In my experience, if an in-house development team had no project work, then they would usually focus on technical tech, bugs, etc. They maintained and cleaned up the digital factory lines, so to speak.

However, it was often a different story in the agency world. Developers could only work on whatever clients commissioned and paid for. So, technical debt, bugs, backlogs - you name it - collected dust.

I’ve even had Project Managers ask for ‘quick fixes’ to keep development teams working!

The solution is clear: involve UX in estimation and planning. Allow them to work ahead of development. Then, there will be fewer bottlenecks and plenty of ‘meaningful’ work for developers to focus on.