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Communication is key when it comes to cohesive work habits within a web project team. Web designers, developers, project managers and clients constitute interconnected but distinct participants in the web design process. But each must work together seamlessly for a web project to find success. Below we share four ways web project teams can work better together.

1. Clear and consistent communications. It is vital that communication channels are defined at the onset of the project and consistently used throughout the process. While email often carries much of the communication load, other more effective channels should be available and used. For example, Slack is a collaborative messaging app that works great for one on one and team communication. Project management tools such as Jira or Basecamp have powerful communication processes and integrations built in.  

2. Gain a better understanding of each other’s roles. One of the biggest challenges a web design team will face is defining and understanding the roles of the people involved. Each team member brings their own unique skill set and perspective to a web project. Assigning roles that leverages each member’s experience and establishes how each role fits into the project process will set clear expectations as well as avoid conflict between roles.

3. Provide explicit instructions. Provide instructions that the team can easily understand. For example, designs should be provided to developers along with a style guide that lists the names of fonts, text sizes, hex color codes as well as margin, width, height, and padding expectations. Wireframes should be annotated so that the designers and developers do not have to infer requirements about how the product should function or look. Passing explicit information between team members may take more work upfront, but can save considerable time for everyone over the course of a project.

4. Test together. Testing should always be a collaborative process. Not only does testing together ensure most bugs will be identified and fixed, but also assists team members in developing a better understanding of the product in regards to each other’s roles and the work that went into building it.

Avatar New York is an innovative, award-winning web design New York firm dedicated to providing clients with responsive websites that help grow brands and convert visitors to customers. With an expertise in web development, branding, cloud hosting, mobile app development, and CMS and e-commerce solutions, Avatar New York's top tier designers have the ability to create intelligent websites for any type of business.