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Collaboration

TDD - Trust Driven Development. How building trust can help removing the gap between Designers and Engineers.

September 5, 2023 9:00 AM

Power Talk

🇬🇧 English

Bratysława 1

About

We all know that Software Development Lifecycle can be a complicated process. We are usually good at identifying bottlenecks and we have tools like Value Stream Mapping to visualize them. We are often able to remove some of the berries by adjusting the process itself. There are also some impediments that can only be removed by building trust across teams. During my talk, I will shine the light on how to build trust between these teams, break the silos and make enhance products.

Talk by

Photo of Tomasz Manugiewicz, General Manager at EVOKE

Tomasz Manugiewicz

General Manager AT EVOKE at Independent

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From the recording

Talk in brief

A concise argument that trust is the missing infrastructure between designers and engineers working in uncertain product environments. The talk separates cognitive trust, built through competence and reliable delivery, from emotional trust, built through character, honesty, and the way collaboration feels. Neither discipline is purely analytical or creative, so the gap cannot be solved by stereotypes about logic and aesthetics. Trust grows through small repeated interactions, close collaboration, and the willingness to expose unfinished ideas or limits. That vulnerability makes critique safer, expands creative contribution, and turns a group of specialists into a team with a stronger sense of belonging.

Key takeaways

01
Trust is implicit in adaptive product work
Collaboration, changing requirements, estimation, and complex problem solving all depend on people believing that others will act responsibly.
Watch from 4:09
02
Build trust through competence and character
Reliable results establish cognitive confidence, while openness, intention, and integrity create the emotional basis for cooperation.
Watch from 5:48
03
Avoid reducing disciplines to opposite stereotypes
Designers and engineers can both reason analytically and creatively, so shared work improves when teams use both modes deliberately.
Watch from 11:22
04
Accumulate confidence in everyday moments
Trust develops through repeated small interactions, especially when new colleagues and cross-functional partners work closely over time.
Watch from 9:56
05
Use vulnerability to make feedback productive
Showing an idea before it is protected by certainty allows colleagues to challenge it and contribute without turning disagreement into personal failure.
Watch from 15:13

Video chapters

2:21Why uncertain development environments need trust
Dynamic markets, unclear requirements, complexity, and estimation make dependable relationships a practical necessity.
4:09Trust inside the principles of agile work
Interaction, customer collaboration, adaptation, and delivery all rely on confidence between participants.
5:48Two foundations of dependable collaboration
The talk distinguishes confidence in another person’s competence from confidence in their character.
8:03How design and engineering silos form
Different domains and priorities create predictable clashes when teams lack a shared relationship.
9:56Small interactions that steadily build confidence
Everyday contact gives colleagues evidence about whether they can rely on one another.
11:22Analytical and creative thinking belong to everyone
Both modes of thought are presented as resources shared across technical and design roles.
15:13Vulnerability as a path to belonging
Openly sharing ideas, uncertainty, and limitations makes trust, critique, and fuller participation possible.

Read edited transcript highlights

These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.

Uncertainty turns trust into working infrastructure

Product teams face incomplete requirements, difficult estimates, and problems that cannot be solved by one role alone. Responding to change assumes that colleagues will share relevant information and adjust responsibly. Customer collaboration assumes both sides can move beyond contractual defense. Trust is therefore not an optional cultural benefit; it supports the daily decisions that adaptive delivery requires.

Watch from 4:09

Results and relationships establish different kinds of confidence

People trust competence when someone applies knowledge, communicates in a useful language, and delivers what was promised. They trust character when that person behaves with honesty, sound intention, and integrity. A team needs both. Results without emotional safety make cooperation brittle, while warmth without dependable execution does not support difficult product commitments.

Watch from 5:48

Silos harden when roles become caricatures

Engineers may be portrayed as caring only about logic and feasibility, while designers are portrayed as caring only about appearance. Those labels make disagreement predictable and obscure the shared task. Working closely lets developers explore unfamiliar implementation options and designers understand technical constraints without requiring either side to abandon its expertise.

Watch from 8:03

Trust grows in ordinary repeated encounters

A new teammate is not trusted through one impressive presentation or a single formal workshop. Colleagues continually gather small signals: whether questions are answered, promises are kept, uncertainty is admitted, and attention is offered. Frequent, lightweight contact gives the relationship enough evidence to develop, especially across roles that otherwise meet only at handoff points.

Watch from 9:56

An unfinished idea can become an invitation

Sharing work exposes it to criticism, which can feel risky when professional identity is attached to the result. Vulnerability means presenting the reasoning honestly, acknowledging what is unknown, and allowing another discipline to affect the answer. When the relationship is trustworthy, feedback becomes joint problem solving and people can contribute more of their real capability.

Watch from 15:13

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