Front-end devilry challenges in agencies: why delays really happen (and how to fix them)

Common design handoff mistakes

• Incomplete specs and missing states

Developers often receive their hand-off only in the form of static screens (without responsive states, error handling, etc.) and therefore must guess on the user’s intent or keep seeking clarifications. As a result, many users have drifted from the original purpose of the design in the course of the project and may not have incorporated changes until after they had completed their projects.

• Lack of shared language and context

A lack of a common vocabulary and understanding of the context in which designers and developers operate has created barriers to effective collaboration. Each group develops its own definitions of what constitutes “final,” “negotiable,” or “successful.”

This difference in terminology leads to confusion between the two parties regarding the various design constraints, priorities, and other key components that may affect implementation. Without agreement on these items, developers will likely implement design elements that may be impractical to sustain or do not align with the overall product.

How to fix design handoff for front-end teams

• Establish a standardized handoff checklist that includes component specs, typography, spacing tokens, states, accessibility notes, and responsive behavior for each screen.​
• Use purpose-built design delivery tools (Figma, XD, Zeplin, etc.) with linked design systems so developers can inspect tokens and components instead of working from static files.​
• Run regular joint reviews where designers explain the “why” behind decisions, which has been shown to reduce miscommunication and speed up implementation.

Client feedback, approvals, and external bottlenecks

Despite the speed at which internal departments can deliver their projects to the client, the process of actually delivering a product in the front end is frequently delayed because of multiple reasons related to client feedback loops or the approvals process.

There are numerous digital projects or software that get delayed for some reason: often because the clients have changed their requirements late in the process; have unclear approval processes; or have a breakdown in communication with their stakeholders.

How your client’s feedback delays your ability to deliver projects

• Slow or conflicting approvals

Over 60% of agency clients responded to a survey indicating that they had experienced delays when working with different agencies due to unrealistic timelines or have a misalignment of expectations. When analyzing the content and creative workflows, the highest volume of delay due to multiple stakeholder feedback and approval pathways that were not clearly defined.

• Unclear ownership/uncertainty in the requirements

The academic findings on the primary causes of digital project and software delays indicate that confusion around requirements and frequent changes to the client’s requirements were the primary contributing factor to schedule overruns. Therefore, when there is no clearly defined owner of the final approval, there is a very good chance that the front end of the project will be held in ‘limbo’ while the designer and developer await any further approvals from the clients.

Designing a faster feedback and approval workflow

• At the time of launch, you should include a distinct approval process (such as Product → Marketing → Legal → Client Sponsor), along with defined timelines and specific duties.
• All client feedback should be consolidated in one place to avoid having it scattered across e-mail, messaging, and documents, as these tend to result in multiple versions and confusion about which version was the last one.
• Establish expectations regarding how quickly clients will be able to respond and how many revisions each will receive for Fixed-Fee Projects, in order to maintain the project timeline.

Resource constraints, context switching, and meeting overload

Although a developer can have their hands on the code without interruption or working with clients that work together, front-end development will experience delays as a developer’s ability to focus is negatively impacted by things such as having multiple projects going at the same time or by developers being interrupted frequently.

Research shows that a developer will spend less time directly coding when they experience context switching, excessive meetings (both in volume and duration), and fragmented time throughout their day. 

The effect of context switching on front-end development and delivery

According to studies, it takes developers approximately 23–30 minutes after an interruption for them to re-establish their focus on a complex task. Research of developers in observation also shows that these interruptions and task switches occur frequently during the working day.

The majority of interrupted work will not be resumed; therefore, the result of these activities has a significant negative impact on developer production in both delivery times and errors produced. Moreover, as a result of all these interruptions and meetings, much less than 50% of any developer’s time is typically spent coding with focus. 

Meeting load and low effective coding time

Benchmark data indicate that individual contributor engineers spend approximately 10–11 hours of their workweek in meetings, plus a significant amount of additional time on the days they attend meetings.

Analyses of developers’ workflows indicate that ideally, focused coding should be at least 40%-55 % of the workweek. Unfortunately, this is rarely achieved by most teams; in fact, there are multiple instances of team members barely achieving 40%. The other time will be spent in meetings, operational tasks, and time waiting for reviews and/or builds to complete.

Using WIP limits and capacity planning

• Explicit work-in-progress limits are part of Kanban and Agile methods as one way to reduce Multi-Tasking and increase predictability in Delivery. Teams who use WIP Limits will typically experience a measurable improvement in both Cycle Time and Defect Rate by starting fewer items and finishing more.
• Little’s Law formally defines the relationship between WIP, Throughput, and Cycle Time, It states that lessening the amount of WIP or increasing the amount of Throughput is required to decrease Delivery Time.

