Inspired by Buffer's async-first and trust-based remote culture, combined with my past cross-timezone collaboration experience on the TikTok team, I'm continuously shaping a workflow that keeps communication clear, efficient, and scalable.
01 · Working principles
Five lines that anchor the team.
- Async-first
- We assume people are not online at the same time. Meetings are exceptions; asynchronous collaboration is the default.
- Trust over visibility
- We evaluate work by impact and output, not online presence.
- Clarity over speed
- Clear, structured communication is more important than fast responses.
- Documentation as truth
- Slack can notify, but Notion and Figma are where decisions live.
- No second-class teammates
- Every location — Shenzhen, San Francisco, remote — gets equal access, context, and involvement.
02 · Daily working norms
Overlap is precious. Async carries the rest.
To support Shenzhen ↔ San Francisco, we treat the small window of shared time as the overlap block — used only for urgent alignment, complex discussion, and finalising decisions.
- Overlap block
- 08:00–11:00 CST (Shenzhen, next day) · 17:00–19:00 PST (San Francisco).
- Progress
- Notion, in writing.
- Design work
- Figma plus Loom.
- Questions
- Slack, short-form.
- Decisions
- Notion, with a Slack link.
No expectation of real-time responses outside overlap hours.
03 · Communication rules
Each tool, one job.
Slack — quick communication
Use for quick questions, status updates, Notion links, and human connection. Not for decisions, specs, long explanations, or version tracking. Slack creates false urgency; intentionally slow down.
Notion — source of truth
Use for decisions, briefs, requirements, status dashboards, documentation, and alignment. Start every page with What / Why / Next. Add an owner and last-updated date. Decisions must be labelled with a decision tag, a date, and an owner.
Figma — design collaboration
Follow naming conventions. Explorations live on "Exploration" pages; finals live on "Final" pages. Comments and Loom walkthroughs replace live reviews. No expectation of same-day live review across timezones.
Loom — async walkthroughs
Use for design walkthroughs, complex flows, edge cases, async reviews with PO / PMM / Marketing / Engineering, and onboarding new teammates. Recording beats a late-night meeting.
04 · Review cadence
Predictable rhythms across day, week, month, and quarter.
Daily
- Design task tracker
- Transparency on individual priorities and overall progress.
Weekly
- Async review
- Design docs reviewed within 24–48 hours. A clear SLA reduces uncertainty.
- Loom + comments
- Context, rationale, and decision history embedded in the artifact.
- Design critique
- Craft, decision quality, principles — not product direction.
- Bi-weekly product review
- Product direction alignment, cross-team visibility, key UX decisions.
- Optional sync
- Reserved for blockers that cannot be resolved asynchronously.
Monthly
- Cross-team alignment
- UX, Creative, and UX Writing share priorities and milestones.
- Features sharing
- Notable work, visibility, and an auditable record for future reference.
Quarterly
- OKR review
- Evaluate progress, identify gaps, recalibrate strategy.
- Design system evolution
- Update tokens, components, and guidelines.
- Collaboration audit
- Review workflow quality and tooling effectiveness.
- Team retrospective
- Continuous improvement of culture, process, and collaboration.
05 · Decision protocol
Decisions need an owner and a home.
Identify the decision owner first — manager, PM, head, or CPO. No decisions are made in Slack DMs. All decisions land in Notion as a shared link. If alignment is unclear, pause execution.
Wait for clarity, not assumptions.
06 · Timezones as an advantage
A 24-hour continuous design cycle.
Buffer calls timezones magic. We apply the same philosophy.
Before ending your day in Shenzhen, update Notion and Figma. The US team picks up overnight. Before ending your day in San Francisco, review and decide. The Shenzhen team sees updates the next morning. The difference between time zones becomes the engine of the week.
07 · Culture & human connection
A healthy async team is built on people, not just docs.
Remote and cross-timezone teams require intentional connection. We encourage a monthly twenty-minute cross-timezone coffee chat, a quarterly design all-hands (async plus live mix), and weekly wins celebrated in Slack highlights.
08 · Expectations for designers
What good looks like.
- Communicate clearly and proactively.
- Document progress.
- Own your area without reminders.
- Use async tools effectively.
- Follow UX and visual standards.
- Bring clarity, structure, and context.
- Flag risks early.
- Respect deep-work time across timezones.
09 · Anti-patterns
What to avoid.
- Expecting real-time responses.
- Unprepared meetings.
- Decisions made in private messages.
- Repeating explanations.
- Timezone imbalance that slows the team.
- Overloading overlap hours with meetings.
- "Did you see my message?" nudges.
The replacement is always the same: clear documentation, async-first workflows, structured updates.
Cross-timezone work is not a blocker — it is our advantage.
