Maximizing client value by designing the solution
At SimpSocial, we think that having a set of unambiguous guiding principles is the best basis for creating products and maintaining team cohesion.
We are able to provide superior client value and keep a team of highly engaged, coordinated, and motivated workers thanks to our engineering principle of “shaping the solution.” We never execute requirements that have been set by others without first shaping the solution. We fully appreciate the worth of our work, and we endeavor to develop solutions that effectively convey that worth.
This article is the sixth in a series addressing the guiding concepts behind our products. Levent talks about the engineering maxim “Shape the solution” in this section.
Early on, engineers are involved.
Many businesses rely on their product development process for bargaining. The customer’s needs are outlined by a product owner, business analyst, or product manager and communicated to the engineering team. The engineers offer feedback, usually in the form of pushback, and the parties bargain in an effort to reach an agreement.
A team that is truly self-organizing and high-performing wouldn’t create silos.
This not only guarantees that only one individual is, by design, sympathetic to the interests of the consumer, but it also goes against the grain of a collaborative culture. This is not how a truly self-organizing, high-performing team would ever structure itself into silos.
Our engineering team at SimpSocial has set values outlining the characteristics we believe make for excellent engineers. engineers who work from start to finish to create the solution:
actually, give their task their all.
want a say in the results they strive for.
Recognize the importance of teamwork in producing high-quality products.
Excellent engineers are concerned with the product they are creating.
Engineers at SimpSocial strive to produce impact and value. Making sure we are involved at every stage and playing a significant part in addressing our customers’ issues is what it means to shape the solution.
We assist product and design in making wise trade-offs so that we may all provide significant value in the most cost-effective manner.
We immerse ourselves early in the design process because engineers provide a valuable perspective on a product’s cost to the team and the business in addition to its technical aspects. We are transparent about a feature’s expenses to non-technical stakeholders, and we constructively criticize features when the cost and benefit are out of whack.
Expenditures cover a wide range of activities, including system complexity rise, operational expenditures, and maintenance efforts. We assist product and design in making wise trade-offs so that we may all provide significant value in the most effective manner.
Great engineers are aware that cooperation is essential to creating a fantastic product.
By shaping the solution, engineers communicate with coworkers from the Product and Design teams to see their work through to completion and share viewpoints on what the solution should look like.
In addition to making every solution more three-dimensional and ensuring that we don’t overlook any important details that might improve the outcome for the client and the business, problems are seen from a variety of angles.
Never is it said, “It’s not my job,”
Additionally, it implies that engineers have the ability to think like designers and product managers, and vice versa, leading to more efficient workflows, dynamic relationships, and ultimately better products. Every discipline begins by posing comparable questions and caring about comparable outcomes, which fosters an ownership-only culture. The phrase “it’s not my job” is never used.
When we were constrained by the throughput of a single PM or designer on a team, engineers on my teams have occasionally taken on the duties of Product Manager or Product Designer with remarkable success. It gives their job new depth and is a fantastic way for engineers to advance. It also means that we can expand our business more quickly. As with their engineering peers, I anticipate that my tenured engineers will be equally engaged with and capable of onboarding product managers and designers.
The best design for a solution was not the best overall solution when we started planning for our Inbound Custom Bots since it would have been too costly and time-consuming to develop.
“Engineers and designers collaborated closely to develop a new pattern that would better serve our customers and get around technical limitations, bringing a quicker solution to market.”
We would have had to abandon the entire project if we had moved further since it wouldn’t have been worthwhile. Engineers and designers collaborated to develop a new pattern that would better serve our clients, get around technical limitations, and bring a quicker solution to market.
The visual design of the product was determined by the technical architecture of the system, which was best achieved by our designer and engineer designing it together while seated in Figma. This stopped any back and forth and made sure that everyone working on the project understood the issue and its solution from beginning to end. A designer working alone could not have produced work that was useful without having the same level of context as an engineer, and vice versa.
Each team member should have a thorough understanding of how the product is used by its customers and the issues that need to be resolved. Great engineers want to have a say in the projects they work on. They ought to have the confidence to take on the issues of their clients and formulate solutions.
Making wise choices early on increases the value produced and saves time. By taking into account time estimations, operational expenses, and the effect on the larger ecosystem, we collaborate with our design and product partners to deliver just the appropriate amount of scope to balance the most value with the least amount of effort. We weigh the hazards and make an informed decision about whether to make the system more or less complex.
“A better working environment is created, and engineers are encouraged to develop and learn when given the freedom to take ownership of solutions and see them through to completion.”
A better working environment is created, and engineers are encouraged to develop their skills by giving them the freedom to assume responsibility for ideas and see them through to completion. Working in this manner ultimately results in faster client problem-solving. Our work on custom bots serves as an illustration. We wanted to find a way to simplify things because we saw that our clients were creating complicated bots that were challenging to maintain and iterate on. Our designer at the time was entirely focused on the launch of a separate product, so one of our engineers stepped in to prototype a number of design options rather than waiting for the designer to take the lead.
The designer and engineer might work together to reach a decision and refine the specifics after the solution options and associated tradeoffs are defined. The team was able to drastically cut the time to value while still finishing and delivering a quality solution. Our approach is unique because of this degree of ownership and involvement because “shaping the solution” benefits our engineers, product teams, and ultimately our customers.
Do you want to work with a team of engineers that develops complete solutions? Consider applying for one of our open positions.
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