Design Documentation will transform your business inside and out
To begin with, let me share a story with you. During a weekly call with a vendor, some crucial members were missing, which made everyone feel uneasy. The details from the previous discussions were unclear, which made matters worse. We expanded our business by building an experimental branch involving new technology with AI bots. Our goal was to provide direct-to-consumer medical diagnoses and doctor referrals. Since it was a new project, some people had more context than others. Unfortunately, the individuals with the most information were away on vacation, which put us in a difficult situation. We appeared clueless, and I despised it.
That's when we realized the need for design documentation. We couldn't afford to be caught off guard again, unaware of what others in the team had been doing. Transparency was necessary so that we could be agile and divide the work among ourselves. This was particularly crucial for a startup. After the call, we spent two weeks creating the initial foundation for a company-wide process that we all eventually adopted.
What is Design Documentation
Design documentation is the repository where ideas are stored and preserved for the team and the company. It helps to safeguard all intellectual property and ensures that it belongs to the company. A well-maintained design documentation should serve as a well-organized knowledge warehouse that is easy to navigate. It should be user-friendly and quickly accessible. However, creating such documentation can become a tedious process that takes away much of your time from the day-to-day work. Therefore, it should be the backbone of all the tools you and your team use. It takes a great deal of discipline to keep it in order. Often, we may think that we don't need to take notes or document something important, but it's essential to do so, as good intentions can sometimes lead us down the wrong path.
Tools and how they help or hurt
The market for documentation tools is abundant, with many great options. Some tools excel in specific areas, while others offer various functionalities. After trying several options, we often found ourselves needing more. As a result, we had to use additional tools to fill the gaps until we discovered Notion.
Here are some questions to consider when choosing tools to integrate into your workflow:
Does the tool improve your work?
Is it affordable, especially when bringing on the whole team or company?
Can you create artifacts quickly?
Does it provide an overview of your work at a glance?
How does collaboration work? Is it live to all or accessible to one until it's published?
How does the organization of the tool work?
Can it integrate well with external tools?
A single source of truth
As our work shifts from a traditional in-person model to a more remote and distributed model, it becomes increasingly important to have effective tools that can help keep teams connected and in sync. In particular, design is a crucial leadership process that benefits greatly from having a single source of truth. This gives the organization the necessary structure to support the demands and challenges of a company striving to succeed.
Building a path for a proactive design process
Design teams are often understaffed and underrepresented in organizations. They are often seen as a step to make the work look "pretty" and are expected to magically improve bad ideas. This reactive approach results in subpar work being pushed out the door, which is not good for the product, team morale, or talent retention. When teams are forced to react too often, they become burned out and may leave.
To avoid this, a proactive approach is needed. The design team should build a backlog that allows them to do all the necessary work to ensure that all designs are top-notch and backed by data on the what and why. This approach will help the team to be more productive, efficient, and effective.
Transparency is leadership
One of the worst feelings is contributing an idea that leads to a breakthrough, only to have someone else take the credit and receive the praise. This has been a persistent issue in companies where those in charge control visibility. However, this can be overcome by promoting leadership through transparency. If you hire competent individuals, provide them with the necessary tools and support and step aside. The best kind of leadership is not that of a parent but rather being a support system for one's team. To lead by example, we need momentum to carry us forward. Political leadership can often become a hindrance in the pursuit of building great products. Therefore, accountability and ownership are vital in creating a strong team structure. Recognizing and highlighting the contributions of those who work behind the scenes is essential.
Suggestions on leading with transparency
Attribute ownership to ideas
Be disciplined and write things down so everyone can read them.
Don’t work in the shadows. Work in the open and let your work do the talking.
Time stamps are your friend and establish ownership
Conclusion
One essential ingredient in developing a well-crafted process to support design teams is discipline. It is crucial to be rigorous and consistent with your process. Continuously push the process and make improvements wherever necessary. However, it's important to be prepared to initially embrace the uncomfortable parts of the process. After six months, you'll start to see the true power and impact of all that discipline can do for a design practice and the organization as a whole.
