In between clients and users

Delivering applications is a complex task. If we abstract from the writing of code or design the application itself, the main task is to fulfill the need of those who engage us as designers and developers.

In the modern scrum process, the relationship between designers, developers, and stakeholders is conducted through the product owner but still, when designers and developers make decisions, there are consequences in two directions: stakeholders (client) and users.

In the era of User-Centered Design, designers and developers are trained to fulfill users' needs at first, and not always do these decisions go in the direction of the client's expectations, or even more demanding, the Marketing department.

One more ability has to be on the shoulder of designers and developers then: diplomacy. Right: make product owners and stakeholders understand that most of the time an approach that sounds like a waste of time, lead often to a better user experience and therefore a possible higher conversion rate.

Investing more time and money in better accessibility is not only ethical but also gives a higher conversion rate, since 20% of users suffer from permanent or temporary reduced abilities.

Architecting a better way to collect information about our users and designing a proper architecture to reconcile with the regulation in personal data protection, may avoid future issues with justice.

The limbo between the clients and the users is often made not only by colors and typography, rather than stacks and code but also by many rules and motivations in the way designers and developers have to choose those colors and that stack and code pattern.

In most cases, the trust between the stakeholders and the dev team plays a role in the success of the project. The more stakeholders are confident with the choices and experience of the dev team, the better is for the quality of the product. The more quality of the product does not crash with the anxiety of the marketing department of conversion results, the closest we get to a perfect product.

Conclusion: diplomacy and empathy are the key roles between developers and clients and developers and users.