How My Coding Background Helped Me Communicate With Developers

A one-week sprint with developers made me realize how much my coding background could benefit my UX career.

The brief was to create an interactive experience on Lindholmen, Gothenburg, packaged in a web application. Our team came up with the idea of a multiplayer bingo game – where the first player to photograph all nine bingo cards wins. However, with only two days left before the deadline, we still didn’t have working production code.

Role UX
Duration 5 days
The Team UX Writers Developers
Overview of the game setup flow
Prototype in Figma with comments and annotations
A comment in Figma suggesting height: vhm instead of height: vh

It Started With a Smooth Developer Handoff

I used Figma’s Devmode, adding annotations and comments to clearly communicate functionality and styling to the developers. My coding background proved valuable during this stage. I could rely on a shared technical vocabulary, making communication much more efficient.

Developer checking the Github repo
List of pros and cons when choosing between http and websocket servers

Exploring an Easier Backend Solution

With the front-end of the application complete, the developers were facing challenges in connecting it to the back-end. Taking on a project leadership role, I facilitated discussions with the developers to explore potentially easier alternatives that could provide a similar user experience. I asked about the constraints of each technology, organized the information, and put together a list of pros and cons for each option to guide their decision-making process.

With only two days remaining before the deadline, the developers decided to stick with the current technical solution.

To-do list for the developers
To-do list focused on prio 1

Prioritizing According to UX Value

As the project progressed, both the front-end and back-end developers started feeling the pressure of the approaching deadline. I also noticed that the developers were focused on their own areas. I initiated conversations between the developers to ensure their efforts were aligned.

Based on what would have the greatest impact on the user experience, I also created a prioritized list of tasks. As the developers completed each task, we marked it as done, giving them a clear roadmap and sense of progress as they worked through each task.

User holding a phone with the app running
User winning a game and receiving the bingo notification

We Managed To Meet the Deadline

Thanks to our collaborative effort in the final two days, we successfully delivered a live, working application before the deadline. The users who tested the app gave us positive feedback, and our project earned the the prize for best execution from the jury.

After the project ended, both a developer and a UX classmate complimented me on how effectively I collaborated with the developers. They specifically appreciated how I helped prioritize tasks, which helped us meet the deadline.

Key Takeaways

  • That my basic understanding of key web development concepts significantly improved my ability to understand the developers’ challenges and made communication more efficient.
  • How effective it can be to sit down next to the developer and solve problems together in real time.