Great web projects don’t succeed through good design or development chops alone—they also need communication and collaboration between designers and developers.
I’ve seen solid designers and developers botch a project through miscommunication alone, and develop poor relationships as a consequence. I’ve also seen novice designer-developer teams work together to deliver amazing results. They resolved potential pitfalls early, delivered their projects on time, and iterated quickly. This kind of coordination isn’t just good for projects—a communicative, collaborative team is also a happier team. There are fewer misunderstandings and less tension if tasks aren’t going as planned.
Design-development collaboration becomes particularly critical in wireframes and comps, it’s important to remember that responsive web design is inherently fluid. Which means that a lot of your web audience will experience the design in its “in-between” states. So almost every design has to consider the layout adjustments necessary between the specced sizes. For example, when sizing down, text content may shrink and images drop into a single column.
Avoid making assumptions about what those adjustments can or should be with your development team. Be proactive, and meet with your developers before they get too deep in their work. For especially complex layout changes, it’s a smart idea to create another wireframe or sketch to illustrate. Where specificity is less important, a brief discussion or an email describing the transitions can suffice.
3. Have an image asset strategy early
Image formats and sizes often create stumbling blocks between designers and developers. You might use PNGs, JPGs, icon fonts, or SVGs for smaller elements and icons. There’s no one right answer: everything depends on the content and resources available. But it’s important to agree on one format and stick with it. Also, you’ll likely develop patterns for common image sizes as your web project progresses.
Yet for modern responsive design, that’s just the starting point. You’ll need at least 2 assets for raster formats (JPGs): 1 for normal displays and a second for high-resolution ones. Advanced responsive image techniques call for more assets for different viewport sizes.
Avoid leaving decisions on responsive image formats to the end of a project.
At the bare minimum, have a strategy for display density. Read up on srcset and polyfills like Picturefill to ensure good cross-browser support. If it feels overwhelming, start small. Just altering a few image elements with the srcset attribute is a good first step. See how the process goes and grow from there.
4. Think atomic, modular design
My RWD workflow is influenced by Brad Frost’s thoughts on Atomic Web Design and Jonathan Snook’s SMACSS. Both frameworks rely on small, reusable components as the basis for strong web architecture.
So for developer handoffs, I like to concentrate on small and reusable components first, because they generally present the same UX and visuals across different devices. That consistency can be easier to digest for the development team. Plus, small components tend to be more reusable between pages. So if you design an effective solution, it’s that much easier to re-apply it later on.
Smaller components generally present the same UX and visuals across different devices. That consistency can be easier for the development team to digest.
Imagine you’re designing a signup page with a headline, large graphic, and form. Depending on the device, these elements may shift around or change in size. Early on, focus on the smaller details of the signup form with the dev team. How does it look? What kind of validation do you need? How might the form change for touch input versus mouse and keyboard?
5. Bring in developers for visual and UX feedback
Some designers shield developers from product meetings, usability sessions, and other opportunities for feedback. There’s a kickoff, a handoff, and little else. That’s a mistake.
Remember that experienced developers have a ton of applicable knowledge. They might also have intimate knowledge of the product if they’ve worked with it for awhile.
Front-end developers’ and designers’ skills often overlap. More and more designers write their own code. Developers are boning up on rapid prototyping, wireframing, and aesthetic design. RWD has only exacerbated this trend. A developer can bring strong design insights even without a “designer” title.
Granted, separate roles and responsibilities remain valuable. But small steps toward inclusion can significantly improve the final product. So for your next usability test, bring in a developer to discuss the outcome. Or if you’re running a design brainstorm, maybe invite a few devs.
Collaboration matters
All these techniques need planning and buy-in. With so much attention focused on launching products and hitting deadlines, that can be hard. But good designer-developer relations can bring a lot to any web project—particularly responsive ones. A small investment at the start can have an exponential payoff for your team.
by Nick Schaden
Nick is a UI engineer and designer at Square, where he contributes to web initiatives across the company. He was formerly web platform lead at Pocket, a popular save for later service. Prior to Square and Pocket, Nick worked in technology and design at Animoto, Gucci, and Goldman Sachs. He loves coffee, electronic music, and 80s action movies.
