Companies differ in size and responsibility. Some put the duty of building websites on the shoulders of one person; some have an entire…
Companies differ in size and responsibility. Some put the duty of building websites on the shoulders of one person; some have an entire division of people working on a project. Whatever the case is for your team, there are different roles that have to be identified before you start.
The Owner
Who is the boss and the final say in decisions?
Perhaps the most important role in any project is the Owner. It could be an internal manager, a client, or the subject matter expert. Whatever the case, there has to be an Owner of the project for everyone to answer to.
This role is tasked with making the final decisions on specific direction within a project, whether it be a specific software choice or a direction in design. Generally, this person has worked on many similar projects before and understands the pitfalls that may await in order to ensure that the team will circumvent them in their current project.
The highest ranking member of your team may not be suitable for this role if they don’t have experience dealing with it. For example, someone that has dealt with internal software systems their entire career is probably not the best choice to lead a website and marketing strategy.
The ideal candidate for this role is someone who makes tough, pragmatic decisions that aligns to the overall vision and is able to communicate that vision to others.
The Manager
Who is the person that is in charge of getting things done?
Every good project needs a great and knowledgeable Manager. The Manger is the person that ensures everything gets done on time and everybody has what they need to do their job. They control the timelines and the dates that various things get done by so that the project proceeds efficiently.
Project Managers definitely are a specific breed. Usually task and detail oriented, this role is generally filled by someone that you would call a “people person”. They know how to get things done and get the best out of everyone. It’s not always pleasant, but most of the good Project Managers I have worked with in the past are people that make the difficult seem easy and instill confidence in the entire project.
The secret, says Project Manger Eric Swanson, is good communication
“Clients sometimes forget during the design process that the timeline is based on one or two iterations of design, and that they respond with feedback within a few days,” said Swanson.
“Typically there are multiple rounds of iteration and months can go by prior to receiving approval. Now the project is off track by two months. Communication throughout is KEY so that the client is fully aware that their decisions are affecting the timeline. This allows them to make the decision to approve now, or delay the plan.”
The Creator (the Designer)
Who is the person that will create the vision of what the product should be?
What are we building? What is the copy structure? What does this magazine look like?
The Creator often times comes in many flavors. UX Designer, UX Researcher, Copy Writer, Visual Designer, and Product Designer just to name a few. Whatever you call them, their duties are to research and create based on that information.
Oftentimes, Creators work together to be able to perform their duties. Sometimes, Creators work by themselves and perform all of the duties that are necessary to perform their role.
The type and amount of creators depend on the project. It is important to understand which types you need, what roles they will serve, and how that cost will impact the budget of the product. For that reason, many financial people believe they can get by with minimal staffing for this role, oftentimes assuming a creative can perform every duty necessary. This is not always the case, as most creatives can excel at a few things and are fairly poor at others. For this reason, and because everyone is different, you have to understand what your goal is, what you need, and if you have the staff and budget to get there.
Key questions to ask yourself before the project starts:
- Has the person gathering the requirements and research been identified?
- Who will be creating the wireframes? (If a web-based project)
- Who will be supplying the copy?
- Who will be creating the look and feel of the project?
- What is your feedback method, and who is responsible to implement it (or not)?
The Creator should be at least a part of these tasks.
Similarly to the Builder, the Creator is a natural problem solver, and creative thinking oftentimes can solve many issues facing any project. Don’t discount them as just the person that executes; They are much more valuable than that.
The Builder (the Developer)
Who will build the vision the creator comes up with?
Building the vision of the Creator is where the ideas become solidified. Sometimes the Builder and the Creator are the same person, depending on the project. If you are trying to create a poster, then they are the same person. If you are trying to create a piece of software, then you are probably talking about multiple people.
The Builder is typically your technical person or people that make things into reality. UI developers, back end developers, and systems architects are some of the roles that commonly comprise a Builder’s role.
Many projects believe that having a ratio of three developers to every one designer is the way to go. I do not subscribe to that theory. Development can be difficult, but so can design, if done correctly. A great plan leads to great execution, so understanding the needs and tasks of the project is important.
For example, you wouldn’t want to staff 10 creators and one builder, because that singular person would get overwhelmed with the tasks and the timeline of your project would be extremely long.
Make sure your needs align with your staffing and types of builders you require.
The Stocker (the Content Manager)
Who will provide the product with what makes it valuable?
The role of what I am calling “The Stocker” is one that sometimes gets overlooked. Someone has to ensure that the website or product has regular, quality content and information on it. Hence, the Stocker.
For print projects, the stocker role is the Creator, since there is no step to populate anything other than the final design. For websites and apps, this role is one that is ongoing and requires a person to understand the vision of the designer and the strategy of the Owner.
The Stocker generally should be an expert at posting HTML and multimedia and knowing how it will be consumed by the user.
This role is also critical to maintain SEO rankings and content discoverability. It is generally the “keeper or the content” and responsible for checking content metrics and providing feedback to the Owner regarding emerging trends.
The Tester (the QA Person)
Who is the person that will review and call-out things that aren’t correct?
Every project needs a person to review the final product before it is published. Be it a final walkthrough of a print composition or a group of people testing a website for ADA compliance or browser compatibility, the Tester is tasked with giving everything that “one last look”.
Most of the time, the Tester finds things that needs to be fixed, and works with the Manager to ensure they get corrected.
Each of these roles are important. You may find that the Owner and Manager are the same person in your company, or that the Builder role is made up of a whole division of people. Whichever your structure is or needs to be, the same principles apply.
There is no perfect structure. There are always staffs that don’t meet the “formula”. Whatever the composition is of your organization, make sure to adopt a design-thinking methodology — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. That will help you on any project you will ever encounter.
Comments ()