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Project Team Roles and Responsibilities

Creating an interdisciplinary team with the right mix of skills is vital to the smooth and successful execution of any project. Team members may be able to cover multiple roles or there may be a sub-team focused on a particular area.Resource allocation depends on the level of expertise team members have, the scope of the project, and budget available.

a project team in a meeting

Areas of Expertise

Expertise/Skill Responsibilities
Accessibility Reviews requirements and audits products for 508 compliance. Performs issue management and remediates products when necessary.
Business Analysis Develops and maintains requirements documentation. Post project, finalize requirements documentation and archive as appropriate.
Change Management Focuses on changes to business processes, technological function, team roles and responsibilities, organization structures, and the impacts of these changes on budget.
Content Strategy Responsible for writing content using Plain Language and search optimization techniques, developing content style guides, planning editorial calendars, and creating a sustainable governance model for the site and its stakeholder to follow.
Enterprise Architecture Focuses on making sure that business mission and information technology assets are aligned. Delivers a system architecture that supports, efficient, adaptable, and a secure environment able to meet the business needs.
Information Architecture Focuses on creating effective and logical organizational structures that help identify relationships between pieces of content and facilitate the finding of information. Responsible for designing the navigation system, producing the sitemap, defining image/file repository rules, defining naming conventions, and informing wireframing from an information organization point-of-view.
Interaction Design Uses information about user goals and behavior to design processes and functions that help users interact with the system and achieve their goals. Responsible for identifying those key interactions and wireframing and prototyping them.
Marketing Focuses on developing inbound and outbound strategies for gaining exposure and attracting intended audiences to the product.
Metrics Analysis Responsible for the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of collected data to understand and optimize the usage of and performance related to the product.
Project Management Develops Project Plan, acquires project resources, and leads kickoff meeting. Oversees project tasks and report project status. Maintain list of Lessons Learned and lead Lessons Learned meeting.
Quality Assurance Develop QA Plan and audit and report on compliance with the plan. Identify, collect, monitor, and report QA metrics. Participate in and assist others with the execution of QA activities such as walkthroughs, peer reviews, etc.
Subject Matter Expertise Provides expertise related to the topics, contributes content, and helps verify final product presents factual information.
Technical Development Responsible for the set-up and maintenance of the content management system, CSS, JavaScript, or other programming related to the site. Should be skilled in developing accessible content and features.
User Research Responsible for implementing various research methodologies to help gain understanding of user needs and behaviors. Performs the testing, analyzes and reports results, and makes recommendations.
Usability Testing Focused on evaluating the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system. Tests, analyzes and reports results, and makes recommendations to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and overall satisfaction of the user.
User Interface Design Focused on creating consistent and predictable interface layouts. Responsible for contributing to the wireframes, prototypes, and navigational elements.
Visual Design Focuses on the aesthetics of a user interface and any related materials by strategically implementing typography, images, and colors.

References

  • UIE’s Who is on the UX Team Site exit disclaimer
  • Smashing UX Design: Foundations for Designing Online User Experiences (Smashing Magazine Book Series) by Jesmond Allen and James Chudley