When I joined my first team in Thoughtworks, I was introduced to the role of an eXperience Designer (XD). She would create the visual mocks that would be difficult to reproduce exactly. Sometimes we wouldn't be able to achieve the exact spacing that she wanted. Other times we wouldn't be able to set the right size. She would send us back and ask us to exactly match the design even if it meant spending a little extra time (Being an internal team, we could afford to spend more time on such things).

For the first few months, I struggled with having a person with such an eye for detail as a teammate. She would find inconsistencies and errors which almost everyone else would miss. Getting a story sent back to development because of a padding mismatch (8px instead of 6px) seemed pointless but to her it meant a user experience that could be improved.

Overtime we got better at implementing the given design. We also understood aspects of visual language, experience and design and the importance of consistency to a brand.

She inspired us by setting a high bar for excellence and making sure that she measured up to it before asking the same of us. By the end of the year, I realised how much the team had transformed just because of her push for excellence.

If you have teammates who have this kind of drive for excellence, be thankful for their presence. And more importantly, help them spread it across your team. They may not realise it now but they'll be forever thankful.

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