In recent years, user experience design has gone from being desirable to necessary. From startups to multinational corporations, companies must adapt to the fact that user expectations have changed. It's no longer enough for a software program or website to simply work: it must be intuitive and, if not pleasurable, at least free of frustrations.
However, companies that decide to accept the value of user experience and start investing in it face a significant challenge: UX is a relatively new discipline, which means that trained professionals are not abundant, and the process of starting a team can be overwhelming. For this reason, I have compiled a list of suggestions based on my own experience incorporating and developing a UX practice in companies.
Key Steps to Build a UX Team
1. Start with an expert
The first team member will have a huge influence not only on elements of the practice such as process and tools but also on how UX as a discipline will be viewed and adopted in the organization. Therefore, important qualities of the first designer include:
- Leadership
- Collaborative spirit
- Willingness to teach
- Talent
2. Grow gradually
Once the first designer joins the company, it's important to give them time to demonstrate the value of UX through their work and to define how the discipline fits into the overall process. Eventually, there will come a time when the practice is proven and established.
3. Generalists first, then specialists
UX can be divided into three main sub-disciplines:
- Research
- Interaction design
- Graphic design
It's recommended that the first members of the UX team be generalists, excelling in all three areas.
4. Define the structure
There are different ways to structure a design team within a company:
- Centralized model: Common in creative agencies, where the design team is a unit that receives requests from the rest of the organization.
- Agile model: Each designer is part of a scrum team along with engineers and project or product managers.
- Hybrid model: Designers are members of both a centralized team and a scrum team.
5. Establish a professional development path
As a new discipline, it's important - not only for hiring but also for retaining the team - that there is a career path for UX designers within the company. In most organizations, this path is similar to that of a software engineer:
- Junior
- Intermediate
- Senior
- Principal/Lead
Each of these five points could be an article in itself, but I hope this general perspective helps those who are considering investing in a user experience team or are in the early stages of the process.