Managing UX Design Projects

I used to wonder how to make my UX work more impactful. I saw designers getting astonishing results for their clients/stakeholders so I knew it was possible. I just didn’t know how to actually do it. I knew the standard processes and tools. So I thought I should hit my stakeholders over the head with how they’re doing it wrong and be the guy always fighting for users. That should do the trick, right? Wrong. Turns out I needed to: → Listen more → Follow my gut → Break the rules That’s when things started clicking. I pieced this together a long time ago in the tech world. Now I apply it to client projects. And it works... We’ve helped our clients: → 3.5x their conversion (eCommerce) → Oversubscribe their A round by 55% (health tech) → Rack up 8 awards for innovation (education) Here’s exactly how we did it: 1. Understand goals and constraints: - How is success measured? - What time pressure exists? - What have they already tried? - What are the biggest challenges? - Who are their customers or users? - What unique assets or data do they have? Literally everything depends on this. Asking the right questions upfront means better insights, better design recommendations, and better collaboration. 2. Audit the current product: - Review every screen, state, and flow - Gather screencaps and recordings - Identify opportunities, risks, problems Step 1 was the big picture. This is about details. Experience, intuition, and judgement matter here. 3. Make recommendations: - Prioritize by impact - Call attention to the top 3 issues - Present findings clearly. We use slides. Show what's happening with the current product—and how to transform it. 4. Agree on priorities, timelines, and process: - What’s the most important thing to do next? - How will we execute the work? Too many designers get caught up on "right" process. Right depends on context. There are lots of ways to succeed. 5. Execute the work: - Research, design, prototyping, testing - Every decision or finding gets tied to goals or risks AI is speeding this part up. It's a wild time. 6. Communicate & collaborate throughout: - Design is a team sport—we win together - The whole team knows what’s happening, and why - Nobody's left guessing Pro tip: Clarity is a gift designers are well positioned to give product teams. Capture roadmap, process, and status in a single visual to do this. Not sure how? DM me. 7. Ship product: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”—Mike Tyson. Things get real when they're put in front of users. Do that fast, but not so fast that you don’t get a good signal from the market. – I love helping clients succeed. Over time, I found these traits help: Teamwork Pragmatism Bias for action Lightheartedness Commitment to quality Find your own way. Break the rules when needed. Stay focused on impact. That’s what makes the work meaningful—and what makes for truly successful products (and design careers).

🐑 Business Language vs. UX Language. How to present design work, explain design decisions and get stakeholders on your side ↓ 🤔 Businesses rarely understand the impact of UX work. 🤔 UX language is overloaded with ambiguous terms/labels. 🤔 Business can’t support initiatives it doesn’t understand. ✅ Leave UX language and UX abbreviations at the door. ✅ Explain design work through the lens of business goals. 🚫 Avoid “consistency”, “empathy”, “simplicity”, “affordance”. 🚫 Avoid “design thinking”, “cognitive load”, “universal design”. 🚫 Avoid “lean UX”, “agile”, “archetypes”, “Jobs-To-Be-Done”. 🚫 Avoid “stakeholder management” and “design validation”. 🚫 Avoid abbreviations: WIP, POC, HMW, IxD, PDP, PLP, WCAG. ✅ Explain how you’ll measure success of your design work. ✅ Speak of business value, loyalty, abandonment, churn. ✅ Show risk management, compliance, governance, evidence. ✅ Refer to cost reduction, efficiency, growth, success, Design KPIs. ✅ Present inclusive design as an industry-wide way of working. As designers, we often use design terms, such as consistency, friction or empathy. Yet to many managers, these attributes don’t map to any business objectives at all, often leaving them baffled and utterly confused about the actual real-life impact of our UX work. One way out that changed everything for me is leaving UX vocabulary at the door when entering a business meeting. Instead, I try to explain UX work through the lens of the business — mapping it with business objectives and desired outcomes. So when presenting design work in a big meeting, I try to be very deliberate and strategic in the choice of words. I won’t be speaking about attracting “eye-balls” or getting users “hooked”. It’s just not me. But I won’t be speaking about “reducing friction” or “improving consistency” either. Instead, I tell a story. A story that visualizes how our work helps the business. How design team has translated business goals into specific design initiatives. How UX can reduce costs. Increase revenue. Grow business. Open new opportunities. New markets. Increase efficiency. Extend reach. Mitigate risk. Amplify word of mouth. And how we’ll measure all that huge impact of our work. Typically, it’s broken down into 8 sections: 🎯 Goals ← Business targets, KRs we aim to achieve. 💥 Translation ← Design initiatives, iterations, tests. 🕵️ Evidence ← Data from UX research, pain points. 🧠 Ideas ← Prioritized by an impact/effort-matrix. 🕹 Design work ← Flows, features, user journeys. 📈 Design KPIs ← How we’ll measure/report success. 🐑 Shepherding ← Risk management, governance. 🔮 Future ← What we believe are good next steps. Next time you walk in a meeting, pay attention to your words. Translate UX terms in a language that other departments understand. It might not take long until you’ll see support coming from everywhere — just because everyone can now clearly see how your work helps them do their work better. [continues in the comments ↓]

