A Designer and a Product Manager walk into a bar…
The relationship between designers and product managers is an interesting one. We work closely together, and there is much overlap between what we do and bring to the table.
Both need to understand the business goals and user needs.
Both think about potential features to build, if and how we should build them, and who they serve.
Both think about design and interactions — and in some cases both actually do design.
Pair this with no shortage of opinions and throw in a little sprinkling of ego and we have a party!
To start, I can tell you that we designers like ourselves some autonomy. We need freedom in solution thinking. We enjoy using our heads to really think through problems and come up with neat, clean and innovative solutions. The designs we make are an output of our problem-solving skills. I’m not saying that we don’t want your input, we do! We even like to design with you, from the beginning — and we like it when you visualize your thinking through drawings and sketches using PowerPoint, Balsamiq or the mockup tool of your choice. I believe you should do whatever it takes to help you think through a problem. We would just prefer that you’re not prescriptive and go about designing and developing a feature without us. So just consider when and how to use those mockups.
What we’d love though from a PM is a user flow, or a list of use cases or scenarios, what metrics or KPIs we can use to measure success, or the “sprint backlog priority items”, whatever you’re into these days. Requirements? We absolutely love them! However, we also love brevity and conciseness. If you send us a Jira ticket with a little novella in it, we’ll probably just ask you to sit down with us so you can read it to us — I mean, go through it with us.
We really need to understand the problem we’re solving — and we need you to clearly and calmly describe it to us. Once we thoroughly understand the problem, we can go about our business of thinking of ways to solve it with design. But we also love to see the problem as it ties into the broader vision (the big picture), so help us put the pieces together!
We need your help making user experience a priority. We need your help uniting the team and conveying the importance of good design. Getting good work across the finish line can be a challenge. The voice of the designer very often get lost in the mix. We do our best to unite the team using design as a tool to do so — but we need your help too!
In order to create truly great experiences, we need to let go of constraints, think big, and be open to new ideas that — on the surface — are a departure from what we feel might be safe or reasonable. It’s so easy to get caught up in the process of shipping software (fixing bugs, designing a feature for quick delivery instead of best UX) while losing sight of the bigger picture. We also need the time and space in the process to focus on details. Acknowledge that details matter.
Let’s not forget who we’re designing for — understanding the customer is a team sport! Does this new feature impact each type of user in the same way? Probably not, so we may have to design it differently. Help us out by communicating the goals and ideas with clarity about the different types of users and how the work we’re doing might affect or help them.
The more information we have to inform the solutions we’re designing, the better. Do you have data and/or analytics that you can share with us? Are you tracking metrics that are correlated to the work we’re doing? By all means, share it with us! Product Managers are sometimes privy to data that designers are not; it’s useful for us to see it and understand how the data evolves over time. We probably have ideas about how to best track outcomes we’re trying to achieve with our design solutions — so don’t hesitate to ask us!
Dealing with uncertainty and taking risks is part of the work we all do in a product team. When it comes to the customer, sometimes it’s clear what we need to design and build to meet their needs. Other times we need to break the chain and make a departure from the norm in order to change user behavior. This is is hard because it’s difficult to know how to change user behaviour and it’s impossible without experimentation. We need your help to bravely experiment with behaviour change. Let’s walk into risky or unknown territory in an effort to achieve what feels impossible or hard.
Can you think of any ways to improve your process or collaborative aspects of your relationship as a Designer with your Product Manager? What are your thoughts on the subject?