https://unsplash.com/photos/assorted-color-iphone-screen-on-black-surface-04asBB737-k
Introduction:
In this article, I will discuss my experience in building a team and creating new processes at the company where I was hired as a Lead Designer. I will talk about my mindset in leading a team and the processes I established. Additionally, I will cover the responsibilities assigned to me to help achieve the company’s goals. Before delving into the details, it is necessary to provide an overview of the company where I was employed.
“Bimeh Bazar,” an online insurance sales company, hired me. Bimeh Bazar is an online platform where users can compare various insurance policies and select and purchase the one that suits them best. I joined the team at a time when the company needed to restructure its product and technical teams and was about to start this restructuring. My main role as Lead Designer was to build the team and establish the processes governing the design team before starting the redesign project. 
Challenges
In the situation where I took over the team and initially faced them, I can refer to two main challenges.
Internal ChallengesExternal Challenges
Internal Team Challenges:
1. Incomplete Process for Reviewing Task Status and Quality:
The absence of a continuous evaluation process had led to declining output quality and missed opportunities for improvement. Each design was reviewed solely by a product manager, who often lacked the specialized insight of a designer, resulting in insufficiently thorough assessments. This lack of detailed review and cohesive feedback had hindered the identification of strengths and weaknesses, ultimately reducing design quality and overall efficiency.
2. Need for Sufficient Specialized Talent in the Design Team:
Given the high volume of work the design team was expected to face in the future, it was necessary to strengthen the team and recruit more specialized talent to ensure a balanced and manageable workload for the team members.
3. Absence of a Manager for the Design Team and Direct Interference by Product Managers:
The design team had been managed without a dedicated design manager, and this responsibility had been assigned to product managers. This situation had led to fundamental deficiencies in understanding and guiding the design process. Due to their lack of expertise in design, product managers had not been able to effectively lead the execution of design tasks.
4. Deficiency of Process for Evaluating and Growing Team Members:
One of the prominent complaints from design team members had been the lack of a defined process for individual growth plans. As a result, team members were unable to properly assess and improve their performance.
5. Unclear Roadmap and Future in the Team’s Work Structure:
The lack of clear and defined planning for the future of the design team created ambiguity and uncertainty among team members. Additionally, because team members had not been informed about the ongoing processes within the design team, this led to decreased motivation and productivity.
External Team Challenges:
1. Mismatch Between Figma Designs and Implemented Designs:
During the implementation process, changes had been made to the design that were not updated in the Figma files. This resulted in the final design not matching what had been created in Figma.
2. Lack of a Unified Design System and Inconsistent Design:
Since the establishment of BimeBazar, due to the involvement of multiple designers over time, no decision has been made to create and implement a unified design system. This led to different parts of the product having distinct appearances, resulting in a lack of cohesion and consistency in the product design.
3. Lack of Coordination Between the Design and Development Teams:
The absence of a final design review by designers after the development team’s implementation led to mismatches between the final output and the designs in Figma. This lack of coordination had reduced the overall product quality, increased the need for revisions and corrections after implementation, and ultimately caused a waste of time and resources.
My Objectives for Internal Challenges:
– Team formation and recruitment
– Shaping team processes
To form a team and establish process structures, I needed certain indicators to design the process I had in mind. Based on my experience in this area and the research I conducted, I arrived at the following indicators:
Key Indicators for Addressing Internal Challenges:
1. Alignment and Coordination:
Ensures that the team is working towards the same goals and objectives. Involves regular updates and task management to keep everyone aligned and aware of their responsibilities.
2. Feedback and Improvement:
Focuses on providing constructive feedback to enhance performance and quality. Encourages continuous learning and refinement of processes and outputs.
3. Personal Development and Support:
Aims at individual growth and well-being. Includes mentoring, training, and one-on-one meetings to support personal and professional development.
4. Team Building:
Develop a cohesive and positive team environment. Involves activities and initiatives that foster trust, collaboration, and a sense of belonging among team members.
Solutions Implemented:
1. Team Formation and Recruitment: To advance the redesign project, the first step was to form an efficient and coordinated team, which required new members with various skills. Therefore, the recruitment process began, involving the search and selection of individuals with specialized abilities in design. Full details of the recruitment process at BimeBazar and my perspective on this matter are explained in the following article: [Link].
2. Creating New Processes and Structure: Based on the mentioned criteria, new processes and structures were established as follows:
1. Alignment and Coordination:
1.1 Daily:
We start our daily meetings before beginning our tasks. The goal of these meetings is to ensure alignment and keep everyone informed about the status of our tasks. If there are any blockers in our work, we discuss and resolve them during this time. Usually, if there are no special issues, the daily meetings take between five to ten minutes.
Outcome: The brevity and regularity of these meetings helped maintain a steady workflow and quick resolution of issues.
1.2 Documentation:
One of the company’s problems was that the business relied on the historical memory of individuals, and with the departure of key personnel, the acquired knowledge was lost. Therefore, one of the most important actions we had to take was to document the knowledge of key individuals. In addition, we recorded and documented all the processes we used to prepare the design steps.
Outcome: These actions ensured that no individual was critical to the organization due to their historical memory and also facilitated the onboarding process for new members joining the team.