Process gaps, communication breakdowns, and leadership issues

In many studies of software project delays, it is shown that managerial issues and miscommunication are often the most significant factors contributing to software project delay – not simply too much raw technical complexity.

For example, in an agency, if team members do not understand their roles or responsibilities, if the agency does not have defined processes, and if the agency does not have a proactive leader, they will not be able to produce quality software on time.

Common Process and Communication Practices That Cause Software Project Delays

• Unrealistic Estimates and Planning

The results of an empirical study indicate that a substantial portion of developers state they seldom complete their projects within the proposed timelines. Often the the primary reasons for delay are due to coordination and planning process versus the technical complexity of a project. As indicated in many case studies conducted by agencies, reasons for delays can also include overly optimistic estimates. And the failure to accurately assess or anticipate the risks involved in quality assurance or integration.

• Undefined Roles and Teams in Silos

A review of the existing research on the errors made during a project transfer highlights the negative qualities produced by a lack of clearly defined roles in the project and ineffective communications between development and design. Additionally, when there are multiple channels of communication and no documentation of expectations between the two teams, the time lost will be spent looking for information instead of shipping new features.

Leadership practices that reduce front-end delays

• By designing your projects into smaller pieces, you will have a better chance of managing uncertainty within the project. Breaking down projects into smaller pieces and allocating budgets to those smaller increments is a means to reduce waste within the project.
• Ensure open & structured communication around impediments (the “blockers” of your project) and workflow by establishing regular “ceremony” meetings geared toward identifying impediments.
• Utilize quantitative metric(s) (cycle time, WIP, meeting load) – not just subjective comments – to steer process improvement within your organization.

Practical playbook to speed up front-end delivery

In this segment, the research is condensed down into an effective checklist for use in your agency/team. The key takeaway is to lessen the unnecessary friction on your front-end developers, thereby allowing them to focus more time on actual implementation and less time on fighting against the system.

Quick diagnostic question: Where are the major blockages for your front-end work?

Using the below table with your team, you can easily pinpoint where the major obstacles exist.

Area	Typical symptoms in agencies	Likely root cause
Design handoff	Constant design questions, mismatched UI in QA, missing states	Unclear specs, no checklist, weak shared design system​
Client feedback	Long waits for approvals, conflicting comments, frequent late changes	Undefined approval paths, fragmented communication​
Developer focus	Lots of “almost done” tasks, frequent task switching, bugs from oversights	Excessive WIP, meeting overload, poor capacity planning​
Planning and scoping	Repeated overruns on similar work, rushed QA, last-minute scope negotiation	Optimistic estimates, unclear requirements​
Cross-team collaboration	Designers & devs blaming each other, unclear ownership, decisions remade in every project	Undefined roles, lack of shared rituals

Step-by-step process improvements

Standardize design handoff

• You should develop a handoff template that includes Components / Tokens, State, Interaction, and Accessibility for your projects.
• At the end of every design cycle, have Designers and Front-End Developers partner for Joint Review Sessions.

Tighten approval and feedback loops

• Create a Concrete Map of the Current Feedback Path that Includes All Stakeholders (e.g., Project Manager, Creative Director, Client, etc.) Including the Order in Which Approvals Must Be Made and Deadlines for Complete Approvals.
• Utilize a Single Document (i.e. Models) With Versioning Control to Make It Clear to Developer Teams Which Versions Are Finalized.

Developers Need More Focus Time to Be Productive

• Establish Limits on the Number of Unfinished Projects (WIP) per Developer and per Stage of Development; Then Track the Average Time It’ll Take to Produce the Finished Project Using Cycle Time Trends as You Reduce the Number of Unfinished Projects.
• Batch Meetings by Purpose to Provide Developers With Multi-Hour Blocks of Undistracted Time, as Studies Show That This Is Critical to Developer Productivity.

Improve estimation and planning

• Establish a More Informed Process for Estimation and Planning Using Historical Data from Previous Front-End Development Projects; A Case Study Should Focus on What Worked, What Didn’t, and Why.
• Incorporate Temporary Buffer Times in the Estimate for Development Work During the Integration Phases to Allow for Full Communication Between Your Development Team and Your Clients. These Times Are Both Difficult to Estimate and Therefore Very Often Under-Estimated.

Continuously measure and iterate

• Regularly Measure and Continually Improve Your Process Using Both Historical Trends and Qualitative Feedback from Your Developers and Clients.

Conclusion:

A Pixel-perfect HTML front-end delivery today requires an entire team to support the developer, including clear handoffs with Design (where no errors can occur), explicit Communication (e.g., who signs off on what), time allocated for Focus on Development, and measuring Product Flow so that we know when to expect updates.

A common cause of these issues can be eliminated by creating a solid design-to-front-end workflow. Once you have identified the primary Cause(s), choose one or two areas for improvement to implement in your next Development Sprint.