10 Productivity Tips For UX Design Teams Working Remotely

If you, like many other companies, find that your UX Design Team is struggling with productivity, here are ten tips to help them improve.

05:19 26 October 2021

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to become more innovative to ensure their remote teams are working as productively as possible.

 

To adapt to the current circumstances, businesses have had to facilitate a remote working environment that still meets their collaboration, communication, productivity, and security needs. And they’ve certainly faced some challenges—problems are compounded by the complexities of managing projects across many communication channels and often across the globe.

 

In fact, many of the common challenges remote design teams face when working together involve carrying out complex project management, prompt design reviews, and overall effective collaboration. For larger businesses juggling multiple projects and with UX Design Teams based around the world, these problems are heightened.

 

Nonetheless, remote working isn’t all bad. Research conducted in 2020 demonstrated that 94% of employers surveyed believed their employees were just as productive (67%) or even more productive (27%) since the pandemic forced them to work from home. Done right, there’s certainly a way to get the best out of your team, even if they’re working from home.

 

If you, like many other companies, find that your UX Design Team is struggling with productivity, here are ten tips to help them improve.

 

1. Keep the spark alive

You read that right. Just like in any relationship, you need to keep that spark alive. We know that the key to increased productivity is increased engagement. And collaboration clearly takes a bit of a hit when you don’t have the physical proximity of an office space to bounce ideas off of one another.

 

However, this is no reason not to nurture a more engaging work relationship. Among the complications of time and work schedule differences, a couple of ways to develop a deeper bond between colleagues and foster a more interconnected work culture include:

 

• Setting aside time to talk about personal engagements (e.g., weekend trips, anniversaries, or birthdays).
• Hosting a video call (putting a face to a name).·
• Encouraging knowledge sharing.

 

If your current phone service provider doesn’t offer video conferencing features, consider switching to one that will provide you with these and other collaboration tools. Select a provider that supplies free phone number porting or PBX systems, so you won’t have to worry about interrupting your services.

 

2. Host remote workshops

One of the dangers of remote working is the risk of skills becoming outdated, monotony, and a lack of passion.

 

One way to revive your UX Design Team’s love for their work is relevant and collaborative workshops that have a clear agenda, a focus on engagement, and a true exchange of ideas.

 

Team-based workshops can also be a great opportunity to address any persistent issues frequently encountered by other team members. 

 

As you know, the success of any UX Design Team is based on its ability to put the user first. Keep your team up-to-date on how to optimize the customer experience and avoid producing designs that ignore people. 

 

Teams will also have the opportunity to share ideas about how they think the user experience can be improved. Such as with QA testing.

 

Working a regression test into your workflow will enable you to be sure that you’re providing a bug-free, high-quality, and user-friendly experience for your customers.

 

3. Create check-in rituals

A big focus for remote teams is avoiding burnout. With time saved from the usual commute to the office, companies expect their employees to use that extra time to be more productive.

 

However, maintaining the mental and physical health of teams is key for many obvious reasons.

 

To avoid productivity gaps in a potentially worn-out team, create rituals around check-ins and regular breaks. You want team members working at their best, so make sure to implement reminders that their health is of utmost importance.

 

4. Consolidate core practices

An unproductive team is one thing. But when this lack of productivity is reflected in customer service, it’s an entirely different beast altogether. 

 

While customers don’t see what goes on behind the scenes with most businesses, the last thing you want is to have a string of negative customer reviews.

 

5. Motivate your team with company-funded treats

The risk of feeling detached from your work and, ultimately, your company is one of the biggest worries for most managers. Working behind a screen all day can make employees feel like just another number in a company.

 

Therefore, companies must remain innovative in how they motivate employees. Even simple things like ordering pizza to the houses of your UX design team can go a long way in boosting their morale. Who wouldn’t love a free pizza?

 

6. Promote self-development 

One way to ensure a proactive team is to demonstrate an active interest in their growth and personal development. Therefore, managers should allocate time and resources for employee training and self-development. 

 

With a plethora of free courses and online programs available, giving your UX design team time to explore the depths of their interest in the field can be an excellent way to increase productivity.

 

Not to mention the added benefits for the company; who could possibly complain about an engaged and passionate team with updated skills and an increased breadth of knowledge? Sounds like a no-brainer.

 

7. Track performance 

Gone are the days of timestamps and filled-out spreadsheets. Modern teams need modern solutions to track the productivity of each team member accurately.

 

While there is no shortage of software companies innovating solutions to help track team performances, one viable way for you to adapt this to your UX Design Team is by allowing team members to set their own productivity deadlines. Managers can then agree on these deadlines with team members to have a truly collaborative goal mapped out.

 

For managers, having explicitly agreed performance goals takes the guesswork out of assessing their team’s productivity. It also gives team members tangible goals to aim for.

 

8. Tackle scheduling issues

One of the most common problems associated with remote working is effective communication and collaboration. It’s easy to make collaboration mistakes when you’re dealing with a global workforce.  

 

For larger businesses with staff based in different countries, time differences involved in scheduling meetings are a frequent source of headaches. How does a UX designer based in the Southern US collaborate effectively with a colleague in Australia?

 

A simple way to tackle scheduling issues is to have certain teams work slightly altered schedules to compensate for significant time differences.

 

Aside from this, mandatory project updates and file-sharing also help inform teams on the progress of particular projects. This way, if and when meetings are necessary, UX design teams can plan better and anticipate relevant points of discussion.

 

As mentioned previously, there is no shortage of online tools and software that easily facilitate such in-depth levels of collaboration. Investing in a VoIP app can also help save money and improve team communication. 

 

9. Prioritize effective project management

For many UX Design Teams, working on multiple projects simultaneously is just a normal part of the job. However, effective project management across varied communication channels can prove challenging to any UX Design Team.

 

Project workflows that could normally be tackled by impromptu meetings at the office must now be systemized formally. UX Design teams must put more effort into systemizing key business processes that prevent the slow-down of projects. 

 

Accurate design portrayals and frequent feedback should be a prominent part of your workflow processes. With this in mind, your UX Design Team must be equipped with all the tools they need to carry out projects from anywhere in the world.

One such critical tool is software testing. It’s imperative to make testing a core part of your UX team’s work process, as it’s an excellent way to boost productivity—your team will no longer have to spend time spotting and fixing bugs themselves. 

 

Equally, if your team has just gone global, like its workforce, you should consider looking into SaaS SEO agencies to improve your search engine rankings in your target markets.

 

Percentage of mobile apps that have only been used once.

 

10. Minimize lack of focus

The final tip to increasing your UX Design Team’s productivity is to ensure they’re focused. We all know how easy it is to get distracted when you’re working from home. From kids running around to tending to pets and carrying out other household chores, working from home can bring its own array of unforeseen distractions.

 

To ensure your UX Design Teams stay focused, it’s important to schedule frequent check-ins with managers. Candid conversations around how your colleague’s daily life may interfere with work productivity are an excellent way to ensure that their head is in the right place. Be sure to take a genuine interest in how your design team is coping with remote working. The payoff can’t be overstated enough.

 

Conclusion

Working from home has been an adjustment for most people, but there’s no reason for it to affect your team’s productivity negatively. By implementing the tips listed above, you will guarantee an engaged and dynamic team and a group of colleagues who feel that they can truly flourish despite the changed work settings.

 

Author Bio

 

Jenna Bunnell - Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Dialpad

Jenna Bunnell is the Senior Manager for Content Marketing at Dialpad, an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted unified communications system that provides video conference solutions for small business and valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She is driven and passionate about communicating a brand’s design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Here is her LinkedIn.