Product & UX

Created for UX Belfast March 2022. Discusses how both 'product' and 'UX' or 'design' are often misunderstood disciplines, which can add layers of complexity to the relationship between the two in an organisation. Outlines different types of team set up I have experienced, and ends with advice on the optimal set up and best practices to improve collaboration and a healthy team dynamic.

Transcript

1. Product & UX UX Belfast March 2022
2. Me Sully
4. We all want to create awesome things that people love.
5. Myths and bull💩
6. • The Product Manager is not the CEO • No one person / role ‘owns’ the relationship with the user • No one person / role ‘owns’ discovery • We are not fricking unicorns, or rockstars - we are human beings • Anything else?
7. Expectations about who does what and why can be different
8. Titles and roles cause so…much…confusion!????
9. • Titles can be meaningless? ◦ …or very meaningful! • Large range of skills, experience, personal preferences • What is Product and where does it live? • What is UX and where does it live?
10. Take it back to basics: What is Product Management?
11. “delivers user and business value by solving a problem”
12. To build a successful product…
13. user (usable/ desirable) technology (feasible) market (viable) product team
16. https:/ /www.departmentofproduct.com/ https:/ /productcoalition.com/the-10-best-and-worst-venn-diagrams-explaining-product-management-f6006c82476c
17. A lot of skills are required
19. Move to the generalist role of ‘product designer’
20. Seniority causes more overlap across UX and Product skills
21. There is no ‘one right way’ to do anything
22. Context is queen
23. • business size & model • location or distribution of people • working style • product type • organisation structure • organisation understanding / experience of product or ux • individual skills, experiences, preferences • stage of the product life cycle • processes & tooling • team mix • team capacity
24. Being delivery focused forces roles into a smaller domain space
26. Functionally separate teams or companies • UX/Design as an external agency or consultancy. • UX/Design is the expert and can be more directive / lead. • Non collaborative
27. Different functions or teams within the same company • UX is in house as a service to other teams
28. ‘One team’ … in silos • Different functions are grouped together to deliver a project or product , but aren’t working collaboratively (yet) • Can result in ‘waterfall’ type behaviour as teams hand off to each other • Can cause distrust and dysfunction
29. So - what’s worked for me?
30. And… what can we use to organise?
31. Empowered Product Trio
32. There is a lifecycle - and a range of things that need to happen
33. Problem Solution Build Launch Learn Business Grow Pivot Die Optimise
34. Red Flags “The Bad & Ugly”
35. • Lack of leadership steer or support • Command and control culture • Desire for hierarchy or control • Product title - project or delivery lead role • Feature factories • Silos / Turf wars • Lack of trust or respect • Lack of collaboration • Unhealthy conflict due to inability to communicate or feedback
36. You should leave toxic environments
37. Survey says! Things to think about…
38. • Title • Reporting lines • Team set up • Process / Methodologies • Tooling • Enablers • Blockers
39. • If individual is specialist prefer specialist title • “Product designer” is preferred to UX designer by majority of UX people as it indicates the role is multi-disciplinary • Dislike of Product title being used when it's a delivery lead role • Confusion over Product Manager and Product Owner Title
40. • Trend for UX roles to report into product • Followed by UX/Design • Dislike of reporting into other functions • Product tends to report into product, or a ‘business’ function • Day to day work can be managed by a mix of functions and sometimes this causes issues for visibility for the people manager Reporting lines
41. • Real mix! • Few project teams • Few scrum teams • One or two ‘empowered trios’ • Angst with lack of empowerment to make decisions • Frustration with lack of inclusion / visibility Team set up
42. • ALL the methodologies (bar weirdly Waterfall) • LOTS of tools! Methodolgies & Tooling
43. • Clarity of expectations • Collaboration - full team working sessions • Need for discovery / data to be respected • Being empowered • Being trusted • Complete transparency • Senior managers aware of workloads • Focus time Enablers to do my job
44. • Leaders decide what to build • Being given a solution to build • No access to customers • Red tape • Misaligned goals • Too much time focusing on processes and tooling • Not using people’s full skills or potential • Too large a workload • Last minute asks / Reactive culture • Design being an after thought and not included as a peer • Sales pivoting the roadmap Blockers
45. Principles that help: collaboration, communication, culture, compromise
46. • Pair! • Light and flexible processes • Support a culture of trust and psychological safety • No assumptions - continually realign and give context • Don’t use role or position as rationale for a decision • Communicate, communicate, communicate • Data informed • Understand yourself fully • Focus on healthy team (not individual functions)
47. We all want…
48. • Expectations to be set • Goals to be agreed • Alignment • To be included and appreciated • Good communication • To feel empowered to do our jobs
49. Thank you for listening & Thank you for the folks who helped me create this :D