1.3 Roadmap:
One of the past problems of the team was the lack of awareness among members about upcoming stages. To address this issue, I worked on clarifying the path forward by presenting the upcoming steps, making the project’s goals and milestones clear, and ensuring that all team members were aligned in their efforts. Another benefit of displaying the upcoming stages is improved time and resource management and facilitating progress tracking.
Outcome: Clarifying the path forward by presenting upcoming steps and project milestones improved team awareness, ensured alignment among members, and enhanced time and resource management. This approach also facilitated better tracking of progress.
2. Feedback and Improvement:
2.1 Task Review:
To ensure that each task is on the right track, we hold these sessions. In each session, one of the designers randomly reviews another team member’s work and provides feedback on their tasks.
Outcome: Holding these review sessions improved the quality of designs and generated new ideas for advancing tasks. This process also ensured that each task stayed on track.
2.2 Retro:
For continuous improvement of processes and identifying strengths and weaknesses in team interactions, regular retrospective meetings are held. It is preferred that the team leader does not host these meetings to avoid directing the discussion, allowing team members to freely and candidly express their concerns about procedures and structures.
Outcome: Our retrospectives helped us uncover areas for improvement and facilitated honest, constructive feedback, boosting continuous improvement and team collaboration.
3. Personal Development and Support:
3.1 One-on-One:
The core of one-on-one meetings is mutual feedback in a safe environment. In these meetings, I always strive to build trust with team members so that they can express their opinions freely and openly. The points discussed during these meetings are documented at the end of the conversation, and both parties have access to the document, allowing for the tracking of individual growth based on the discussions.
In this document, I use several emojis, each representing a specific topic:
👾 This issue could become problematic if it persists.
🌱 A positive development has occurred, and a troublesome issue is being improved.
💎 Excellent quality and exceeding expectations have been achieved.
👨🏻 Expectation from the team leader to address the concerns of team members.
Outcome: One-on-one meetings built trust and provided a safe environment for mutual feedback. Documenting discussions and giving both parties access to these documents facilitated the tracking of individual growth.
3.2 Workshop
Workshops, in addition to developing the skills and knowledge of team members, significantly contribute to boosting team morale. However, my previous experience in this area was not very pleasant. This time, I tried implementing a different style of in-team workshops.
My experience shows that when the responsibility for conducting workshops falls on team members, with each person presenting weekly, this practice soon becomes a burdensome task. Therefore, I decided to invite individuals from outside the team, including my friends, to speak for about 30 minutes on topics they are knowledgeable about. The invited speakers were not necessarily designers but came from various specializations and roles related to digital product delivery, such as digital marketing, front-end development, product management, and more.
Outcome: Implementing a new style of workshops, with external experts speaking on diverse topics, improved team morale and skill development.
Some of the workshops that were held include:
Structural Logic of Color Creation
What Does the Data Say?
Lies Developers Tell Designers
Key Projects in the Organization: Challenges and Opportunities
What is the Marketing Funnel and Where Does Design Fit In?
4. Team Building:
4.1 Art session:
Every week, we gather for about half an hour, where one of the team members with expertise in painting and art discusses different art movements. During these sessions, we review several paintings and discuss the techniques used in the artwork.
4.2 Tea Time:
Every two weeks, the team gathers outside the company to talk about topics unrelated to work. This informal interaction helps us understand each other’s personalities better and get to know each other on a deeper level.
Outcome:
Regular informal gatherings improve personal connections, enhance team cohesion, and boost communication.
My Objectives for External Challenges:
-Delivering a Unified and Consistent Design
-Establishing a Common Language for Continuous Collaboration with the Technical Team
Key Indicators for Addressing External Challenges:
1. Coordination Between Design and Development Teams
2. Unified Design System
Solutions Implemented:
1. Coordination Between Design and Development Teams
1.1 Cross-Functional Collaboration:
It was necessary to clarify the processes between the design and development teams and strengthen communication between the two teams through regular meetings.
1.2 Quality Assurance:
Before the final product release, product designers review the implemented designs to ensure that development aligns with the design before the product is launched.
1.3 Feedback Loop:
Just as designers provide their feedback at the end of the development phase, developers also give their technical feedback on the designs in two stages before the final handover. Once during the wireframe phase and once during the user interface completion phase. At each stage, if the technical team provides comments and the feedback is significant, it must be reviewed by the designers before moving on to the next design phase.
2. Unified Design System:
The lack of a complete design system was a notable weakness in the processes between design and development. Therefore, one of the first actions I took after joining the company was to start implementing a design system. Given the critical nature of this issue and the limited time available for implementing a design system, I decided to purchase a pre-made design system and customize it to fit our product.
Conclusion:
Building the design team at Bimeh Bazar involved overcoming significant challenges related to internal processes and external coordination. By focusing on team formation, establishing clear processes, and fostering a culture of feedback and development, we were able to address these issues effectively.
Key improvements included enhanced design consistency, better team alignment, and more efficient workflows. The new processes and structures we implemented laid a solid foundation for future projects, ensuring that the team could work more cohesively and deliver higher-quality results. This experience has provided valuable insights for ongoing and future initiatives.
From Chaos to Cohesion: My Experience Restructuring a Product Design Team” was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
