There’s no denying that the technological advancements of recent years have delivered some incredible benefits to the UX design process. Yet it is vital that one key fact is not forgotten: to create a truly great user experience, the human element must still be prioritised.

After all, the products that are being developed are being created for a human user. And it’s just as important to adopt a human-centred approach to building effective UX teams, too.

Creating Powerful UX Teams

The best way to build an exceptional UX team is to take a holistic view of the people you have working within it. Each uxer will have their own particular areas of strength, and by adapting the team roles to reflect these different specialisms, you can look forward to achieving better results.

It’s also a wise idea to move away from traditional “siloed” styles of working. Whereas in the past, an employee would have their own set role and stick rigidly to it, it’s now recognised that it’s far more efficient to let UX talent work in a more flexible manner. This means encouraging your team to jump into new projects that could benefit from their set of skills, and even take on different roles and responsibilities for each new project they take on.

This not only helps to keep your valued UX folk stay motivated and engaged with their work at your firm and helps to support their career development, but it also helps your business to stay ahead of its competition by helping you to deliver fresher, more innovative projects.

Auditing The Skills Available

Of course, in order to maximise the potential of this kind of flexible working, you need to have a clear picture of the skills that are available across your team. There’s no doubt that looking at your UX team’s qualifications and employment history will make a great starting point in clarifying what kind of skills and competencies sit within your current team. Yet to get the most accurate picture of the potential of your team, it’s essential that you look beyond these details.

By taking a fuller look at the personalities and working styles of your team members, you can better determine where they might thrive. For example, looking at hobbies and other interests can help you find a natural leader who perhaps hasn’t had the opportunity to exercise their authority in the workplace. Or you may find that some people are naturally better suited to a more supportive, nurturing role, which will also be essential to the smooth running of a development project.

Let Your UX Team Blossom

We’ve already mentioned that this new human-centred approach can help to improve staff engagement. And to achieve the best results, it makes sense to pass ownership of work processes to the team members themselves. By giving team members more autonomy to shape their role within a project, you’ll not only find that they achieve their objectives, but do so with greater commitment and motivation than they would in projects where they are more closely directed and monitored by a single “boss.” Removing this strict, traditional hierarchy allows everyone in the team to feel valued and that they are having a tangible impact on the development process.

Create Teams That Work

Teamwork is key to a good outcome for any project, and ultimately, the effectiveness of a team is down to the ability of its individual members to cooperate successfully. If you find that you need fresh talent to fit into your key UX roles, then partner with the experts to ensure that the new additions are a perfect fit for your existing team. Please contact RMG Digital today to find out how we can help you find the quality candidates your organisation needs to create highly effective UX teams.