How to Use Jira for Ux Design

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Jira is one of the most universal project management tools in the areas of finance, software development, marketing, HR management. This service is great for both small teams and corporate use.

Jira is useful for organizing a workflow, recruiting employees, managing company policy updates, tracking interviews with candidates and brands, organizing events.

This is a great tool for tracking time and errors, as well as evaluating the skills of each employee. It offers a wide range of options for any team. But there is a minus in this. It's easy to get lost in all the functionality, especially to an inexperienced leader. Poor organization of the project inside Jira leads to a confusing action log, which is why even employees cannot figure out the goals of the project.

Today we are not talking about the basics of Jira. They are well described in the documentation, so it makes no sense to repeat. This article will tell you about some types of workflow, the tricks of using Jira, common mistakes and useful integrations.

Many hate Jira configuration

One of the main difficulties of Jira is the need to pre-configure the project itself. Creating a standard workflow seems like a very simple task. Usually the workflow is enough for small projects. But after a couple of months, any manager will have a larger order, will have to organize more individual tasks.

At such a moment, everyone discovers such things as workflow diagrams, transitions, problem screens, resolutions, problem configuration diagrams, an event log, and much more, which has never been thought of before. This can be very difficult if the manager has no idea how all this is connected.

Usually, when a company buys a new tool, they don't put extra effort into customization. Some do not even think about training their employees, mistakenly believing that any default project management tool should be simple.

Given that in most cases the head works on projects of a certain direction, he does not need to create unique settings each time. To this end, Jira offers workflow templates. But the template does not take into account individual needs.

As a rule, the manager has several blanks for project management. Each time they need to be configured. It can cause problems even for an experienced user if he forgets to put a tick.

To avoid this outcome, just use the "Create with Shared Configuration" function. This option is useful when the project has the same layouts and configurations. It is important that the description, participants and components are not copied. Only the basic configuration, which consists of such elements, is repeated:

• permission scheme;
• notification scheme;
• issue security scheme;
• a diagram of the type of problem (task);
• problem screen layout;
• field configuration diagram.

It is noteworthy that it remains possible to make changes to the scheme in any of the projects, which depends on the source. But in this case, the edits will be implemented in all related configurations. Therefore, it is recommended to make changes only if a more effective option is found.

Optimal workflow

Proper organization of the workflow at Jira is almost half the success of project management. There are dozens of approaches depending on the types of tasks, scope of work, team size and other factors. Jira Community Designs Best Workflow Templates for Most Projects.

Cascade

The model is well suited for site development teams. It has been widely used due to the fact that it matches the client's vision regarding the creation of the site.

So, developers evaluate this process modularly. However, the client believes that the site is created page by page. Convincing him of the opposite is quite difficult, since the modular assessment of the site is based on technical knowledge.

It was much easier to make a modular process of writing a site based on a page model. Thus, the development team does not deviate from the modular programming method, but at any time can provide the client with a visual display of the page.

HR process

HR management plays an increasingly important role in the development of the company. Competition for each place is growing, so evaluating potential employees is much more difficult. Accordingly, a certain algorithm of work is needed.

Jira provides the ability to create the right workflow. In fact, it is somewhat similar to a cascade, because it has a sequence of actions. This approach allows you not to miss anything, get complete information about each candidate, as well as analyze in detail the best competitors.

Three step process

This method is suitable for most small projects. It is an analogue of a simple kanban board and consists of three elements: "Need to do", "In progress", "Finish". The idea is to solve problems that do not require complex planning or testing. It allows you to quickly identify artists, set deadlines, but has low flexibility. In case of any flaws, it is possible to indicate errors only through communication, rather than marks under the task.

Big start up

This approach is good for start-up projects with a wide coverage, as well as for solving corporate problems. It includes most of the elements of the Jira workflow (from action logs to testing, user ratings, and bug tracking). Designed for large teams. At the same time requires more control.

Important! Induced examples are just the most used patterns, but there are many more options. It should be understood that even when choosing one of these approaches, it is not necessary to strictly adhere to it. The leader can realize any idea regarding the expansion of the work process, if he sees objective advantages.

Common Use Tricks

Once again: Jira is a project management tool. First of all, it was created for managers. But many users decide that such services should automate their work by default. In fact, they only simplify the organization.

Do not forget about simplicity

A good leader is one that takes into account the requirements of subordinates. It really is. But in this context, the concepts must be correctly interpreted. To take into account does not mean to always satisfy. What does it mean?

Many users want to have a certain status for their section. For example, the "To Do" section may correspond to the status of "Open", "Repeated work". Sometimes this can really be a good approach, because it makes an extensive network and allows you to more closely track the progress of work.

But in large projects, this leads to complexity and a lot of transitions, which ultimately slow down the work. First, the manager needs more time to learn about progress in a specific task. Secondly, it is more difficult for project participants to follow the solution of problems on which their task depends.

Instead, strive for easy scalability. How to do it? Check the progress of each task and evaluate whether it is necessary to create subtasks for it or add participants.

Build the right team

Suppose a manager has a constant submission of 100 people. But for the successful implementation of the project, only 40 is needed. Is it worth adding everyone? No. It's like cooking: the more cooks per dish, the worse it will turn out.

