The solitary creative genius is a lie — at least for most artists.
Depending on the medium, even the most introverted and reclusive artists usually rely on connection with others in some way. The painter is inspired by the lines and light of a person doing yoga in the park; a fashion designer is bound to the craftsmanship of a leather tanner; an actor without the expertise of a theater tech is just a person yelling on a platform.
There are different types of creative connection. The examples above are a seven-degrees-of-separation type of connection. Then, of course, there is creative collaboration — and for UX designers, this is where the magic happens.
“I find that balancing focus work with collaboration is key to moving projects forward efficiently.” said Devon Martin, senior product designer at Lowe’s.
One of the best moments as a designer comes from making headway on a tough problem, according to Renata Venturini, design lead at Work & Co.
“Sometimes you find a solution right away, but more often it’s the result of a lot of collaboration with the team and piecing things together bit by bit,” said Venturini. “There might be a great playlist in the background, and I’m in the zone exploring concepts in Figma and refining every little detail until it feels just right.”
For Hayley Mueller, senior product designer at Aceable, the different influences of her teammates can take an idea up a notch.
“Each team member brings a unique perspective, and I find that the best solutions emerge when we blend insights from different disciplines,” said Mueller.
Built in spoke with these three UX designers who shared what their role is like, how they navigate the day-to-day demands and still maintain a creative balance with their work.
Lowe’s offers a suite of home improvement products and services for both professionals and consumers.
What does an average day look like for you?
An average day for me starts with a quick check of my calendar and emails, followed by reviewing my Jira tickets to see what’s on my plate for the day. Being part of a large team, there’s a lot of coordination, so I prioritize staying aligned with both my immediate and cross-functional associates like product managers, engineers, UX researchers and content strategists, primarily through Teams. Mornings typically consist of a standup or check-in with my design team to discuss ongoing projects, blockers and dependencies.
From there, I jump into any design work I have on my plate. I first review any feedback I might have from stakeholder meetings to align on any changes needed in the design direction. Then, depending on the stage of the project, I start my core tasks of ideating and creating wireframes, high-fidelity designs and/or prototypes using Figma and Figjam. Throughout the day, I may also be involved in various design reviews and working sessions with cross-functional associates, including PMs and engineers, to ensure alignment. I find that balancing focus work with collaboration is key to moving projects forward efficiently.
What’s your favorite aspect of your day-to-day work, and why?
My favorite part of my day-to-day work is the collaboration and problem-solving with my team and cross-functional associates. As a UX designer, I love taking abstract ideas — whether from users, stakeholders or product goals — and working with this diverse and talented group of people to turn them into intuitive design solutions.
“As a UX designer, I love taking abstract ideas — whether from users, stakeholders or product goals — and working with this diverse and talented group of people to turn them into intuitive design solutions.”
The best part is the collective brainstorming and feedback we get during design reviews or workshops. Hearing different perspectives from product managers, engineers, business stakeholders and other designers sparks new ideas and uncovers gaps I might not have seen alone. That cross-collaboration is what leads to stronger solutions, and I find that process really exciting. Not to mention, the iterative nature of UX design keeps me engaged — testing, gathering feedback and refining ideas to make them better. I also would be nothing without my team, and am so grateful to work with such talented, interesting, intelligent, kind and funny people. Even though many of us are remote, it does really feel like a close-knit group. I have grown so much as a designer just by working alongside these folks.
Aceable is a mobile education platform, focused on creating affordable, engaging and convenient educational content.
What does an average day look like for you?
As a senior product designer at Aceable, my day begins by preparing for my morning meetings and catching up on Slack messages. This usually means I am polishing off designs in Figma from the day before and preparing any talking points I have for stand-up meetings or working sessions by adding them to the working team docs.
Most days are spent working with my cross-functional team ideating on new ideas, planning for the upcoming sprints or sharing new designs for critiques with either stakeholders and other product designers. I always make sure I have time blocked for my heads down design time. During this time I can put my headphones in and knock out anything on my to-do list which usually includes: wireframing and designing new screens, creating user flows in Figjam, building new components and making sure designs are ready to be implemented.
“I always make sure I have time blocked for my heads down design time. During this time I can put my headphones in and knock out anything on my to-do list.”
In addition to my design work, I also spend time collaborating closely with developers in JIRA to ensure smooth project handoffs, answering any questions they may have about interactions, functionality or edge cases. To end the day, I wrap up anything I am working on while creating the next day’s list of to-dos.
What’s your favorite aspect of your day-to-day work, and why?
My favorite aspect of my day-to-day work is the amount of collaboration I have with my Aceable teammates. We work closely as a cross-functional team (with engineering, product, marketing and the project management office) to bring ideas to life, ensuring that we’re creating thoughtful, user-centered solutions.
Whether it’s brainstorming in a working session, refining designs based on feedback from a critique or problem-solving with developers to make an interaction more seamless, these moments of collaboration push the work forward in exciting ways.
It’s incredibly rewarding to see our collective efforts come together into a product truly benefits users and #CreatesDelight along the way.
Work & Co is a design and technology company that partners with companies including IKEA, Apple, PGA TOUR, Gatorade, Google and more to launch digital products that transform businesses.
What does an average day look like for you?
Here at Work & Co, there are consistent parts of our process, but at the same time there’s a lot of variety in our daily work. In the course of one day, you might be designing in Figma, building prototypes in Principle or ProtoPie and then switching gears to tackle tech support with the development team.
Our approach is highly focused on one project at a time, and we form one team with engineers, strategists, designers, writers, QA and our clients. Days start with planning daily goals and checking in with the team — either on a Zoom standup or Slack — to sync up on progress, share feedback and troubleshoot blockers. This gives me the chance to spend the majority of my time on the part I’m most passionate about — designing. Most of my heads down time goes into Figma, where we can see each other’s progress on our tasks. Collaboration varies by team, but we’re always sneaking into each other’s files, leaving comments and hopping on impromptu calls. This back-and-forth is key for narrowing down design decisions and maintaining an intentional, focused workflow. Some days are about concepting ideas from scratch; other days are reserved for refining designs and crossing off tiny design details.
“Some days are about concepting ideas from scratch; other days are reserved for refining designs and crossing off tiny design details.”
What’s your favorite aspect of your day-to-day work, and why?
Some of the most rewarding moments as a designer are when you finally make progress on a problem you’ve been wrestling with for a while… Then there’s the unmatched feeling of bringing a new digital experience into the market. In the past year, one example is the relaunch of the Obama.org website — which was the start of a partnership helping shape The Obama Foundation’s digital presence for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Our cross-functional team was an extension of the Foundation, working closely with the client and conceptualizing ideas that would quickly be tested with prototypes. As we approached the launch date, we were working across design and development focused on launching an experience that had beautiful design craft and user experience. The magic really happens when users navigate the final build and you can feel the vision become reality.
