How to Create a Winning Product Design Team

Kate Goldberg

When launching a product, various factors contribute to its success, and one of the most critical is its design. Design shapes how users perceive your product—whether they embrace it or discard it, return repeatedly, or abandon it entirely. The key to this lies in your product design team. This article explores the following questions:

• What are the main objectives at each stage of product design?
• Who should you collaborate with to craft your digital product design?
• Where can you find a capable product design team?

To grasp the roles within product design, it's essential to understand the design process and the objectives of each stage.

Product Design Process

Step 1: Requirements Engineering

The product design journey begins with analyzing requirements. This ensures the design aligns with business objectives and product goals.

The key objectives at this stage include:

• Defining the product’s business goals.
• Translating client expectations into actionable design specifications.
• Determining appropriate methods and frameworks to meet requirements.

Meeting these objectives is vital to laying a solid foundation for subsequent stages and optimizing the design process.

Deliverables from this stage include:

• Business requirement documentation
• Lean or business canvas
• User role definitions
• Feature lists
• Functional and non-functional requirements documentation
• Gherkin scenarios

These outputs serve as the basis for the next phase—UX research.

Step 2: UX Research

This phase involves user and market research to confirm product-market fit and pinpoint essential product characteristics.

Key goals include:

• Collecting examples and references relevant to the product.
• Exploring best practices and analyzing competitors.
• Defining a unique value proposition.
• Understanding user pain points and needs.

The UX research report consolidates findings into a comprehensive resource, including:

• Examples and references
• Market analysis
• User research outcomes

This stage equips the team with critical insights to ensure the product addresses user needs while achieving business goals.

Step 3: UX Design

Prioritizing user experience is paramount. Even the most visually appealing product will fall short if it doesn’t address user problems.

This step focuses on:

• Defining the system’s hierarchy and page structure.
• Mapping user journeys to key actions.
• Visualizing the interface.
• Validating feasibility with the development team.
• Preparing UI texts.

Key deliverables include:

• Sitemap
• User flows
• Wireframes
• Prototypes

The goal is to craft a seamless user journey, ensuring both user satisfaction and development feasibility.

Step 4: User Testing

To validate the user experience, user testing is conducted to ensure the design aligns with expectations.

Goals of this stage are:

• Observing potential users interact with the product.
• Identifying and resolving UX issues.
• Validating prototypes for further development.

The main deliverable is a user testing report, but the primary outcome is confirmation that the user experience meets goals and resonates with users.

Step 5: UI Design

Once the UX design is finalized, attention shifts to creating an appealing and visually cohesive user interface.

Objectives include:

• Capturing the product owner’s visual preferences.
• Designing components in various states.
• Translating wireframes into detailed screen designs.
• Delivering a complete product interface prototype.

Key outputs include:

• Moodboards and design concepts
• Component library
• UI mockups
• Style guide and UI kit

The result is a polished design ready for development, complete with resources for scalability and future projects.

By following these steps, your product design team ensures a smooth process from conceptualization to a ready-to-develop design, setting the stage for a successful product launch.

Roles and Responsibilities in the Product Design Process

Successful product design often involves a diverse team of specialists. While not all roles are mandatory for every project, understanding their contributions is key to assembling an efficient design team. Let’s explore the primary roles and their tasks.

Product Design Team Roles

Product Manager (PM)
The product manager bridges the gap between business goals and the design team, ensuring the final product delivers value. Key responsibilities include:

• Conducting detailed business analysis and problem discovery.
• Proposing effective solutions and defining business requirements.
• Preparing design specifications.
• Coordinating team activities for timely, high-quality outcomes.

The PM plays a central role throughout the entire design process, particularly in requirements engineering and team facilitation.

UX Researcher
The UX researcher focuses on collecting and analyzing data to create user-centric designs. Their tasks include:

• Gathering client requirements and formulating a research plan.
• Recruiting participants for studies and conducting user research.
• Building user personas and performing market analysis.
• Preparing research reports and conducting user testing.

UX researchers contribute significantly to requirements engineering, UX research, design, and user testing stages.

UX Designer
The UX designer has the most comprehensive role, often covering various aspects of digital product design. Their responsibilities include:

• Planning and executing user and market research.
• Developing user personas, stories, and journeys.
• Creating sitemaps, wireframes, and prototypes.
• Conducting user testing to refine the design.

Primarily involved in UX design, they also participate in requirements engineering, UX research, and user testing.

UI Designer
UI designers focus on the visual presentation and user interface, collaborating closely with UX designers. Their tasks include:

• Researching competitors and best practices.
• Creating moodboards, component libraries, and mockups.
• Designing responsive interfaces and developing style guides.
• Establishing brand identity through cohesive visuals.

UI designers are central to the UI design phase and may assist with requirements engineering and UX research.

UX Writer
The UX writer ensures seamless user interactions through well-crafted microcopy. Their primary role is to:

• Develop all UI text to guide users effectively.
• Collaborate during the UX design stage to create prototypes.

Developer
A technical consultant ensures that design solutions are feasible. While not deeply involved in the design process, developers play a critical role in:

• Validating the practicality of design concepts during the UX design phase.

