Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit earlier this year I was lucky enough to work at Camping World on a team that is completely remote. Every developer, designer and administrator works remotely from their homes all over the country instead of going to the office. While this is not ideal for some people and situations, I have found it is very much a feasible way to conduct valuable UX work without having to leave home. Whether conducting user research or sharing designs with stakeholders UX can thrive in a remote environment with a few adjustments.
As more designers become forced to work in remote settings, I wanted to share a few anecdotes that may help you transition to the lovely remote world of UX Design.
Prior to my current role and this absolutely unprecedented year I worked on mostly in-office UX teams. It was very easy to get questions answered or have meetings when everyone was in the same building. Pulling up a whiteboard to work though design issues was a simple way to collaborate. Every department was available onsite for understanding goals, collecting requirements and keeping apprised of project updates. However, one truth about it is that just because people are close in proximity does not mean that they are communicating consistently in the same language.
Succeeding on a project takes good honest work and communication regardless of if you're in the office or not. When I left my last role for a fully-remote UX gig I was a bit skeptical how it would play out. How could I get user feedback without an in-person usability study? How could I remotely forge bonds with the internal project team? How would analysis and design sessions work when in different places? Well, as it turns out with a little elbow grease and determination - just fine.
The beautiful thing about UX is that there are multiple ways to do it. What works for me may not work for you or your particular project needs. But after working remotely and attempting to conduct UX work in a different locale the the rest of the team I found a few things to share with thee dear reader that have worked for me. So strap in, below are 5 bits of advice that may work for you as well:
Communication is always key when working on a project team. When you are not there in person you become your communication. It is paramount that designers communicate not only through their designs but are also clear in intent and strategies - this is incredibly important. Always make sure to ask questions to clarify the smallest details. Communicate to ensure that you and your stakeholder are on the same page. Communicate to ensure the developer knows the intended user experience. Communicate using your favorite communication tool like Teams or Slack to get your point of view across. When you're in different rooms you don't get the benefit of body language and reading-the-room as it is all done by voice. Don't forget to send out brief updates to various project teams to inform them of progress and use your UX skills to simplify big, complex hairy projects into manageable chunks.
Videos give something tangible for people to absorb when you cannot be there in person. I regularly send out video overviews of design proposals and UI reviews so that the stakeholder or developer knows exactly what I am referring to and can focus on it. The videos do not need to be extravagant and I use Screencast-o-Matic to record and send these off to people. It is simply my voice and a video of a prototype, wireframe or other design artifact. They really benefit people because they can review them, offer feedback and you can still get the all-important feedback from them. They have become a great way to hand-off ideas and designs to teammates, developers and stakeholders.
When I worked in an agency there was a need to conduct user research and usability testing to an almost pageant-like degree. There was some client wining-and-dining and while this is great and absolutely appropriate for that setting - it is not always necessary to get the data needed to make good design decisions. User research can be flexible and can easily be conducted in a remote environment. Download a meeting client like Webex, confirm a time with a participant and create a session guide for a moderated user research study - all from your remote workspace. There are also tons of tools like Usertesting.com if you prefer a more in-depth tool. I personally like the analysis bit as well as the true participant interaction but your tastes and needs may vary. Either way, it is quite easy to conduct user research in a remote setting.
Collaboration is key to any good design. Ensuring that all viewpoints are heard not only from the design team but the business, technical and users as well takes effort and coordination. Every project is moving and solidifying as it progresses and it becomes important to be aligned on design and expectations throughout. There are a multitude of tools to use to collaborate on design and many popular wireframe and prototyping software suites like Sketch, Axure and InVision have excellent collaboration tools. You can design, provide feedback and iterate very simply using these tools. Use them to your advantage.
As a UX designer, you likely work with other UX designers, project managers, technical teams, business leads and every other department at your org. Since you can easily gravitate toward being a prism for all of their thoughts and ideas to flow through - you may find yourself noticing that while you do not have a commute, you do have a ton of task requests from all over the organization. This can lead to the feeling of having limited time even while enjoying all of the benefits of working from home.
One thing I have found extremely helpful is a timing app or tool - like Focused Work for iOS, that allows you to set up bursts of focused time to keep your schedule moving.The UI for that particular app is exciting and clean and in my opinion well-designed which is also bonus. There are tons of tools like this and way more blog posts about tools you can use to focus.
The takeaway is the same: because you're in UX you're going to be getting a lot of requests, especially if you're a remote worker. Help yourself out by prioritizing and using a tool to help you seamlessly jump from one task to another so you can get everything done.
What are your best Remote UX tips and tricks? Always curious to learn better ways of working. ☺️