Design decisions don’t create impact on their own. Design only creates impact when decisions are aligned, intentional, and implemented… not just talked about. In my experience, that means navigating the “trough of uncertainty,” where teams often get stuck between ideas and outcomes. This middle zone is where momentum slows, good ideas fade, and alignment breaks down. Getting through it requires keeping users, the technology, and business goals all in focus… and being active participants in the decision-making process. Too often, design gets split into either execution or strategy. But the real value comes from owning the decisions in between. The ones that turn ideas into direction. It starts with making thoughtful design decisions. But even good decisions can get lost in the chaos of delivery. The trough of uncertainty presents common challenges like: → No decision is made The problem is too complex, or no one is accountable for making the call. Design can get flat footed here. → Misaligned recommendations Interfaces are often designed without a clear understanding of what users actually need. Sometimes, design just takes the business cues without challenging the assumptions. → Tech-first choices Engineering decisions are based on constraints or existing structures, not the intended user experience. → No strategy connection Design isn’t tied to business goals, or leadership hasn’t framed the problem. Sometimes, the design team hasn’t presented a plan that addresses the business opportunity. → Resetting everything Teams start over without a clear alternative or stay stuck due to the sunk cost fallacy and politics. Sometimes, the right decision is to start over much faster, with much more intent. To move forward, design teams need to: • structure recommendations based on user goals • align work with user journeys and system architecture • influence technical decisions with UX signals • tie the design strategy directly to business goals This is where UX metrics come in. We use UX metrics with Helio to give teams visibility through the uncertainty. They create clarity across each decision point, from validating interface recommendations to checking alignment with user journeys, to showing how experience quality supports business strategy. Instead of guessing or relying on opinions, teams can use metrics to guide decisions, measure outcomes, and make a stronger case for design’s impact. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

You're one conversation away from turning conflict into collaboration. But how do you bridge the gap? Here are key strategies to make it work: Understanding each other's roles is essential: • Learn the basics of front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) • Educate developers about UX principles • Foster mutual understanding Collaborate early and often: • Involve developers from the project's start • Include them in UX research presentations • Identify technical challenges early Maintain open communication: • Avoid excessive jargon • Ask for clarification in layman's terms • Use empathy to convey your perspective Share deliverables continuously: • Provide access to UX deliverables using tools like Figma or Zeplin • Allow for timely feedback • Prevent misalignments Create prototypes: • Develop interactive prototypes • Demonstrate exact interactions and animations • Help developers understand your vision Ensure smooth design handoffs: • Organize all essential information and documents • Hold a handoff meeting • Explain the package and answer questions Stay involved throughout: • Participate in quality assurance testing • Catch issues developers might overlook • Bring your unique perspective By implementing these strategies: → You transform potential roadblocks into collaboration opportunities. → You create better products. → You foster a more harmonious work environment. Start bridging the gap today. And build successful products tomorrow.