Their input prevents the creation of designs that are visually impressive but technically unviable.

By understanding the roles and responsibilities within a product design team, businesses can effectively structure their team to meet project goals while ensuring a smooth and successful design process.

Design Team Structures: Choosing the Right Fit

When building a product design team, not every specialist is essential. Depending on the project's complexity, scope, and goals, you can tailor your team structure to fit your needs. Below are common design team structures and their optimal applications:

1. Single Specialist
In this setup, a single UI/UX designer manages the entire product design process.

• When to Use: Best suited for small, straightforward projects.
• Key Considerations: Ensure the designer has a diverse skill set and sufficient experience to handle all stages effectively.

2. One Specialist per Step
This structure involves separate specialists for each phase of the design process, such as a PM, UX researcher, UX designer, and UI designer.

• When to Use: Suitable for projects of any complexity where a well-defined division of tasks is necessary.
• Key Benefits: Provides a clear workflow and ensures expertise at every stage.

3. Multiple Specialists per Step
Here, several specialists—either with similar or complementary expertise—collaborate on the same phase of the process.

• When to Use: Ideal for large-scale projects requiring significant effort or where overlapping skills can enhance efficiency.
• Key Benefits: Enables the team to manage extensive workloads and achieve faster progress.

4. Custom Team Structure
This approach combines specialists based on specific project needs. For example:

• A UX researcher and a UI/UX designer for research-focused projects.
• A PM, UX designer, and UI designer for balanced execution.
• When to Use: Flexible and adaptable to varying project demands and resource availability.
• Key Considerations: Ensure the selected team collectively possesses the skills required to meet project objectives.

Factors to Consider

• Team Skills vs. Team Size: The quality of work depends on the expertise of the team members, not the number of participants.
• Project Scope and Timeline: Larger teams can manage more significant workloads but may require additional coordination.
• Budget and Resources: Align your team structure with the resources available while ensuring no critical skills are missing.

By carefully selecting a team structure that aligns with your project’s size and complexity, you can optimize efficiency, maintain high quality, and meet your design goals effectively.

Two Ways to Assemble Your Product Design Team

When it’s time to build your digital product design team, you have two primary options: recruit each specialist individually or partner with a product design agency. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and the right choice depends on your project’s scope, resources, and timeline. Let’s explore each option in detail.

Option 1: Hiring Specialists Individually

Recruiting specialists one by one gives you complete control over team composition. However, this approach requires significant time, effort, and expertise. You can choose between hiring full-time, in-house team members or engaging freelancers.

Here’s how the process works:

1. Identify Hiring Platforms:
   • For freelancers: Platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, DesignCrowd, and Toptal are popular choices.
   • For in-house roles: Use platforms like LinkedIn, Workable, and Recruitee.
2. Prepare Comprehensive Job Descriptions:
   Craft detailed job posts outlining required skills, experience, and responsibilities to attract the right candidates.
3. Screen Candidate Resumes:
   Evaluate CVs to ensure candidates have relevant expertise and experience.
4. Review Portfolios:
   Examine past projects to determine if candidates have handled similar tasks successfully.
5. Validate Skills:
   Assess both hard and soft skills through technical tests or interviews. Enlist an expert if you lack the necessary technical knowledge.
6. Make Offers and Finalize Contracts:
   Extend offers to the most qualified candidates. It’s wise to have backup options in case your top choice declines.

Challenges:

• Time-Consuming: Finding and onboarding specialists can take weeks or months.
• Expertise Required: Hiring effectively demands technical and recruitment expertise.
• Resource-Intensive: Managing separate hires may require additional consultants or support.

Option 2: Hiring a Product Design Company

Partnering with a software product design company allows you to outsource the entire process. The agency takes care of team structure, specialist involvement, and task execution, freeing you to focus on strategic goals.

Steps to Find the Right Agency:

1. Search for Agencies:
   Use platforms like Clutch, Trustpilot, and GoodFirms to find reputable agencies.
2. Check Ratings and Reviews:
   Read client feedback to gauge the agency’s reliability and expertise.
3. Examine Portfolios:
   Look for relevant projects in the agency’s portfolio. If possible, test live apps or websites they’ve designed.
4. Validate Skills:
   While optional, asking technical questions can help assess the agency’s capabilities.
5. Understand Their Workflow:
   Ensure the agency has a well-defined and efficient design process to prevent delays.
6. Check for a Design System:
   Agencies with reusable design templates or components can streamline the process, saving time and resources.
7. Evaluate Industry Presence:
   Agencies that actively share knowledge and contribute to tech communities often demonstrate thought leadership and expertise.

Advantages:

• Time-Saving: Skip the lengthy hiring process.
• Expertise on Demand: Agencies bring experienced teams with established workflows.
• Efficiency: Less hands-on involvement is required from you, as the agency handles day-to-day tasks.

Final Thoughts

To build an effective product design team, start by identifying your project goals, challenges, and tasks. Then, determine the skills and roles required to achieve your objectives. If you have the time and resources, hiring individual specialists provides greater control. However, if you want a streamlined process with minimal effort, partnering with a software development agency is a more efficient option.

Ready to save time and ensure quality? Explore our software product development services today!