This year 2020 has forced many companies and teams to collaborate remotely, and as with everything that happened this year, some adapted quickly and liked it, while others are struggling to adjust. In the world of Web3 UI design, opportunities to work remotely with design teams don’t require a pandemic to occur. That is a lesson the team of Web3 UI designers at Matcha Design Labs (MDL), a Web3 UX/UI design agency in the Austin, TX area, learned when they were invited to work on a project in the San Francisco, CA area. Pandemic or not, it probably would have been a bit of a hassle to move the entire team to the Bay area. So the team came up with a strategy that they would recommend to any Web3 UX/UI design agency or any company hiring a remote design team.

Time Management

The first important parameter to manage when collaborating remotely is time. UI designers should take the time to break down the project into smaller chunks and schedule when to work on each chunk. At MDL, Avani Miriyala, the CEO, also likes to schedule frequent Zoom team meetings to allow for corrections and adjustments at every step of the project. Some of those feedback meetings may involve the client, especially when there are a lot of points to discuss and review. At times, the tandem client-UI design agency might need to coordinate what platform to use for feedback: sketches, screenshots, or even applications like Loom.

Collecting Feedback

The second parameter that Web3 UI design agencies should consider when working remotely is intentionality. For effective remote collaboration, it is important for each party to know the other’s strengths and weaknesses. It also helps when the teams already have a culture of giving/getting feedback. At MDL, they have dedicated channels for their teams to communicate and give feedback. It is not a surprise that their Bay area client thought they were the easiest design contractors they have worked with. In fact here is what Shivani Bhargava of Solana, a blockchain company in San Francisco, CA has to say about MDL: 

“Avani and team were hands down the easiest design contractors I've ever worked with. They were empathetic, flexible, resourceful, and talented. They are steeped in design thinking experience and are able to help with any part of the design lifecycle (from UX research to high fidelity mocks). I'd recommend them to any team, whether you already have design resources in house or not”.

Simple steps like managing time efficiently, creating a space for feedback, being intentional and constructive, and utilizing multiple channels of communication would help any Web3 UX/UI design agency earn the reputation of being “empathetic, flexible, resourceful and talented”.