Managing Large Design Projects Efficiently with Adobe Express.

Summary/Overview

Design projects can be vast and complex. From receiving a brief to managing creative assets and timelines – there’s much that can go awry. Design project management helps to keep things on track.

With the right people and the right approach, managing design projects can become more streamlined and less stressful for your business. Read on to learn how to manage design projects and discover how Adobe Express can make it even easier.

What is design project management?

Design project management is project management with a focus on design or creative work. It could be the creation of a new website, or a print product like a book, or marketing materials such as flyers and social banners.

Project management of any type is defined as managing a piece of work from the initial concepts through to completion. Some examples of design project management might mean ensuring there are:

• Cleary defined roles and responsibilities
• Established processes and workflows
• Project briefing documents and immersions
• Clear timelines and deadlines.

Take web design projects, for example. Following a design project management process can help you ensure the new website is created and delivered on-budget and within the deadline.

Free assets to help with design project management.

What are the main methodologies?

All design project management is geared towards the same aim – ensuring the smooth completion of a project within budget and the deadline. But there are different ways of getting there. Depending on the type of project – as well as factors like your team and resources, your budgets and available time – you may prefer one project management methodology over another. Think of these methodologies as the guiding principles of how you approach the work.

Agile project management.

Today, especially for digital projects such as web and app design, the best-known methodology is agile. This philosophy is centred on applying an iterative approach to project management. A piece of work is published as soon as possible and then repeatedly iterated based on user testing, web analytics and customer and client feedback.

Some key terms in the agile philosophy include:

• Scrum. Scrum is a framework that enables teams to work in an agile way. In scrums, teams work in sprint cycles that enable teams to work iteratively. Work is chosen for a sprint cycle from the product and sprint backlogs.
• Kanban. This approach is built around the idea of moving tasks from left to right along a board to show their progress from conception to completion. This is facilitated by web-based project management tools with digital boards divided into columns.

Traditional project management methodologies.

• Waterfall. With the waterfall approach you work linearly in clearly defined phases. The next phase isn’t started until the previous phase is finished. Though this keeps things simple, it can lead to bottlenecks and delays.
• Lean. This approach began on car production lines. The principle is to reduce waste in line with three principles – wastefulness, unevenness and overburden. Though it was popularised in manufacturing it has been adopted by the digital world.

How to use Adobe Express project management tools to manage large design projects.

You can manage design projects both small and large within Adobe Express. With it you can create new projects and invite other team members to collaborate. Get started in a few simple steps.

1. Set up the design project in Adobe Express.

Create the design project in Adobe Express. All you do is go to Your Stuff and then select Projects and Create new project. Enter your project’s name and choose its colourway and then hit Create.

2. Invite other project leads and team members to the project.

Inviting others to collaborate on your project is simple with Adobe Express. All you need to do to add a collaborator is enter their email address and decide whether you want them to be able to edit the project or simply view it.

3. Prioritise asset management within your project.

With your project up and running you can keep all the creative design assets in one place, making it easier to manage your design project. You can learn more about brand asset management with our guide.

Editable design assets to inspire your large project.

5 top tips to make your next design project more efficient.

Whether you want to learn how to manage your first design project or you just want to know more about the project management process for design work, we’ve collated some top tips to help you get started. From ensuring you have the right team and a solid brief in place to the benefits of encouraging collaboration, learn how to make managing design projects easier for your business.

Set clearly defined roles.

For a project to run smoothly everyone must know their role in it. All projects naturally need a project manager who has overall responsibility for its delivery. But what else? A defined project team who are well briefed on your expectations of them is key.

If you’re the project manager, you’ll be assembling a team that combines creative designers, copywriters, web designers and commercial account people – leading and managing this diverse bunch takes skill.

Get a clear brief.

Everything begins with the brief. Get a bad one from the client or other internal stakeholders and it can lead to problems down the road. Get a good one and you’re much more likely to enjoy a smooth design project management process.

But it’s your job to interrogate and shape whatever you’re given by asking key questions: What do we want to achieve? What’s a nice to have and what’s essential? And is the budget set in stone? These questions can help you firm up a wobbly brief.

Create a timeline.

All projects must work to some form of timeline. This sets out what elements of the project will be completed and/or delivered and by when – defined by key project milestones. Your style of timeline may change depending on your chosen methodology – for example, an agile timeline will differ from a waterfall one. But it’s essential to have one and for everyone to be briefed on the elements that affect them.

Put processes in place.

As well as a timeline, you need processes to ensure things get done in the same way to help the project run smoothly and for the work it produces to be consistent. Processes can include creating page wireframes to work into, establishing project workflows, setting up checklists for creating and reviewing content, creating a format for delivering and sharing work with stakeholders, and much more.

Clear and consistent processes that everyone understands and follows are key to successfully managing design projects.

Collaborate and communicate.

Keeping open lines of communication are key to running a successful project. By having set meetings, you can ensure the whole team is not only engaged but is also aware of their responsibilities.

Weekly all-hands meetings. Daily scrum team stand-ups to iron-out small issues. Collaboration tools for instant messaging. Regular meets with stakeholders or clients to update on the project’s progress and collate feedback. Good comms can make your design project easier to manage.

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Useful things to know.

What is the best way to manage a project?

The best way to manage a project is to invest time in planning before diving straight into the work. Starting creative work without a proper planning and immersion phase can soon become problematic as you get further down the line.

Create a solid plan and timeline. Secure a clear scope or brief from your client or stakeholders. Assemble an experienced project team. Develop processes and templates. Do this and managing your design projects will be easier.

How can I be an effective design project manager?

To be a successful design project manager you need to combine knowledge and experience of project management methodologies with certain soft and hard skills. For example, time management, problem solving, organisation and leadership skills are all important.

If you can develop those skills as well as learning the craft of agile project management – along with elements like scrum management and kanban boards – you can become a more effective design project manager.

How do you manage a large design team?

To manage a large design team, you, essentially, combine two roles – project management and people management. Your project management skills will be key for planning the team’s workload, briefing work, and setting and monitoring deadlines.

People management skills will be required for managing people, naturally. As a line manager you’ll be dealing with individual team members so it’s important to develop skills and attributes such as listening, empathy and performance management.

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