Therefore, you need to follow two rules:

1. Gather the most effective employees in a specific direction.
2. Strictly adhere to the required number of employees.

In this case, you cannot take the performer for a specific task. Why? After its implementation, he will not be able to benefit the project.

Separate tasks and delegate authority

"If you want to do something - do it yourself" is one of the worst approaches to work. It is also bad to trust only a few team members. Therefore, you should not be afraid to transfer to someone part of the authority in a large project. Monitoring progress will be much easier.

Also, in large projects, it is recommended to divide complex tasks into subtasks. Firstly, it will create a clear workflow structure. Secondly, it will speed up the work, because it will be consistent. Third, simplify the assessment of each employee.

A skilled leader uses services like Jira as an assistant tool. A poor leader uses it as a substitute for himself, neglecting work. But it is important to remember that even when accessing such services, the principles of project management remain unchanged.

A few tricks to make life easier

Prolonged and extended use of absolutely any tool makes it clear that sometimes deviating from instructions increases efficiency. In addition, the manager is aware that some functions can be used for other purposes. Jira has huge functionality, respectively, full of different tricks.

Own search engine

Search engines increase the site's rating, which reduces the number of clicks needed to achieve the goal (for example, buying a product). Increase the rating of your project for yourself by reducing the number of clicks to go to certain sections or subtasks. How to do it?

In Chrome, add a custom search engine through Settings> Manage Search Engines. The first two lines should indicate the search query (for example, it may be the key "t"), and in the last - the corresponding address (for example, a link to a specific subtask).

This is a useful feature for large projects when you need to control many processes. By this analogy, Adobe products work. Instead of selecting a specific action through the navigation panel, you can assign an unlimited number of hot keys. By remembering them you can achieve your goal much faster.

Navigation links

To work on a project, general chats are always created in some messengers. Also, many projects require constant monitoring of the state of affairs of the customer company. You can make tabs in a browser or save a permalink on your desktop. But Jira allows you not to occupy your space with such links.

Inside the project, there is the option "Add a link" and specify the URL address to which all project participants often go. You can also add the email address of any contact person there. This will significantly increase team productivity.

Access to Jira Database

Who says databases are highly confidential? The database stores everything related to actions on the site or its service. The project manager should get access to the Jira databases. How to do it?

Paid service. Jira provides access to the project with which the manager is associated. The access level is read-only. Why is this needed? What to understand the data structure, effectively clean the scheme and conduct an audit on the work on the project. Such access reveals many mysteries and gives the manager the opportunity to look at the project from a different angle.

Become a part of the community

Many people forget that the popularity of the application means having a large and experienced community. And this is one of the best and simplest tricks. Why? Because training in practice of other users makes it possible to be one of the first to learn about tricks that are not even online.

Integrations Expand Opportunities

One of the key tricks of any project management tool is integration with other applications. The more of them, the more convenient it is for teams to work. Jira provides access to almost all services: Timesheets, Outlook, Adobe, Google, Evernote, etc. Some of them greatly increase the efficiency of the workflow.

Usersnap Screenshots

One of the elements of working with Jira is the creation of a full-fledged report on the completion of a task. But its design may not be an easy task. First of all, this is due to the need to perform hundreds of simple actions, which together take a lot of time. But this task can be simplified. One way is integration with Usersnap.

To do this, you must insert the Usersnap widget on the site or its prototype. Having made a screenshot of the error with its help, the employee will be able to add meta-information about the session (OS, browser version, technologies used, etc.). This will simplify error analysis. Accordingly, its correction will also become easier.

Chats and Jira

How does the leader communicate with the team during remote work? Using chats. Slack is one of the most famous services for corporate use. Thanks to this integration, you can simplify communication in a team, receive notifications of all changes directly in Slack, rather than by mail, and learn about new statuses. This will speed up the solution to every problem.

Jira provides integration with most chats like HipChat. No matter which chat your team prefers, you can always associate it with a project.

Github is the key to successful development

Jira has become a very popular tool among software developers. Such specialists are almost inextricably linked with Github. Thanks to integration with Jira, the project team will be able to see the created branches and commits, due to which it will use the best practices in writing code for some application in time.

Other tools

Jira can also be integrated with other project management tools like Trello, or Asana. If you are working on a large project and some employees prefer to use another tool to perform some task, you can implement such integration. Thus, the manager will always be aware of all actions, regardless of where they are performed.

Conclusion

Have you recently learned about Jira and managed to give up on it? Try to do some of these tricks and immediately change your attitude to the service. Are you an experienced leader? Then you definitely have a set of your own developments. How do you use Jira and what tricks do you know?

How to Use Jira for Project Management key takeaways:

1. #1. Many hate Jira configuration
2. #2. Optimal workflow
3. #3. Common Use Tricks
4. #4. A few tricks to make life easier
5. #5. Own search engine
6. #6. Navigation links
7. #7. Access to Jira Database
8. #8. Become a part of the community
9. #9. Integrations Expand Opportunities
10. #10. Usersnap Screenshots
11. #11. Chats and Jira
12. #12. Github is the key to successful development
13. #13. Other tools
14. #14. Conclusion

Merehead does professional development of Use Jira for Project Management. If you have questions, contact us for a free consultation.

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How to Use Jira for Ux Design

Source: https://merehead.com/blog/how-to-use-jira-for-project-management/

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