How to Collaborate Better with an Email Developer - Parallel Development

Hey email designer. At this point you've probably collaborated with email developers, and sometimes don't feel satisfied with the final result. Perhaps, an email wasn't cohesive, or not the way you expected it to be. You could be wondering how to improve the workflow resulting in better-looking emails.

Trello? Jira? Or neither?

Potentially, you looked into project management tools like Trello and Jira. Yes, they do help to track issues and comment on things. If these tools eased the process for You but didn't lead to emails looking the way you designed, please don't get surprised. Let me tell you why. It's a secret from email developers. If you understand it, it will make things better.

Not enough time

The deadline is the same for both a designer and a developer. And developers often feel frustrated because they are squeezed for a deadline. It happens because developers are at the end of the production pipeline. As you could have guessed, it's hard to make consistent great work when the workflow makes your developer have negative feelings, especially under time pressure.

Parallel work

Nobody said a production workflow should resemble a relay race. There is no need to have your design completely finished to be shown to the developer. You can think of it as giving your developer a little sketch so that some work can be done. For instance, if you have some initial idea how the email will look, what elements it will consist of, then share with your coder.

So next time you're being briefed on the new email campaign project, just share something with your developer as soon as you have something to kickstart development. Trust me, your developer will appreciate it and the final result will be improved.