Design collaboration is needed more than ever

The little practice we used to call “Web Design” has grown-up. It’s matured over the past decade. It’s famous. It’s been given more responsibility. More people than ever—in boardrooms and on the street—are aware of the potential of design to create personal and memorable end-to-end customer experiences.

The problems designers are solving are much bigger than the ones they were solving before. We’re not just making things look pretty. If you want to achieve this great user experience, it’s a team effort. You need help and you need to be comfortable asking for help.

This year I’ve been presenting at various events on “Collaborative Design with Clients and Teams”. I’ve been talking about what I’ve learned and how my process has changed to be more inclusive, and how to make the most of a diverse collection of roles, backgrounds, and personalities.

I used to spend a lot of time iterating, having meetings, getting feedback, and iterating again. With my new process, inspired by The Design Sprint, and Design Studio Workshops cuts that exploration and decision making process down to days instead of weeks.

I’m giving this presentation next week at Drupalcon Dublin. If you’re attending then it would be great to see you there. If you’re organising an event and would like to see this topic presented, let me know.