How we approach UX @ MichiganLabs
July 29, 2019At Michigan Software Labs, we focus on building superior user experiences (UX) for our clients and their customers.
Read moreMichiganLabs consistently prioritizes our team’s relationships with each other. We were well prepared for the technical switch to remote work, but the social side presented a new obstacle.
While in the office, we had biweekly team lunches provided and daily Super Smash Bros competitions. We had quarterly social gatherings with our families and various wellness challenges going. When the world was turned upside down last March, our team was well set up for the technical side of what we do, but figuring out how to make us feel connected over a long stretch of remote work presented a new obstacle.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been plenty of articles on making a smooth transition to remote work and keeping people engaged. Having spent countless hours reading them and attending webinars, I wanted to share what we’ve put into practice.
Initially, we did not realize we would not be in the office together for almost a year, so the things we did to connect were smaller-scale. One example is themed standups: the beginning of last March was heavy on themed stand-ups where we would set our background to reflect our favorite songs, movies, beaches, etc. While these were entertaining and people got to know each other better, it quickly became apparent that we needed to balance the need for connection with available mental bandwidth.
In no particular order, these are the top 6 things that I believe have worked for our team:
Our team has implemented other ways to continue our connected culture, but these are the six I believe have proved the most successful and impactful during the whirlwind of 2020.
What has your team done to shift to remote work? Will you bring any of the new practices when you return to the office? Let us know! We are always looking for new ways to provide value to our team.
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At Michigan Software Labs, we focus on building superior user experiences (UX) for our clients and their customers.
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Read moreThere have been a number of recent articles documenting Airbus 737 Max failures. Coming from an aviation engineering background, I am fascinated by mainstream coverage of a world I inhabited for years. One article in particular caught my eye. Bloomberg ran a piece on Boeing’s practice of outsourcing aspects of software development to less costly developers in other countries; the implication being that the practice was partially to blame.
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