps designers figure out how to best collaborate with product managers on Agile teams.

  • When to Use Empathy Maps: 3 Options

    Empathy maps are a powerful, flexible tool that can be used to plan for future research studies, capture insights during current user research, and communicate research insights from research that has already been conducted to others.

  • Groupthink in UX Work

    Groupthink is the human tendency to follow the opinion of the majority. This instinct can save time but can also lead us on the wrong path.

  • UX Researchers Reporting Structure

    Our recent survey of UXers shows that researchers report in a matrix style. Matrix offers benefits from both a central research team and product teams.

  • Who Does DesignOps? Common DesignOps Roles and Partnerships

    Many roles can contribute to DesignOps at an organization. Organization- and design-team structures play a large role in determining who should take on DesignOps responsibilities.

  • Dot Coding: An Activity to Elicit Perspectives in UX Workshops

    By placing colored dots on items, participants in UX workshops or group sessions can manage the collaborative discussion of research findings, design ideas, goals, or anything else.

  • The Simplest Way to Get Buy-In for UX

    Understand motivations and try different approaches to get stakeholder buy-in for UX research, findings, and design recommendations.

  • Day-0 Calls: Avoid UX-Workshop Disasters by Aligning on the Basics in Advance

    A lack of agreement on goals and other basics can derail an entire workshop. Hold a call prior to the workshop to establish these basics in advance.

  • UX Roadmaps Common Questions

    5 questions we often get asked in the course on UX roadmaps, starting with the difference between roadmaps and project plans.

  • How to Build a Participant List for UX Workshops

    A successful UX workshop includes a relatively small number of diverse participants and prioritizes users’ needs.

  • Use Good Prototype Specifications to Empower Team Collaboration

    Three types of prototype specifications help explain how a design looks and is implemented. Clear prototype specifications empower team collaboration and lower communication costs.

  • Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence in UX Design

    Addressing these 3 fundamental psychological needs in our products increases user motivation and well-being. Users will be more engaged and more likely to use our designs.

  • Product & UX Partnerships

    Product management and user experience should partner throughout product development. But how? Here are 5 tips.

  • Enterprise User Experience

    Trends for improving the user experience for enterprise software and other internal design projects.