Development and CX: Two worlds, one goal
"Our developers think of the end user as their customer," says Lukáš Lefner, Head of Backend Development at Proof & Reason. "Our job is to speed up, simplify, or streamline the tasks the customer performs in an application — whether that's resolving work tasks faster or making a purchase more comfortable."
▶️ Even when we can estimate at a glance which part of a website or web application is most critical for users, testing and data analytics fill in the critical details and domain-specific nuances for our client's industry.
▶️ In less common sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, users of our solutions have specific needs and behaviors.
▶️ Analytics data and user testing then help us optimize the final solution to make their work easier — for example, simplifying repeat orders of the same product range or enabling orders for multiple healthcare facilities within an organization at the same time.
"Sometimes it turns out that the area everyone considered critical is barely noticed by users. And somewhere no one would have expected, they have a problem. Research data is therefore often just as valuable to us as the code itself."
UX and development: One well-coordinated team
For the end result to be as pleasant as possible for users, UX designers and developers need to function as one team — and this needs to start during the user interface design phase. Frequent and timely communication is essential. Otherwise, there's a risk that the UX team will spend tens or even hundreds of hours designing features that can't be implemented, or whose implementation would be time-consuming and therefore highly inefficient.
What works for us in development
1️⃣ Frequent iterations and collecting feedback from both clients and end users. This helps us avoid developing features that aren't particularly important to users or that they imagine working slightly differently.
2️⃣ Continuous deployment of new or updated features. We don't have fixed deployment days — new features go to clients as soon as they're ready to ship.
3️⃣ Application speed at key points matters, but even more important is ensuring users can perform the most frequent tasks quickly, effortlessly, and with as few steps as possible.
4️⃣ In the development team, we think like partners and understand our clients' business. We spend a lot of time with end users, getting a feel for the domain, the problem space, and user needs. This is what allows us to propose meaningful improvements.
Technology for sustainable e-shops and websites
Technical debt is the reality of every project. Even if you start a new project from a clean slate with the latest technologies, technical debt will inevitably accumulate quickly — new versions of frameworks and libraries come out every day.
"That's why it's important to update solutions at regular intervals and to do code refactoring on an ongoing basis."
AI won't (yet) replace an experienced developer
▶️ We work on projects that run for many years. That's why we prioritize reliability, maintainability, and extensibility. We need to know almost every line of the application well.
▶️ User experience is fundamental to our work, and application speed is closely tied to it.
▶️ AI has proven useful for us in quickly creating a prototype or simple demo, where code quality and especially security are less critical.
▶️ AI also helps us with simpler, repetitive tasks, searching for background information, or analyzing the pros and cons of solutions we're considering.
Customer experience isn't created only by designers and marketers — it's also shaped by every line of code. When developers work with data and understand users, they build products that people genuinely want to use. Companies that can connect development, research, and CX gain a competitive edge. That's also why we publish our CX Space newsletter once every two months — selecting both practical tips and broader-perspective inspiration for your business.
In it you'll find, for example:
- An interview with Mário Roženský on why customer experience should not be a business rescue operation.
- The first research in the Czech Republic showing how Czechs use traditional search engines (Google, Seznam, Bing) in the era of the massive rise of AI applications.
- A video guide on how to map the customer journey.
- A tip on a new course "How to Come Up with Ideas" — not just for marketers, but also for leaders and entrepreneurs.
- Or how an expert review of your website can move your business forward.
