The PM/Designer Relationship
Product management is a discipline that interacts with many other disciplines and each of these relationships is important to doing the job well. In the land of B2C, your relationship with designers is critical to the success of the product and for you as a PM.
When there is user interface involved, there is a fair amount of overlap between product management and design. And any time there is overlap, relationships get harder.
My first exposure to designers was at Apple back in the 90’s. There weren’t really any PMs at that time. We had engineering, quality, and HI. We worked together easily and there was no power structure. The teams were small.
At Microsoft, I started in an org (Mediaroom) that had it’s roots as an acquisition (WebTV). And Microsoft culture hadn’t really taken root. Again, the team was reasonably small and the partnership with designers was easy. It became a little more complicated as we had PMs that were specifically focused on the user interface, making the overlap muddier. I advocated against this PM structure, in favor of PMs that owned scenarios end to end. The first time of many when I would have this conversation. I don’t think it will ever end.
When I moved to Office for Mac, I remember being a little surprised to find that there was tension between the two disciplines. As I was being interviewed, it was the entire focus of one of my interviews — “how do you work with design?”. I was confused. While I was there the relationship went from PMs being the more “powerful” to one of genuine partnership.
I have always considered that my opinions about design were mild compared to most PMs. In Office, we would spend hours and hours debating aspects of the design together and honestly, I would step away most of the time. I was the GPM, it wasn’t my job to weigh in on every detail. When I saw something I wasn’t hearing brought up that I thought was material, I would bring it up.
At Apple, designers are the top of the food chain. Where EPMs sit in the power structure varies based on the particular team. When I started on maps, the EPMs literally (not metaphorically) didn’t have a seat at the table. They sat at the side of the room and took notes. If they spoke it was to suggest moving to the next agenda item or to get clarity on whether a decision was made. So when I voiced an opinion about design, you may be able to imagine the shock wave that created.
As I look back, the keys to great relationships with design are:
Acknowledge their expertise. This goes for all disciplines (much of this advice does in fact!). PMs can be received as if they think they could do other people’s jobs as well or better because we dig in to things that don’t make sense to us. Digging in often feels like criticism if you haven’t established trust. And acknowledging their expertise helps establish trust.
Understand their process. Design is a creative process. I have seen designers that do not want to show their work early on and it’s usually because they experienced a bunch of criticism on early designs in the past. Before you give feedback, get a sense of where they are in the process and what kind of feedback they are looking for.
Ask for them to walk you through their thought process. When you think you “agreed” on what the design was going to entail and you get something different, get curious before you get annoyed. If there really is a flaw in the version you get and you are genuinely curious, they will see it themselves first.
Discuss timing early. A common problem I saw is that engineers were “waiting” on designs. Or that designers thought that a design was “early” and the PM or engineer thought it was “done”. Set expectations up front. Acknowledging that it’s almost always the case that the engineers want it now and the designers think much more time is needed, and that a compromise needs to be found can help.
Talk about roles and responsibilities directly. A piece of advice that applies to all PM/other discipline relationships is to have the discussion up front about what expectations are on both sides. What does the designer expect from you and you from her? And just as important, what don’t you want from each other? Remember that whatever comes up is a starting point. Negotiate.
Watch for “let’s test it” or “let’s live on it”. When you are debating design and the designer says something to the effect of “why don’t we A/B test it and see” or “let’s live on it and see” (when you are in long cycle, no A/B test situations), that means the designer thinks they are right and isn’t going to budge. It’s a nice way to say that, albeit a touch passive aggressive.
In my experience, when this happens, it’s because people (probably on both sides) aren’t feeling heard. All that you (the debater) needs to hear from the designer is “I see your point. You could be right, but I don’t think so. And I feel like this is my call.”
If you can find the awareness in the moment (which is hard, cause you are frustrated too), ask for what you want. “I understand you are the expert here. Could you just repeat back to me my point and tell me why you think it’s not an issue?”. And you pulled in a little “acknowledge expertise” as a bonus 😊.
The design/PM partnership, when it really is a partnership with mutual trust and respect, can be tremendously powerful. You both care deeply about the users and delivering solutions that help. Stay focused on this common goal and use the tips above, and you’ll do great things together.
Good luck and happy innovating!
The PM/Designer Relationship
Research & References of The PM/Designer Relationship|A&C Accounting And Tax Services
Source
0 Comments