Cross team collaboration and reaching consensus on new initiatives can be challenging for business leaders. While departments may be working towards the same goal, there will inevitably be disagreements. Not everyone will agree on the best approach, especially for new or untested projects. This is particularly true for user experience (UX) projects.
UX can be subjective, even though experts agree on certain design and development principles. Poorly planned UX projects can also lead to uneven distribution of work, which can create tension between departments. Marketers are often eager to take on UX projects, as improved UX can enhance brand image, build loyalty, and provide a strong return on investment. However, the IT department usually bears the burden of the back-end infrastructure, systems and development work, which can disrupt their normal responsibilities and even impact critical functions like network security.
To ensure your IT department buys into your next UX project and bridges the divide with marketers, you’ll need to find a way to align their interests and responsibilities. This may involve careful planning, resource allocation, and clear communication to address concerns from all stakeholders. Here are six possible solutions.
1. Demonstrate the Value of UX
To get IT on board with your UX initiative, you’ll need to clearly demonstrate the tangible business value it can provide. Quantify how improved UX can drive increased customer engagement, conversions, and loyalty. Highlight how streamlining workflows and reducing friction can boost productivity and efficiency. By framing UX as a strategic investment rather than an unnecessary expense, you’ll be more likely to secure IT’s buy-in and support.
2. Make Incremental Changes
Even if you have plans for a massive UX project, you may achieve greater cross team collaboration if you take a patient, incremental approach. Start with a simple project, or deploy it on a small scale as a beta test. Not only will this take the shock factor away from your IT team, but they’ll also have an easier time trying to retroactively tweak the project for future iterations.
3. Encourage IT to Participate in User Testing
Even if you think you know how users will respond to your next project, you won’t know for sure until it’s actually tested. You’ll have an easier time getting buy-in from IT personnel if you invite them to be participants in your user testing. Not only will this help confirm or deny any assumptions about the efficacy of the design, but you’ll be putting a tangible product in the hands of the people who built it. Your IT team will be able to take more ownership of the project, making your case easier for future iterations as well.
4. Break Workflow Silos
There aren’t many daily opportunities for cross team collaboration between marketers and IT employees. When teams are working in different locations, it can be challenging to ensure they are aligned on a UX project. By breaking down communication silos and getting them in the same room, you can foster greater collaboration and mutual understanding. This will help your teams get on the same page about the project’s goals and execution.
5. Listen to Their Needs
It is certainly understandable that UX experts get caught up on the needs of users. However, it isn’t just your customers that comprise all of your project’s users. Anyone who interacts with a project, from the inception to the customer—and everyone in between—is actually using it. For optimal results, design your project for the ease of all parties involved. Your IT personnel have needs and expectations. While you cannot sacrifice the needs of your customers, there is most likely a middle ground that will satisfy the needs of all parties.
6. Offload to a Third Party
In some cases, the tension between marketing and IT may simply be a lack of resources, experience, and leadership. While not ideal, these are not uncommon challenges for any business. By offloading the process to third-party UX specialists, you can circumvent the issue entirely. This can enable all your departments to proceed with their typical job functions, keeping your business moving while an experienced team of UX professionals gets the job done. In addition, a third party can support cross team collaboration by working side by side with your employees, acting as a sort of arbitrator.
To learn more about how working with a dedicated team of UX specialists can help your business, review our approach for user experience projects. Let’s chat.
