At the beginning of 2014, I began to build out the traveljunction.com design team beyond a single person (me).
I gained an awesome team-mate, Tim Gale, who’s been with me on the journey ever since. We sat down and created a design process as traveljunction never had one previously.
We were very particular about the process and it was quite exhaustive, something that worked pretty well as we revamped nearly every area of the product over the course of a few months.
The additional thing we worked on as we drilled away at the process was a 5 point ethos that Tim, myself and any person who joined the team thereafter would be held accountable to and work towards. A few months later and we grew again and added Kate to our team.
Our Design Ethos
The aim was to keep it short and on point, to include things we truly believe in and to push ourselves to become better at what we do on a daily basis.
#1 – Never assume
We will never assume that anything we do is right, we’ll only hope that we’re less wrong than before so we can progress in a measured manner.
#2 – Collaborate Always
We will never work in silos, even if we’re working on different parts of traveljunction at the same time, we’ll collaborate in an effective manner to get the best out of the product. More heads are better than one. It’s far too easy to silo yourself.
#3 – Visuals do not come first
Visuals do not come first at traveljunction, aesthetics don’t make a bad product good. Usability and experience do, focus on those first and the aesthetics later.
#4 – Open, Honest Communication
We’re a team and great teams communicate and are open and honest with each other. When the going gets tough, when the product is under heavy critique, if we stand by shoulder to shoulder we’ll do ok. Ego’s are left at the door.
#5 – Process is King
We’re well aware that sometimes things can get challenging, but if we trust the process we’ll end up at the place we’re wanting to be no matter how long it takes. Trust the process and everything else will take care of itself.
Constant Improvement
Many of the points above could be used for different types of teams including engineering teams. We’re always looking to improve in our own little individual ways and having something to look at is comforting. Our process has changed over the years, but the ethos stands firm.
Big Thanks go to Tim for working with me on creating both the ethos and process.