Do you know if you boost your UX development budget by 10%, it can lead to an 83% increase in conversions.

Fascinating, Isn’t it? How a good design can increase the sell of your service.

A positive UX ensures users have an enjoyable and seamless interaction with your product, and your UX team ensures the creation of high-quality, user-centered, seamless UX.

So, as a startup founder, you need a UX team that not only creates user interfaces for your products but also enhances brand perception, provides a competitive edge and drives long-term business success.

In this article, “UX Team Structure,” we will walk you through how you can structure your user experience team to achieve these goals for your startup. Let’s start from the very beginning.

What is a UX Team?

Your UX team is a group of designers, researchers, and other professionals dedicated to improving the overall experience that users have when interacting with a product, service, or digital platform. The physiology behind this is influencing your users’ senses to use your product by combining usefulness, usability, and desirability.

Who Are the Members of the UX Team?

Your UX teams often include a variety of roles. Each role has its own responsibilities and skill requirements, but they all work together and communicate to provide a user-centered design approach.

These are some of the common UX roles you might need for your UX team, depending on your project size, complexity, budget, etc.

Role	Responsibility
UX Lead	Leads, supervises and manages the whole UX team
UX Researcher	Research about users to understand their needs, pain points, and behaviors
UX Designer	Designs the user interface and interaction of the product or services
UI Designer	Focuses on designing the visual and interactive aspects of a product
Information Architect	Organizes and structures the information within the product
UX Writer	Writes the microcopy for your product
Product Designer	Focuses especially on product design
Usability Tester	Tests the functionality, efficiency, and user satisfaction of your product

UX Team Roles and Responsibilities

UX Lead
Your UX lead is a senior-level role that involves leading, overseeing, and managing in your UX design team structure. He/she is responsible for setting the vision and direction for the UX team. Hiring, mentoring, monitoring, and developing the skills and performance of the UX team members also fall into the responsibility of your UX lead.

UX Researcher
Your UX researcher is a professional who studies your target users to collect data (users’ needs, behaviors, and preferences). Then, by analyzing those data, He/she helps the product design process. The process includes activities like sketching, prototyping, and user testing before transitioning designs to the development team.

UX Designer
The person who designs the user interface and interaction of your product is your UX designer. He/she turns the research insight of your UX researcher into the visual design. Creating user flows, information architecture, personas, and storyboards to define the user journey is also your UX designer’s responsibility.

UI Designer
Your UI designer in your design team structure focuses on the visual and interactive aspects of a product. His or her job is to make sure the product is visually appealing and easy to use. They also developed mockups and prototypes by applying design principles. Your UI designer works closely with your UX designer to make your product interfaces beautiful and accessible.

Information Architect
The professional who organizes and structures the information is your Information Architect. He/She develops sitemaps and hierarchies for better navigation so that users can quickly find the information they need. They conduct user surveys, interviews, usability studies, grouping, and labeling content to discover user information.

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UX Writer
Your UX writer is responsible for writing the microcopy for your product in your UX design team structure. He/she writes the content for user interfaces (menus, buttons, labels, and error messages) that guide users through the product. They collaborate with other team members to create content that is clear, consistent, concise, and aligned with the brand voice.

Product Designer
The UX designer who focuses especially on product design is your product designer. They help to set goals and roadmaps that align with the business goals and brand identity of your organization while designing your product. They also collaborate with development and marketing teams to implement designs correctly and reach the desired audience.

Usability Tester
Your usability tester evaluates the functionality, efficiency, and user satisfaction of your product by testing it with representative users. They observe and record how users interact with the product and identify any problems that affect the user experience. They conduct interviews, surveys, or questionnaires to gather feedback.

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What Does the UX Team Do for a Company?

Now that you know about the roles. You are probably wondering what the UX design team will do for your company. Your UX team shoulders the key responsibility of developing digital products and interfaces that are functional, user-friendly, and visually appealing. The other responsibilities that fall upon them are –

Planning and executing user research to understand the needs, goals, preferences, and pain points of the users and the market.

Interpret data and qualitative feedback to create user stories, personas, journey maps, etc., to represent the users and their scenarios.

Determining information architecture to create sitemaps, navigation, and labels to organize and structure the content.

Creating prototypes and wireframes to sketch out the layout, functionality, and interaction of your product.

Producing high-quality UX/UI design to enhance the appearance and visuals of your product.

Conducting usability testing to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction of your product with real users.

Collaborating with other teams (product managers, developers, marketers, etc.) to ensure a user-centered design approach.

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The Three Types of UX Team Structures

When it comes to structuring a UX team, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Factors such as project size, complexity, budget, timeline, and skill level can all play a role in determining the ideal structure for a given organization. However, there are some commonly used structures by UX teams.

Centralized UX Team Structure:

This structure is popular with medium to large-sized companies. In a centralized UX team structure, your UX team members will be part of the same team, with everyone reporting to the UX Manager or Lead.

In this structure, your designers will collaborate on various projects with other departments. Working on several projects introduces UX design team members to various business elements and issues, which is great for keeping your team motivated.

On the downside, this approach may cause your professionals to lack product ownership and involvement as they have to manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously.

Decentralized UX Team Structure:

The other approach you can follow is a Decentralized UX team structure. Each of your product teams has its own UX team member or members who work closely with the developers and designers and answer to the product manager.

Your UX experts are involved in the whole process of making your product, from the beginning to the end. They can influence product decisions and direction by providing user insights and feedback.

In this approach, your UX professionals may work on the same product for a long time, which can limit their learning opportunities and perspectives.

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Matrix UX Team Structure:

Matrix structure is a combination of Centralized and Decentralized approaches. In this structure, UX team members will report to both your UX manager and product manager and work on various projects and tasks at the same time.

The main benefit of this structure is that your UX team can work on different products and tasks from start to finish, which ensures balanced product ownership and exposure.

On the downside, for different products and tasks, your matrix team may need to use different UX methods, tools, and guidelines. This can make the products and UX unorganized and of lower quality.

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How Should an Ideal UX Team be Organized?

Once you’ve decided on a structure, it’s time to assemble your ideal UX team. The ideal team differs from organization to organization based on size, complexity, preference, budget, and so on. In this section, I will go over some common aspects that will assist you in building your ideal team.

Putting Together a Successful UX Team:

Hiring the appropriate people is the first step in forming an effective team. Try to hire people based on their abilities rather than their years of experience. You will also need a UX-friendly environment within your company so that your UX team can take ownership.

Maximizing Team Performance:

After hiring, you must build a safe and collaborative environment in which your team members can share ideas and take risks in order to maximize team performance. Also, you need to ensure that your team has support from stakeholders in order to develop UX initiatives.

Managing and Leading UX Teams:

Last but not least, managing your UX team. You can build trust and open communication among the team and set clear goals. You also need to motivate team members and create an environment that promotes ongoing learning and development.

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Final Thoughts:

In conclusion, The structure of a UX team is a key factor in how well your team can create great products with great user experiences. Whether it’s centralized, decentralized, or matrix, the key is to create an environment that encourages collaboration, innovation, and a deep understanding of your customer’s needs. The best structure may be different for each company case; there is no one-size-fits-all solution. All you have to do is find out the right one for you.