I live by this simple graph. It’s the culmination of key organizational components that require a successful product with UX at the center. It’s underappreciated how hard it is to get to that balance when it can ebb and flow when you least expect it.

Persuading partners and leadership is daunting but possible with the right nurturing and finding the right balance for their specific needs. This graph helps remind me of that. 

As a product designer, it’s our responsibility to keep the balance through…

• Strengthening and maintaining internal relationships
• Satisfying and negotiating business goals
• Respecting limitations yet pushing for innovation
• Fight for the user yet be humble
• Analyzing patterns yet iterating  
• Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat yourself until it finally sinks in

An effective team is more than skilled professionals and a powerful product, I’ve learned to embrace that anyone can contribute to the design process and no one has true authority. Balancing experience, intuition, research, and diversity can uplift any product. Designs shouldn’t be thrown over the wall and expected to be automagically produced. There shouldn’t be any walls while adopting the willingness to compromise. 

Seamless experiences between products, services, and content channels are the leading expectation for customers. Though it’s difficult to have eyes on every avenue, trust and imperfection create opportunities to grow the brand. Embrace all ideas and learn from them, because change is the only consent. 

About 20% of users have some form of disability. With most U.S. companies catering to the majority and traditional designers not having the training for visual accessibility, these users are underrepresented and uncared for. All humans should be considered. All designers are capable of making beautiful work, but in my humble opinion, accessible designs are what make a great design better, because it creates more creative solutions.

Relying on the visual design for quality. In a product, it’s easy to tell if it has good UI, but on the surface, it’s harder to tell if it’s good UX. Bad UX is still bad design.

Studying only best practices for usability. I firmly believe most designers research one-half of their UX strategy. Looking only at best practices is like choosing to not know the cons of a pro/con list.

Words give an impact. Words give clarity. Words are the new competitive advantage in UX. Copy tends to go by the wayside because designers aren’t always well-versed in writing and tech writers are often not involved or don’t play a role in the final product. In the absence of a writer, it’s a designer’s responsibility to set the stage with good UX copy. A cornerstone of my UX strategy includes UX copywriting skills.

Evaluate Business Needs & Goals

I initiate conversations about the business needs, user needs, and goals to understand the root of the project.

Research, Research & Research

I start any project by gathering internal research, best practice research, and investigate what additional research methodologies are needed.

Ecosystem Blueprints

By analyzing internal processes and user journeys, I create blueprint mapping exercises on how the project fits into the larger ecosystem.

Dream State

After discovering the narrative, stretching the imagination, and testing technical limitations, I present visuals of what I think the project should look like as a dream-like state. Knowing not all of it will make the cut.