Breaking Down the Silos With My 3 Hard-Learned Lessons

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3 Key Design Mistakes I Learned

I spent many years working within a bubble, an information silo, completely insulated from the invaluable inputs and insights of my team and stakeholders.

The results of my designs started to reflect significant areas for improvement, and it became glaringly clear: co-creation and collaboration were severely lacking.

In this detailed exploration, I will shed light on the three cardinal mistakes I made while entrenched in that isolated mindset, and share how others can avoid these pitfalls to produce more thoughtful, effective, and user-centric designs.

Mistake 1: Starting with a Design-First Approach

In the beginning, I was solely focused on the aesthetics and functionality of my designs. I was passionate, motivated, and thrilled to dive into the creative process.

It was a thrilling journey of exploration—until it wasn’t.

Here are 3 pitfalls of independent exploration:

1/ Too Much Time Spent Alone:

Immersing myself in the solitary pursuit of 'the perfect design' felt like the ultimate creative freedom. I relished the opportunity to dive deep into my thoughts, sketching, iterating, and reimagining interfaces.

However, I failed to realize that this intense focus on solo effort meant that I missed out on the fresh perspectives and insights that come from collaborative thinking.

📌 For example:

Imagine spending days crafting an intricate UI design, only to find out later that it doesn't meet basic user requirements or the core technical constraints of your team.

Those countless hours might have been better spent brainstorming with colleagues, solving real user problems together.

2/ Assumptions Galore:

Assumptions are a silent killer in design. In my isolated workflow, I often assumed I knew what users wanted based purely on my experience or intuition.

📌 For example:

I once designed a feature I believed would enhance user engagement, only to find out through delayed feedback that it didn’t resonate with our target audience at all.

Assumptions can lead to costly reiterations and delays. The anecdote that stands out is from a project where I assumed the user base was tech-savvy.

Designing complex functionalities seemed logical until user testing revealed that the average user struggled with basic tasks. This feedback came late, resulting in substantial rework.

3/ Rushed to Show Work:

My excitement to showcase completed designs often led to presenting work that was not fully thought through.

There were instances where I showcased designs in meetings without having substantiated my choices with proper research or user feedback.

This eagerness to impress often resulted in critical oversights being pointed out by stakeholders, necessitating redesigns.

📌 For example:

In one of my projects, I designed an elaborate interface for an app feature. Eager to showcase my work, I took it to stakeholders prematurely.

Their feedback highlighted several fundamental issues related to accessibility and usability that I had overlooked. This could have been avoided had I involved them earlier and iteratively.

Mistake 2: Disorganized File Management

Living in my silo, I frequently found myself juggling multiple tools for different facets of my design process.

While this seemed like a good idea to keep things segmented and specialized, it resulted in a disorganized workflow that was difficult to manage and reference.

Here are 2 chaos of fragmentation:

1/ Scattered Research:

Having research questions in Notion and findings in Google Slides sounded efficient initially. However, when the time came to connect the dots, the disconnect became painfully evident.

Crucial insights got lost in the shuffle, and the fragmented nature of my documentation often led to repetitive work and inefficiency.

📌 For example:

Once, we were evaluating user feedback for a project, and splitting my findings between Notion and Slides made it cumbersome to draw coherent conclusions.

Integrating insights from different documents became a challenge, slowing down the design iteration process.

If everything had been in one place, synthesis would have been smoother, and conclusions drawn faster.

2/ Fragmented Design Files:

My early mock-ups and final designs were stored in Figma, while my notes and feedback were scattered across different platforms.

The disjointed digital landscape meant that teammates had to wade through various files and systems to find what they were looking for, slowing down the entire process.

📌 For example:

During one high-stakes project, the fragmented nature of my file management came to a head.

Coordinating with developers and stakeholders required me to constantly switch between platforms, leading to missed communications and overlooked details.

This not only caused frustration but also delayed the entire project.

Mistake 3: Keeping Stakeholders in the Dark

Perhaps the most significant mistake I made was not involving stakeholders early and often enough in the design process.

Here are 3 communication breakdowns:

1/ Never-Ending Email Threads:

Relying heavily on email threads became one of the biggest barriers to effective communication. Important feedback often got buried under layers of messages, leading to vital insights being missed or overlooked.

📌 For example:

In one critical project, we exchanged over 50 emails for a single design iteration.

The sheer volume of messages led to significant points being lost in the thread, and responding in a timely manner became overwhelming.

If we had used a more streamlined communication tool, feedback could have been more effectively managed.

2/ Lack of Regular Review Processes:

We didn’t have a structured review process in place, which meant that feedback sessions were unpredictable and often came too late in the design phase.

Regular, scheduled reviews could have provided consistent touchpoints for feedback, ensuring issues were caught and addressed early.

📌 For example:

During a project redesign phase, the absence of regular reviews meant that by the time stakeholders provided feedback, the design was already in a near-final state.

This led to a painful and costly rework that could have been avoided with a more frequent review cycle.

3/ Delayed Showings:

My pursuit of perfection often led to delaying design showings. By the time I felt the design was ‘good enough’ to present, it was usually too late for substantial changes based on stakeholder feedback.

This reluctance to share early iterations stifled collaborative innovation and feedback.

📌 For example:

An anecdote that illustrates this is a project where I delayed presenting a new user interface until I felt it was flawless.

