The Hot Potato Process

The article discusses an iterative process called “The Hot Potato Process” that designers and developers can use to collaborate more effectively. Rather than a one-way handoff from designers to developers, this process encourages ideas to be passed quickly back and forth between the two roles throughout the entire product creation cycle. Sitting together, using video chat for remote teams, and sharing recordings to bridge time differences can help approximate working together in real-time even when not co-located.

The key aspect is finding ways for designers and developers to truly work together in an iterative and collaborative way rather than having separate sequential phases of work. This process is advocated to lead to better outcomes than a traditional “waterfall” approach to collaboration between the roles.