In the world of software and web development, designers and developers often find themselves working in silos, which can result in a disconnect between design and functionality. However, when designers and developers work together, they can create better products that meet both the user's needs and the business objectives.

Where does this misalignment come from? How can we help teams work together more efficiently? What if collaborative tools contribute to this lack of collaboration? These are the questions we explore in this article.

Why you should involve developers in the design process

In the tech industry, developers often find themselves disconnected from the design process.

While designers and product managers take the lead in discovering user needs and shaping the project's direction, developers may feel that they are simply executing tasks without a clear understanding of the "why" behind them.

Some developers may be okay with this because they primarily care about the technology rather than how the product will be used. However, others may feel frustrated because they need to find a sense of purpose in their job.

In all cases, involving developers in the early stages of a project brings numerous benefits :

• They provide insights regarding technical feasibility, which can help designers avoid going in the wrong direction.

• Their different point of view enriches the ideation process.

• Being part of the conception process helps individuals to stay engaged and invested throughout the entire project.

• Understanding the "why" behind the project and the users' needs helps developers to truly comprehend the product, enabling them to create the best architecture from the outset.

Recognize the value of design, not only on the mock-up phase

As we mentioned earlier, developers often complain about being left out of the design phase, but the opposite can also be true. On many projects, the designer's role ends once the mock-ups have been validated. This can be frustrating for designers, as they are set aside as soon as the development phase begins.

Where does this separation between design and development come from ?

First, it is inherited from traditional project management methods, like the V model. Even though the agile method has thrived for more than 20 years, lots of organizations have implemented it poorly and still work in a linear way: design/development/test/delivery. While it should be more iterative, which implies the presence of the design team at all stages of the project.

Moreover, some developers underestimate the value and complexity of design work, perceiving it as merely creating beautiful screens. This mindset can lead to missed opportunities for collaboration and valuable input.

To ensure success, ongoing exchanges and regular feedback between developers and designers throughout the project are essential. Embracing a culture of mutual respect and recognizing the unique contributions of each role fosters an environment where collaboration thrives.

How to cultivate a collaborative culture within developers and designers?

In most projects, developers and designers work in silos, and they are not enough encouraged to work together. This create sometimes tensions because team members may not understand each other and blame each other for organizational or product issues.

How can this be solved?

Excessive processes within teams can stifle collaboration, leading to isolated efforts. Sometimes, creating an enterprise mindset that is favorable for collaboration requires softening team processes and rituals, and instead creating simple ways to share and interact between teams.

For design and development teams, this means that they first need to learn how to work with each other and understand each other's needs. It is important to strike a balance by encouraging meaningful interactions while respecting individual work time.

But sometimes it is a matter of personalities and egos. Collaborate with diverse people and teams requires some soft skills. People need to be curious and willing to understand how their teammates work. If you want to create multidisciplinary teams that work well together, you need to hire people who enjoy teamwork and are passionate about the product.

Figma, GitHub… How great tools create information silos

A significant challenge in collaboration between developers and designers stems from the different tools they use. Each group has its preferred platforms, leading to scattered collaboration and fragmented communication.

Let’s take a team where developers use GitHub and designers use Figma.

A lot happens on GitHub: issues, comments, discussions, pull requests, and more. If you want to stay up-to-date with the progress of a tech project, that's definitely where you want to be.

However, designers are typically not on GitHub and may not know how to use it, causing them to miss out on important updates. I remember one time when we accidentally activated GitHub notifications on Slack for a project, and non-tech team members were surprised to discover everything that was happening on GitHub, which had been out of their sight until then!

On the other hand, when designers work on Figma, all feedback about their work remains within Figma. This is because Figma has its own set of comments and feedback features. Additionally, Figma frames are not easily linked to user stories, issues, or features. It is challenging to create a streamlined process when each tool works independently.

If you add other tools such as Jira, Notion, Slack, etc., collaboration can become a mess. We've all been there, overwhelmed by comments and notifications across all the tools we use, searching for a comment and not remembering where it was posted (was it in Slack? an email? a comment in GitHub, Notion, Figma, Trello?).

To optimize collaboration, it is therefore crucial to centralize the feedback and communication process. This should be the role of project management tools… but it is not, most of the times.

What if a project management tool could help designers and developers to work together?

Finding a common tool that integrates design and development aspects could however streamline workflows and bridge the gap between different disciplines.

And this should be the responsibility of project management tools, which are designed to provide a global view of a project that is available to all stakeholders.

But…

As we've mentioned before, project management tools become outdated as soon as most project activity occurs within production tools like GitHub and Figma. This creates discrepancies between project management tools and the actual progress of the project.

Therefore, we believe that effective project management software should provide adequate integration with the tools where information is stored.

A new comment on Figma? I want to see it right here, where my project takes place, without logging into another tool. A new pull request on GitHub? I want to see that too!

Great news: that’s we are trying to do with Figgle, a new project management tool for product builders.

The other tricky thing in project management tools is to align the development and design workflows. By finding a cohesive project tracking system that accommodates both disciplines, you can achieve better transparency, coordination, and accurate reporting.

However, the work stages in development and design are not the same. As a result, tasks are often tracked in different tools and workflows. This can become quite tricky when you need to monitor the progress of a task or project that combines design and development.

For example, if you are an agency, you may create a task that involves both development and design, and which will be invoiced on a flat-rate basis. However, in most project management tools, this is quite impossible to accomplish. Sometimes you can create sub-tasks, but they complicate the project's monitoring.

With Figgle we aim to bridge the gap between development and design. We offer a tailored, yet flexible task management workflow that is adapted to cross-disciplinary teams.

Sounds cool, right? Sign up!