It’s important for our team to know and respect our boundaries. Without a clear understanding of where our role starts and ends, it can be difficult to know if a decision or challenge is our responsibility to solve. We need to know what kind of features are implemented on the client side (by us) or server side (by back-end). Keeping these boundaries in mind during the whole development process may be challenging but will result in streamlined collaboration and focused delivery. Lack of boundaries creates frustration, “one-offs”, lack of decisions, or wrong decisions.
Issues that make defining boundaries challenging
- Our work is tied to many different teams (Business, Design, Back end, and Infra) and the role each team needs us to peroform for them is different.
- Even when serving one team, role boundaries can be ambigious and change frequently.
Guidance on knowing where our role starts and ends
- Define our role using discrete domains that are our undisputed responsibility but maintain soft borders between teams, where roles can evolve based on each teams need.
- Understand that it is OK to say 'no' when we are given work outside of our responsibility.
Why clearly defined roles are important
- By being able to focus on a clearly defined role we can dedicate ourselves to what is within our boundaries, allowing us to build high performing UIs.
- Knowing what is and is not our responsibility cuts down on ambiguity, reduces pressure, and promotes good mental health.