Once you finish designing, at least one or more developers will need to write the code to bring your designs to life. It’s a make-or-break stage of the product design process. 

The success of your digital product relies just as much on the development process as it does on the design. Learning how to collaborate effectively with your developers will not only result in a quicker turnaround time, but you’ll also position yourself to deliver a great product experience.

While developers may be considered power users, the process of designing for them is as important as with any other type of user. While developers are the people building new technologies, they also have specific needs as users.

Keep reading for 6 best practices when it comes to working with developers and learn how to set your designs up for success:

1. Prevent issues early-on

One of the best ways to ensure a smooth design handoff with developers is to make sure any potential issues are addressed before the handoff. This can easily be done by involving the development team in the design process early on. Send your developers’ early mockups and prototypes so they can point out any potential development issues your designs might present. 

By involving developers in the early stages of the design process, you can ensure the files they handoff will be going to present roadblocks to the finished product later on.

2. Use a design system

To make it easier when you hand off your design to the development team, as it streamlines the amount of coding they need to do. Design systems should include UI components like forms and icons, code snippets, design toolkits, and other resources that can be used across the organization. Once a design system is created, it streamlines the design of any digital product the brand creates and ensures consistency across all of them.

3. Reduce knowledge gaps

There are big differences in the way designers and developers talk about certain design elements and smaller variations. For example, you might refer to rounded corners in a design while developers would define that as a border radius. While in that instance you might be able to figure out what the other is talking about, not all terminology is so easily translated. By taking some time to learn more about the principles and conventions of the development process, you can ensure that you’re speaking the same language and on the same page when talking through your designs.

4. Streamline communication

Establishing clear communication methods and standards between you and developers early on can save a lot of time and headaches in the handoff process. Setting up dedicated channels in apps like Slack for discussing particular projects is a good place to start.

5. Clearly define user flows

Without clearly defined user flows, developers will need to guess how the product actually works and how users will interact with it. While some interactions may be obvious, many others may not be. This typically creates a lot of confusion and unnecessary back and forth between teams. Make sure to show developers the typical and atypical user flows and journeys through your product.

6. Don’t forget to schedule a handoff meeting

The best way to ensure a smooth design handoff is to have a handoff meeting with all involved parties. Take this time to go over the design assets, ensure that nothing is missing, and answer any questions. If something is missing, it can be identified immediately so that it isn’t discovered mid-way through the development process to limit progress or create unnecessary work.

Have you been asking yourself: What kind of a designer am I? 

This is a very common question that young people ask themselves when starting a career in design. We want to help you find an answer to your question by breaking down the UI & UX common design roles. 

UI / UX design terms are often used together, especially in Kosovo. Actually, these are two very different things. 

UI Design stands for ‘’User Interface Design’’ while UX Design refers to “User experience Design’’. They both overall contribute to a successful digital product. 

Do you want to find out which career trajectory is the right one for you?

UX Designer

Much of the work of UX Designer focuses on the early stage of the project; figuring out what users want and need in relation to how the workflow will work with user experience.

UX starts with a problem and ends with a wireframe or prototype. UX Designer needs to understand the customer’s journey. That means understanding the target audience, interviewing customers and defining user-flow based on research and data. Early testing in the design process with a rough prototype or wireframes is the best way to know if they’re doing their job right or not!

Roles and Responsibilities

• Conducting user research to understand what a typical user wants or needs from the type of digital product they’re creating.
• Creating a strategy for the product’s design, including how to best meet user needs, user journey maps, and product requirements.
• Analyzing interactions to see how users are likely to actually use the product in the real world, rather than just in “best-case” scenarios.
• Creating wireframes and prototypes to guide the design of the actual user interface, taking into account user needs and the overall product flow.
• Making sure that user needs are addressed throughout the design process and conducting user testing as the design is refined.

UI Designer

UI Designer focuses on the way the product looks and functions. They work from the wireframes or mockups a UX Designer has provided. UI Designer transmits the brand’s strength and visuals assets to the product’s interface. 

A UI Designer focuses on how the colors, icons, typography, and images of a design connect to the brand of the product. 

While User Interface Designers are primarily responsible for the look of a product, they don’t ignore User Experience. UI designers engage users in particular ways while making interactions more intuitive and making digital products easier to use.

UI and UX Designers are both vital parts of the digital product design process. The two roles are complementary and sometimes performed by the same designer. 

Roles and Responsibilities

• Creating the finished designs based on the wireframes and prototypes. This includes a lot of attention to detail to make sure the finished product has a consistent visual appearance and functionality across all pages and sections, as well as making sure it meets the needs outlined by the UX designer.
• Communicating with both the UX designer and engineering team to make sure that user needs are met and that the design functions the way it’s intended. They may also be involved in problem-solving if a particular function isn’t feasible from an engineering perspective.
• Analyzing competing products and how their visual style impacts the way the product is used and perceived by users. This is also a chance for the designer to figure out better ways to do things than what the competition has done.
• Creating a responsive design that will look good regardless of screen size.

Regardless of which career path you choose to follow, learning the roles and basic skills for both UX and UI can lead to more career success and opportunities. Share with us your experiences/thoughts on this topic by commenting on our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Twitter). 

Our design team has worked with several different tools but Figma turned out to be the one that we mostly found ourselves at. This is because it is the best tool to collaborate with. 

One of the biggest differences between other UI design tools and Figma is that Figma works in browsers, making it extremely available and simple. In terms of collaboration, this gives Figma a major advantage. 

Currently, Figma is free to use for individuals. The professional team plan costs 12$ per editor per month, and it adds unlimited projects, a team component library, and Slack integration.

How does it work?

In Figma, you can collaborate with the team in real-time. There is no need to communicate back and forth. All the team members can see directly on the tool what’s happening. All you need is an internet connection. (This may be the only negative thing about it – you need an internet connection all the time)

Each project has its own URL, so file sharing is hassle-free.

Auto Layout is a feature that has Figma. It’s more like auto-works! It is best used with repeated UI elements like tags, lists, menus, etc. It saves a ton of time and cuts down redundant work.

What saved our time more, is its commenting feature. You can simply leave a comment right in the file, so your team can discuss the project remotely with no need to run to set up google meets calls or face-to-face meetings.

Another favorite thing about Figma is that plugins are created by the designer community. Plugins are easy to access and install for all users.

In Figma, you can use Anima as a plugin to convert designs to working HTML and CSS code automatically. 

Another value of Figma is that it’s totally cloud base, so version control is never an issue. Cloud Storage is yet another benefit of using Figma. Any unsaved file is automatically moved to drafts.

With Figma you can hand-over designs, present designs, collaborate with team designers all in one.

Final Words

Figma is easy to learn, just try and you will see! You can watch completely free online tutorials, if not all, of most of the features.

The best thing is that it’s constantly updating, improving, and adding new key features that we didn’t even know how much we needed them.