The stakeholders pointed out significant usability issues in our first review session, which could have been addressed much earlier if I had shared interim versions for feedback.

The Path Forward: Fostering Collaboration

If I could go back in time, here are the steps I would take to foster a more collaborative and effective design process.

✅ Starting with Stakeholders

Before touching a design tool, I would sit down with stakeholders—project managers, developers, marketers, and potential users.

Understanding their needs and expectations from the get-go would lay a solid foundation for a successful project.

✅ Co-Creating a Design Brief

Turning initial discussions into a collaborative design brief isn’t just about listing requirements. It’s about understanding the problem areas, user pain points, and defining what success looks like.

A well-crafted design brief ensures everyone is on the same page and aligns the team’s vision with the project's goals.

Detail the Objectives: Clearly articulate what the project aims to achieve. Are we focusing on improving user engagement, streamlining a process, or enhancing the user experience?

Define Success Metrics: Establish quantifiable measures of success. This could be an increase in user retention rates, a reduction in the time users spend on a particular task, or positive user feedback.

Highlight Key Constraints: Identify any technical, business, or design constraints upfront to ensure they are addressed early in the design process.

✅ Sustaining Ongoing Conversations

Continuous dialogue plays a crucial role in ensuring everyone’s voices are heard and integrated into the design process.

Regular check-ins, feedback loops, and team meetings should become the norm, not the exception.

Weekly Stand-Ups: Short, focused stand-up meetings can help keep everyone aligned and updated on progress and potential blockers.

Scheduled Brainstorming Sessions: Regularly scheduled sessions provide a platform for collective idea generation and problem-solving, fostering a more inclusive creative process.

✅ Opening Up My Process

Instead of waiting to unveil my work until it's nearly complete, I would invite others into my design process early on.

Sharing sketches, low-fidelity prototypes, and even crazy ideas can spark creativity and uncover insights that might not surface otherwise.

Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Sharing early-stage designs invites feedback when it’s easiest to implement changes. This iterative approach ensures that the final product is more refined and user-centric.

Collaborative Design Jams: Organizing informal, collaborative sessions where team members from different disciplines work together can lead to innovative solutions and a stronger sense of team ownership.

✅ Centralized Documentation

Consolidating all documentation in a single platform would streamline project management. Notion might house everything from research questions to design specs.

A centralized hub enhances visibility, making it easier to track progress, share updates, and revisit decisions or hypotheses.

Unified Documentation Hub: Having one place for all project-related documents makes it easier to manage and reference information, reducing the risk of fragmented knowledge.

Version Control: Implementing version control ensures that everyone is working with the most up-to-date documents and designs, minimizing confusion and inconsistencies.

✅ Bringing People Together

Collaboration isn’t just about discussion—it’s about co-creation.

I would advocate for more collaborative workshops, design thinking sessions, and brainstorming meetings to foster a culture of inclusion and shared ownership.

Design Sprints: Structured design sprints allow for focused, collaborative work over a short period, leading to rapid prototyping and iterative improvement.

Cross-Functional Workshops: Bringing together team members from different disciplines in a workshop setting can generate diverse perspectives and innovative solutions.

✅ Consistent Review Cadence

Setting a cadence for regular reviews, collaboration sessions, and approvals ensures that feedback is timely and actionable.

This not only improves the design quality but also builds stakeholder trust and engagement.

Bi-Weekly Review Meetings: Regularly scheduled review meetings ensure that feedback is incorporated throughout the design process, leading to more robust and user-centric solutions.

Mid-Project Checkpoints: Establishing mid-project checkpoints allows for assessing progress against objectives and making necessary adjustments before it’s too late.

✅ Direct Feedback on Work-in-Progress

Encouraging stakeholders to comment directly on work artifacts—whether through Figma comments, shared documents, or collaborative boards—ensures that feedback is specific and contextual, driving more meaningful iterations.

Interactive Prototypes: Sharing interactive prototypes with stakeholders and gathering their direct feedback ensures that input is actionable and relevant.

Real-Time Collaboration Tools: Utilizing collaboration tools that allow for real-time feedback and discussion fosters a more dynamic and integrated design process.

Lessons Learned: Focus Early, Collaborate Often

The key takeaway from my experience is straightforward yet profound:

Design is about people, not just users.

It’s not just about what you create, but how you bring others along on the journey.

🔸 Collaboration Over Isolation

By focusing on collaboration from the beginning, you harness diverse viewpoints that can refine and elevate your designs.

Involve stakeholders early, remain open to feedback, and allow others to contribute to your creative process.

🔸 Organize Over Scatter

Maintaining centralized and organized documentation is crucial.

This practice ensures that insights, feedback, and decisions can be easily referenced, reducing the friction that typically accompanies disjointed workflows.

🔸 Input Over Hero Complex

Allowing others to critique, contribute, and influence your work diminishes the hero complex that often leads to siloed working habits.

Collective creativity often outshines individual genius.

A Note to Designers

We often joke about designers being introverts or poor communicators.

While there may be some truth to these stereotypes, it’s crucial to recognize that effective communication and collaboration skills can be cultivated.

So, as you embark on your next design journey, remember to break down those silos early, invite others into your process, and embrace the rich tapestry of perspectives that collaboration brings.

Happy building, and let’s co-create better, together ✌️

👉

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Breaking Down the Silos With My 3 Hard-Learned Lessons

3 Key Design Mistakes I Learned