Let’s be honest, it’s foolish to think that designers will succeed in getting organizations to ditch their agile practice. So, why not make it work in our favor?
Agile helps teams avoid over-investment by delivering small, testable increments instead of fully baked features (that nobody wants). But while this reduces upfront risk, it introduces long-term challenges. Incremental changes pile up, design debt grows, and what started as a simple product can quickly become a fragmented mess.
For designers, this creates a frustrating paradox: Agile moves fast, but design needs coherence. Design needs time for ideas to germinate and grow. Without a plan, speed and iteration can chip away at usability and product quality. The good news? Agile’s trade-offs can be managed—if you take a proactive approach.
(For a deeper dive into Agile’s long-term costs, see The Costly Side Effects of Agile.)
How Designers Can Handle Agile’s Trade-offs
If you want to keep design quality from being a casualty of iteration, you need to think in systems, advocate for refactoring, and anticipate how today’s work affects the future. Designers can’t just sit around and take the stories thrown at us at the beginning of sprint planning. We need to be actively shaping how design fits into the process.
A systematic approach to design is your first line of defense. Instead of treating each sprint like a one-off design exercise, create reusable patterns that make iteration smoother. As you define those patterns, think beyond the immediate problem—design for a range of potential use cases so that future iterations aren’t constrained by short-term thinking.
Refactoring isn’t just for code. The more Agile moves forward without cleanup, the harder it becomes to fix things later. Highlight the need for dedicated time to revisit previous design decisions and ensure experience debt doesn’t get ignored in favor of new features. Identify and explain the risks of skipping this work—especially how it impacts the current and upcoming sprints. If refactoring isn’t built into the process, it won’t happen.
You don’t need to overdesign for the future, but you should anticipate how features might evolve. Talk with PMs and engineers about likely next steps so that today’s design choices don’t block tomorrow’s improvements. Agile prioritizes small scope, but designers should be thinking two or three steps ahead. Even a rough sketch of “what could be” can help guide today’s decisions and prevent unnecessary rework.
Successful MVPs should evolve beyond their initial phase of value. Just because something ships doesn’t mean it’s “done” forever. Keep track of what goes live, gather user feedback, and revisit ideas that got deprioritized. Designers should actively propose next steps based on design research, ensuring the MVP isn’t just a temporary solution but a foundation for growth.
Turning Agile’s Short Cycles Into a Design Advantage
Agile moves fast, but that speed can work in design’s favor if approached strategically. Instead of resisting the pace, use fast feedback loops to validate assumptions early and avoid wasted effort. Quick releases mean quicker learning—if you pay attention to what works and what doesn’t.
Resist the urge to over-test with users. Don’t be reckless, but don’t over-invest in user testing either. Agile should allow past releases to inform future sprints, so balance upfront research with real-world feedback from shipped features.
Sprints shouldn’t be treated as finish lines. Instead of designing only for immediate needs, treat each sprint as a checkpoint toward the larger vision. This mindset helps prevent features from feeling like disconnected parts of a broken experience as each sprint releases, building into the current experience.
Most importantly, designers need to position themselves as value-driven thinkers, not just executors of user stories. Agile won’t naturally prioritize the best possible experience—that’s up to you as the designer, working within the constraints at hand. Participate in product discussions, suggest thoughtful iteration paths, and push for design decisions that serve the long-term user experience.
Agile’s Need for Design
Agile won’t slow down to accommodate an artificially bloated design practice, and its flaws won’t fix themselves. But designers who understand its trade-offs can reduce the impact of short-term decisions that create long-term problems.
Instead of fighting Agile’s speed, work within it—design for iteration, plan for complexity, and ensure design remains a core part of the process. Because great products aren’t just built fast—they’re built right.
P.S. Forget about ”being at the table”
We’ve had a history of whining about “a seat at the table”. Designers don’t need a seat at the table to drive great outcomes. Instead of waiting for permission or recognition, make your work so clear, so well-reasoned, and so undeniably valuable that the “table” has no choice but to consider your recommendations. Agile won’t hand you authority—but influence is yours to earn.
