January 18

Working with product designers

Product managers work closely with product designers on a regular basis. As with any close working relationship, product managers and product designers need to find the balance between creative tension and tight collaboration that brings about brilliant solutions to their customers’ problems. Here are some suggestions for finding that balance in the product manager and product designer relationship.

7 ways to improve your designer–PM collaboration. Product designers spend a lot of time with product managers. There’s an art to creating an exceptional, mutually beneficial working relationship. Adam Amran spoke to several experienced product managers and designers at Productboard, sprinkled in his own experience, and created this helpful guide to the art of designer – product manager collaboration.

(via @productboard)

How product managers can work effectively with product designers. A good relationship between product managers and designers is crucial to product success. Edward Chechique shares some lessons he learned from working closely with product managers to explain the product designer role, how it compares to the product manager role, and how to work and collaborate effectively with product designers to deliver a great product.

(via edwardchechique)

UXers and product managers both say others intrude on their work. To understand how user experience professionals (UX) and product managers (PM) see their roles and how the roles relate to one another, the Nielsen Norman Group conducted a survey aimed at answering several questions. One of the main findings of the survey of 372 UX and PM professionals shows that duplicative work is frequent and generates confusion and inefficiency.

(via @nngroup)

How to best work with product designers as a product manager. Some product managers lack a nuanced understanding of product design disciplines, provide direction & feedback to product designers in unhelpfully limiting ways, and fail to build an effective partnership with product designers. Ed Park provides guidance on how PMs can effectively collaborate with and empower their Product Designers to design delightful customer experiences.

(via @taugrim)

Advice from product leaders: Five ways product and design can collaborate effectively.  Product and design can often feel at odds. Product is pushing to release very lean versions of features or products, often at the expense of an optimal user experience, whereas design is pushing for the best user experience at all costs. Allowing for that tension is critical; pushing for a good user experience from which the product team can also learn, and learn quickly, is essential. Aleeza Schoenberg shares five ways product and design can forge a strong partnership.

(via @MindtheProduct)

Kent J McDonald

About the author

Kent J McDonald writes about and practices software product management. He has product development experience in a variety of industries including financial services, health insurance, nonprofit, and automotive. Kent practices his craft with a variety of product teams and provides just in time resources for product people at KBP.media and Product Collective. When not writing or product managing, Kent is his family’s #ubersherpa, listens to jazz and podcasts (but not necessarily podcasts about jazz), and collects national parks.


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