How to Really Train a UX Team

User experience (UX) experts have never been in higher demand. As more companies realize the unbeatable value of investing in UX, they also recognize the need to train a UX team that can implement best practices and create meaningful experiences for users.

The good news is that because of the increasing demand for UX expertise, designers and developers are incentivized to expand their skill sets and start applying UX principles to their current work. That means that there’s very real potential for companies to train existing employees in UX, so that they’re then able to offer new value to their customers without having to hire an entirely new team.

The bad news is that training a UX team isn’t always easy. Subpar educational materials on the subject are easy to find, but they’re so generalized and condensed that it’s practically impossible to get any real or lasting value from them. Plus, ever-changing industry standards present a moving target, making it more important for teams to know the underlying principles of effective UX design, rather than just the surface level “how-to” information.

For too many companies and teams, this results in a demand for quality UX that cannot be met. Products and experiences suffer as teams overextend themselves and contort their abilities to try to fill UX gaps.

Which begs the question: how do you really train a UX team?

Your team, your needs, your solution

The answer is custom training. It’s an art, as much as a science. Only this type of training can take into account your team's strengths, weaknesses, and needs in order to create material and learning experience required for real growth. A customized solution considers your customers’ demands, identifies gaps in your team’s skill sets (personal and professional), and offers strategies that will help solve the UX problems you and your customers need solved.

This isn’t training designed for the masses. It’s training designed for you.

Drawbackwards’ advising and mentorship approaches this reality with three training stages that (1) assess where your team is currently, (2) provide quality mentorship customized to your needs, and (3) provide you with tools and resources that lead to lasting impact, so our team can empower your team to do its best work.

Assessment

How can you fix a problem if you don’t really know what the problem is? How can you fill gaps you can’t see or clearly identify? How do you know what problems to prioritize, or where to start when you’re ready to fix them?

Thorough assessment is key to effective solutions. As experts in the UX field, we know where to start, what to look for, and what questions to ask. We evaluate skill level, organizational design thinking, team values, product leadership, individual and group strengths, skill gaps, and more so that we can get to know your specific challenges and needs.

Mentorship

From there, we can craft and fine-tune a curriculum that is specifically designed for maximum impact within your team.

Drawbackwards’ senior-level experts work with your team to offer education and support where it is most needed. Our curriculums are designed to be:

• Informative: We deliver cutting-edge information and educational materials that pertain directly to your team, your business, and your clients.
• Encouraging: We become your partner in your UX team development, offering the same support, encouragement, and professionalism you’d expect from your own team.
• Actionable: Our plans are clear and actionable, giving you next steps that will make your long-term vision a reality.

Our mentorship is centered around the cornerstones of design and design advocacy: craft, UX thinking, design leadership, and creative wellness (which really dives into personal mindset and well-being). In short, we are set up to help your team in a way that really works, long-term.

Lasting impact

Too many training seminars, bootcamps, and certification programs aren’t effective. Important ideas are left out, a holistic approach is not taken and basics often lack real-world context. Most topics covered aren’t understood fully as they’re completed. This can sometimes cause confusion and frustration, and ultimately, results in being right back where you started, with unhappy clients, frustrated employees, and no answers or direction.

Drawbackwards takes steps to make sure the impact of our mentorship lasts, providing your team with resources, tools, and templates that will keep them going. Plus, our ongoing mentorship solutions offer continuous support and even deeper learning and understanding. This breaks the cycle of customer frustration, subpar education, and short-lived improvement. Instead, your team has tried-and-tested tools that they can use on their own to help strengthen their UX design skills to create meaningful solutions for clients, over and over again.

The results

Making the investment to train your UX team properly isn’t just a good choice; it’s the only choice. That is, if you want to have a highly-skilled team that is able to meet the growing UX demands of your customers. This investment in your employees can result in:

• Improved team attrition rates
• Higher skill level and quality of work
• More informed decision-making
• Better results with your customers and users

Training right the first time, and continually working on improvement, can help you create the UX team you and your customers need.

The options

We offer a variety of advising and mentorship packages to help your team get the support it needs—no more, and no less.

| BASIC | LIGHT | INTEGRATED | CUSTOMIZED | | ------------ | ------------ | --------- | ------- | | Monthly Working Session to critique design and mentor on relevant topics | Weekly Working Sessions to critique design and mentor on relevant topics | Weekly Working Sessions to critique design and mentor on relevant topics | Our team will partner with yours to evaluate, then co-create, a fully customized engagement to serve your organization best. | | Monthly UX webinar | Monthly UX webinar | Monthly UX webinar | | | Daily coaching content delivered via text, email, or Slack integration | Daily coaching content delivered via text, email, or Slack integration | Daily coaching content delivered via text, email, or Slack integration | | |Access to training materials, templates, and cheatsheets. | Access to training materials, templates, and cheatsheets. |Access to training materials, templates, and cheatsheets. | | | | Small group discussions | Senior-level mentoring with team members, 1:1 | | | | Periodic UX/UI Audits | Periodic UX/UI Audits | | | | Final deliverable in the format of a design handbook, summarizing topics covered |Final deliverable in the format of a design handbook, summarizing topics covered | | | | | Monthly, day-long workshops sessions for in-depth instruction, war-room style execution, or technical/experience scoping | | | | |Weekly Q/A “office hours” with senior-level mentors | |

Additionally, we offer other services that can help augment, support and develop your team:

| Talent Acquisition | Collaborative Execution | Research & Validation | | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | | Role and organization chart recommendations for the most impact, written job descriptions, and expert-led interviews/talent vetting for your business. | Real work completed for your projects, by your team and ours, to demonstrate design and leadership skills in action. | Professionally-conducted research to validate design, lower investment risk, and ensure product usability and user acceptance. |

Proper training is an investment that pays for itself. Don’t settle for universal pseudo-solutions that overpromise and underdeliver. Choose customized training and mentorship that will empower your team to do its best work.