{"id":13345,"date":"2016-03-24T15:26:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-24T23:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/?p=13345"},"modified":"2021-07-20T15:01:09","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T22:01:09","slug":"what-design-team-morale-means-for-ceos-and-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/what-design-team-morale-means-for-ceos-and-designers\/","title":{"rendered":"What Design Team Morale Means for CEOs and Designers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most designers naturally want to join a company where the design of the product is already strong, believing it reflects the value the company places on design and how well designers are set up to succeed.<\/p>\n

However, product \/ design quality is a lagging indicator<\/em><\/strong> of companies\u2019 relationship to design and only tells you part of the story. It is equally important to consider leading indicators<\/em><\/strong> as well.<\/p>\n

Lagging indicators are output-oriented, the results of efforts that were made in the past. They are backward-focused and trailing. Leading indicators, on the other hand, are precursors that help predict the direction something is going.<\/p>\n

In public companies, for example, lagging indicators of a company\u2019s health might include net revenue, revenue growth, and return on net assets. Leading indicators might include customer satisfaction, growth in new markets, brand recognition, or number of new patents. Both kinds of metrics are important to consider when evaluating how well a company is doing and where it\u2019s headed. Similarly, lagging and leading indicators for product and design can help guide what companies need from design and what CEOs can do to turn design around within their companies.<\/p>\n

When it comes to assessing a company\u2019s relationship to design, it really boils down to two things: (1) design team morale and (2) product quality.<\/p>\n

Design team morale<\/strong> is a leading indicator<\/em> for a company\u2019s design health.<\/span> Are the designers in the company positive and happy, or do they complain about feeling disempowered or disenfranchised? Product quality<\/strong> is a lagging indicator<\/em> for a company\u2019s design health, because it reflects all the actions, decisions, and processes the company makes, from the CEO and throughout the organization.<\/p>\n

The morale of a UX team is a canary in a coal mine because everything a company does and is impacts the end user experience\u200a\u2014\u200athe strategy, scope, process, and talent all manifest in the design.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: Doug Thompson via Share America<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the design team often feels the least empowered to fix the experiences they\u2019re responsible for designing. If designers are not happy, it likely reflects larger issues with the company that impact current and future <\/em>products under development. Moreover, if designers are not happy, it\u2019s really hard for them to create a joyful experience.<\/p>\n

You can chart the relationship between design team morale and product quality into a 2×2 box to infer where things are at and what is needed:<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s take a look at each box and what it means:<\/p>\n

Design team morale is negative;\u00a0Product quality is poor<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Under this scenario, it\u2019s likely that the company lacks a strong vision for what it wants to do and\/or how to get there. The product is confused because internally the company lacks clarity. The design team\u2019s morale is low because they don\u2019t feel empowered to solve the company\u2019s problems; the problems go beyond the purview of the design team.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s needed from design and the CEO:<\/em><\/strong> The company needs a strong vision that senior leadership can communicate and sell to everyone. Design can help shape strategy by making vision tangible and helping leaders understand possible outcomes. In order for this to be possible, there needs to be a healthy, close relationship between the design leader and company leaders. If a clear vision for the future exists, it\u2019s incumbent upon the design leader and CEO to rally the team to see the opportunity ahead and be excited about delivering it.<\/p>\n

Within product development teams, designers suffer the most when there is insufficient process. Process can often be overlooked or undervalued within companies trying to move quickly, but a little bit of the right process can help teams move even faster toward the desired goal. Process can keep a team focused by clarifying escalation paths and how decisions get made. The first design created is rarely the best; use process to carve out sufficient time for designers to explore, design, prototype, and iterate.<\/p>\n

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