There is a common misbelief that "good” digital product UX is just about a nice visual aesthetic or engaging user interactions, when in fact UX covers the entire product experience. Great user experience (UX) is the foundation of digital product success.
Another common misconception is that UX is a job for one or two multi-functional team members. Instead, creating a truly intuitive digital product experience requires a wide range of digital experts. Relying solely on a single, competent UX designer isn’t enough: UX is too complex and affects too many product success touchpoints.
Yes, multi-talented individuals can make significant contributions; but in this article, we’ll explain why getting UX right requires a broad team of digital experts with an overarching, holistic perspective.
Opportunity within UX
As we steadily progress into 2024, planning and strategizing continue to be paramount for companies that want to elevate their digital products. For good reason: good design pays off. According to the Interaction Design Foundation, shares of design-centric companies outperformed their stock market peers by 228%.
Improving UX is one of the best ways to focus on good design. For product owners, investing in UX design is a commitment to prioritising user needs and preferences, with a significant ROI. Good UX design means:
Customer acquisition and retention: Well-designed UX improves registration rates and supports conversion, also impacting customer acquisition and improving retention.
Brand valuation: Strong UX design can enhance brand perception and equity in the long run, supporting premium pricing and brand loyalty.
Competitive advantage: Design-driven companies lead their industries with a focus on empathy, inclusion, and open communication with customers.
Lower costs: Successful UX design reduces costs by preventing expensive post-market corrections.
For product owners, understanding the importance of UX design means recognising that it's not just about aesthetics or a “cool factor”, but more about creating products that are functional, accessible and enjoyable to use in the long run.
The essential functions of a UX team
Statistics back up the need to invest in UX. One Forrester report found that investment in UX design can deliver up to 9,900% in ROI.
But spending the money well requires actioning a list of very specific functions that, individually, need to be covered comprehensively because each of these areas plays a pivotal role in ultimately delivering a seamless user experience. Let’s look at what each of these functions means:
User research
User research involves understanding user behaviour, needs and motivations. Getting this mix of quantitative and qualitative data requires good knowledge of and practical insight into observation techniques, task analysis and other feedback methodologies.
The result: detailed insights about the target audience to help inform design decisions to make products more effective and tailored to user needs.
Business analysis
Getting the business case right always matters for the bottom line, and that goes for product UX too. Business analysis involves identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems.
In the context of digital product development, it's about aligning the product’s development with business strategies and objectives, so that the product meets market demands, and contributes to achieving business goals.
Experience / Interaction design
Experience or Interaction Design (IxD) is concerned with how users interact with a product. It involves designing the workflow, the interactive elements and the overall experience users have with a product.
The goal is to make products more usable and efficient, leading to a more engaging and satisfying user experience. It’s more closely associated with the typical role of a UX designer, who is tasked with designing the tangible, on-screen product experience.
Visual / Interface design
Visual or interface design focuses on the aesthetics of a product and its related materials by strategically implementing images, colours, fonts and other elements. It’s about creating a visually appealing interface that enhances user experience while being intuitive and accessible.
So, while the UX designer will create a great flow and experience, it’s up to a visual designer to make the experience look aesthetically pleasing, which is something that can make or break the user experience for some products.
Information architecture
Information Architecture (IA) is the practice of organising, structuring and labelling content in an effective and sustainable manner. It helps users find information and complete tasks by improving the usability and findability of digital products.
IA matters as much for small, simple projects as for large, information-rich products like websites and complex applications that can be hard to navigate without a sensible, logical architecture.
Closely connected functions
We suggest that there are two closely connected functions that also matter for UX. Content strategy involves planning, developing and managing content—text, images, videos, and more—to make sure the product is engaging, useful and indeed usable – while also being targeted to the right audience.
And, finally, at some point, your team must implement the UX design to create a live web or mobile application.
Front end development is the technical implementation of the product’s design on the web through HTML, CSS and JavaScript to develop the visual and interactive elements of the UX design. It’s closely tied to UX design and requires front-end developers who appreciate the nuances of UX design.
Strategies for team building
Fulfilling this wide variety of UX roles does not necessarily require a large team. Flexibility in role allocation allows for individuals to overlap in their responsibilities. But between scaling and consolidating skills there are cost and risk judgments that you need to make. So, what are your options?
Expanding the team
The straightforward approach of hiring more individuals to cover each function has its merits. It brings highly specialised expertise and focused responsibilities for every single UX design function.
The drawback: increased management overhead and coordination challenges as it becomes tough to get diverse team members with diverse views to work together. Building a team in this way takes time and funding.
Upskilling existing team members
Investing in the training and development of current staff is another viable strategy. It means you can rely on existing, functional team dynamics to deliver better UX, simply by enhancing the team's skill set.
Training does take time and requires significant financial investment, and there is also the risk that a well-trained team member may leave, which will leave a significant gap.
Hiring versatile talent
Arguably one of the best options for companies that need to scale UX skills quickly is to bring on board individuals who can wear multiple UX design hats.
This can be cost-efficient and foster a more integrated team dynamic, and hiring can under some circumstances happen quickly. The downside, however, is the cost of hiring these highly qualified team members and – again – the risk associated with the loss of a pivotal team member.
Partnering with external agencies
Engaging with external agencies offers a way to tap into specialised expertise and scale up quickly for project needs.
Yes, while there are valid concerns about cost and alignment with business culture, agencies can help digital product companies by rapidly and effectively tackling complex projects without the long-term commitment of hiring.
Note that this discussion looks specifically at the User Experience (UX) aspect of digital products, and the team that drives UX. UX is a crucial component, but it represents just one aspect of the broader team behind successful digital product design and development.
The creation and management of digital products also involve software engineering and project management skills, among others.
If you want to know more about the intricacies of the broader aspects of Digital Product Team recruitment and management consider reading our article How to Build a Strong Digital Product Team: Hiring and Retention Strategies.
Overcoming challenges with Adrenalin
Building a team capable of delivering outstanding digital designs that truly deliver on UX is a multifaceted challenge. It requires a careful balance between specialised expertise, versatility and the ability to work as a cohesive unit.
Whether through expanding your team, upskilling current members, hiring versatile talent, or partnering with agencies, the goal remains the same: to create digital products that stand out.
Recognising the hurdles in building and managing an effective UX, Adrenalin has long positioned itself as a strategic partner with the expertise and frameworks to navigate these challenges.
Our experience highlights the importance of an integrated approach, where both technical aspects and strategy play a crucial role. Frameworks also matter: we’ve created compelling user experiences time and time again, and our frameworks support our consistent execution.
Our processes are designed to mitigate common challenges associated with external partnerships, such as knowledge gaps about your business and the intricacies of managing outsourced projects.
By embracing a holistic approach to UX, you make sure that your digital products are not just functional but truly resonate with their users.
If you would like to explore how motion can enhance your digital products, get in touch with the Adrenalin team.
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