11 Key Players to Make Your Digital Project a Success

Article

By Lucy Marino, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative, Robert Half, and Ryan M. Sutton, Executive Director, Technology, Robert Half

Whether you’re creating an omnichannel marketing campaign or developing a customer support chatbot for an e-commerce website, you need access to the right talent to make your digital project a success. By combining the skills and expertise of marketing and creative professionals and technology talent, you can create digital products, services and experiences that are technically sound, visually compelling, user-friendly and more attractive to customers.

If you need to assemble a team for your next digital project, what roles should be in your lineup? It depends on the initiative, of course, but you can feel confident about project success with the 11 players listed below. Each of these roles contributes uniquely to the overall success of a digital initiative by addressing specific aspects of the project life cycle, from conception to delivery and beyond.

Here’s a high-level look at 11 players to include on your digital dream team.

Every digital team needs an experienced project or product manager — a “captain,” if you will — who can focus on the big picture and keep the team on task, on time and on budget. This kind of broad oversight allows other team members to focus on their specific tasks and responsibilities.

The best digital project managers or product managers combine traditional skills — like running meetings, briefing executives and clearing roadblocks— with a passion for technology and a knack for getting IT and creative professionals to work toward common goals.

The business analyst acts as a bridge between internal stakeholders and the technical team working on a digital project. These professionals gather and analyze business requirements, making sure the project meets the needs of the organization and end users. They also provide insight on which product features and functionalities to prioritize based on business value and feasibility.

Often, business analysts are tapped to assist with change management tasks related to a digital project, like conducting an impact analysis. They might also measure project success post-implementation.

UX researchers focus on understanding users’ needs, behaviors and motivations through various research methods like field studies and user surveys. Their insights inform the design and development process, helping to ensure that the end product is user-centric and meets users’ expectations. The UX researcher role is highly data-driven and requires analyzing research to provide actionable insights and recommendations.

Working with the UX researcher, a UX designer or product designer aims to understand the needs, desires and common frustrations of users in a product’s target market. The UX or product designer translates research insights into design solutions. They create wireframes, interactive prototypes and user interfaces that are intuitive and engaging and provide a seamless experience.

Not all UX or product designers have coding skills, but proficiency in languages like HTML and CSS can help these professionals communicate effectively with developers.

Digital projects involve a wealth of information, including text, photos, code and tools. Someone has to organize those elements in a cohesive and logical way, and that person is usually the information architect (sometimes known as the UX architect).

To understand the importance of this role, imagine a website with a beautiful homepage and a trove of useful resources connected to it. If those connections aren’t obvious, the user will likely click away. An information architect can help prevent this issue by creating a flow that allows users to navigate effortlessly between pages.

Most users want their digital products to be aesthetically appealing as well as functional. The role of the visual designer is to create the visual elements of a digital product, including graphics and icons, to help guide users from Point A to Point B in an intuitive way.

These professionals establish the look of a product’s interfaces and work within guidelines to reinforce a brand’s style through its visual touchpoints. While visual designers aren’t typically coders, they should have some basic programming knowledge so they can work effectively with web designers.

It may look gorgeous, slick and intuitive, but a digital product is little more than an empty shell without a compelling narrative. Enter the content manager, who plans and produces engaging and relevant copy that is aligned with the overall content strategy and brand voice and tone.

Crafting that strategy — which can take as much time as creating the content itself — may involve reviewing competitor content and researching keywords and phrases for search engine optimization (SEO). Increasingly, content managers are using AI tools to assist with content optimization to help attract and engage users and drive leads for sales and marketing.

Developers bring digital projects to life by writing the code that powers them and translating designs and requirements into functional software. The three main types of developers for a digital project are:

Front-end developers, who typically possess top-notch programming skills and an understanding of layout aesthetics. Using coding languages like Java, their role is to develop interfaces that are stable, fast and easy on the eye. They must ensure an interface is compatible with a broad array of browsers, operating systems and devices — and make regular updates so that it stays that way.

Back-end developers, who create and maintain technology on the server side. In addition to being analytical thinkers with stellar problem-solving skills, back-end developers are fluent in coding languages like Python. Top candidates for this role should also have experience with database systems like SQL and Oracle.

Full-stack developers, who have a broad skill set that allows them to contribute to many parts of a digital project. For example, they can handle front-end tasks, like UX optimization, and back-end development activities, such as API development and integration. Full-stack developers might also handle or contribute to activities related to security and data protection, testing and debugging, technical and user documentation, and more.

Need to hire developers for your digital project? Search for candidates on the Robert Half website.

QA analysts test software to confirm it meets the quality standards expected by the business and its customers. They identify and document defects and collaborate with developers to resolve issues. Their work is usually done on a deadline that is tied to the release of a digital product.

QA analysts often use AI and automation tools in addition to manual testing methods to confirm a product is built to perform as intended and can handle anything a user might throw at it.

A UAT specialist puts a digital product through its real-life paces with actual users to see whether any problems or unexpected situations arise. This last line of defense is critical in a world where a single negative product review can go viral and diminish your brand.

The responsibilities of a UAT specialist can include planning and coordinating UAT sessions, analyzing and reporting UAT results, and making sure that user feedback is addressed before a product’s release.

A marketing analytics specialist can round out your digital dream team by making sure a digital project effectively reaches target audiences and achieves business objectives. These professionals conduct market research, including competitive analyses, and analyze user data to develop and inform marketing strategies and optimization efforts.

Marketing analytics specialists also help define, track and report on key performance indicators and marketing metrics to measure the success of marketing activities. Often, they provide content strategy support, analyzing what content is performing well (e.g., videos, social media posts) and making data-backed recommendations for which content topics, formats and distribution channels to use.

Although the digital dream team roles outlined above extend far beyond the descriptions provided, these are the professionals who can help you achieve your digital projects. But aligning this talent isn’t easy in a tight hiring market.

Robert Half’s recruiters can work with you to find the specialized marketing and creative and tech talent you need to support all facets of your digital initiatives. Whether you want to recruit permanent staff or build flexible, scalable teams, our talent solutions professionals are here to help.

Reach out to Robert Half today to learn more about how we can assist you in building a digital dream team for your next digital project.

Download our e-book, Building Future Forward Tech Teams, to learn about the skills gap in tech that could put many digital projects at risk — and how to overcome it.

View our Demand for Skilled Talent report to get more details on in-demand positions in marketing and creative and technology, as well as other top professions.

See Robert Half’s latest Salary Guide for insight into trends and projected starting salaries for roles in marketing and creative, tech and IT, and more.