Summary
In this talk, Michele Wong will discuss the successes and impediments experienced working with UX vendors and share techniques that have worked for her in-house team. Having productive outcomes when working with external design teams requires a unique mindset accompanied by defined methodologies. She will talk about what has allowed her and her team to deliver really good work for their Tax stakeholders without losing focus on some key components that matter when building enterprise apps—brand consistency, quality and speed. She will share how they have helped vendors help them accelerate the delivery of consistent and excellent work.
Key Insights
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Onboarding external designers in enterprise tax technology is challenging due to layered complexities—company, team, project, and highly technical content.
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A dedicated Onboarding Kit with firm org charts, mission statements, and an acronym cheat sheet improves clarity and eases vendors’ integration.
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The Discovery Kit addresses stakeholder resistance by providing short, time-conscious user-centered workshop methods that internal teams already know.
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Facilitation guides and how-to videos significantly lower the learning curve for external designers running discovery workshops.
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Lack of a single, brand-approved design system leads to inconsistent designs and duplicated effort between internal and external teams.
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Having a design kit with reusable UI symbols, usage guidelines, and code libraries accelerates design and development while ensuring brand compliance.
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Early and continuous engagement with brand teams prevents difficult re-approvals and last-minute rework.
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Shifting from an 'us vs. them' mindset to collaboration between internal and external designers is crucial for toolkit success.
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Toolkits must be created in easily editable formats—avoid design software requiring special licenses to maximize adoption and customization.
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Managing toolkits as active projects with backlog prioritization and dedicated updates keeps content fresh and relevant over time.
Notable Quotes
"The onboarding kit is like a tax 101 kit for UX designers to help them get closer to clarity before joining the work stream."
"Salt in tax stands for state and local taxes, and MSG means multiple service groups—acronyms that can confuse external designers."
"Discovery workshops are often seen as time-consuming and costly, causing resistance from internal stakeholders."
"The discovery kit provides short and sweet methods with facilitation guides and how-to videos to align internal and external teams."
"Without a design system, every designer gave UI elements their own spin, making collaboration impossible."
"Always engage with brand on day one if you want to avoid tough approval conversations later."
"Our external designers no longer have to reinvent the wheel thanks to one brand-approved source of truth—our design kit."
"Moving from an us versus them mindset to an us and them mindset is key to the toolkits’ success."
"Don’t expect perfection on day one; toolkit content evolves naturally with feedback and new team members."
"We had to stop designing kits in design software because it locked users in and slowed down adoption."
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