Summary
As product designers and product managers, working with each other can be confusing, frustrating, and sometimes causes conflict, especially as corporate expectations evolve and our roles increasingly overlap. How do we each play to our strengths, and still find a way to meet at the focus of our product; our users? In this talk, we will learn how our disciplines are both the same and differ, and how to become trusted partners towards our common goals, at any stage of our career.
Key Insights
-
•
The transition from waterfall to agile shifted focus from outputs to outcomes, profoundly changing how designers collaborate with product managers.
-
•
Early in her career, Asia experienced design as a constrained role, limited to polished deliverables and strict chain of command.
-
•
Product management centers on business value, metrics, and prioritization, involving deep work long before design involvement.
-
•
Design and product management overlap in research, user understanding, and vision, but maintain distinct responsibilities and skills.
-
•
Common conflicts include late involvement of designers, limited decision-making power, and balancing subjective design goals with objective business needs.
-
•
Involving designers early in sprint planning and stakeholder meetings improves design estimates and scope clarity.
-
•
Establishing team rituals like kickoffs, sprint planning, retrospectives, and bonding activities enhances alignment and morale, especially remotely.
-
•
Protecting designers' time and insisting on meeting agendas help maintain focus and enable effective iteration.
-
•
Documenting design decisions in multiple linked tools (like Figma and Jira) fosters transparency and cross-functional understanding.
-
•
Assuming positive intent and practicing curiosity over ego cultivate healthier collaboration between designers and product managers.
Notable Quotes
"Project management was focused on outputs, assuming the correct feature was already defined."
"At General Assembly, I learned that product management is focused more on outcomes and iterative discovery."
"Design is not just aesthetics; it’s about what the product feels like, sounds like, and how it differentiates in the market."
"Accessibility isn’t just a checklist; it changes moment to moment for any individual."
"Product managers mean business — they have their hands in multiple pots long before designers join the team."
"Designers are often seen as bottlenecks because our work is harder to estimate and track than engineering’s."
"Collaborate and involve design early and often to better align on user goals and reduce friction."
"Building rapport and rituals helped our remote team foster camaraderie and trust."
"I learned to be relentless about prioritization and to hone in on specific details and use cases."
"Assume positive intent, practice a service mindset, and curiosity over ego — remember we’re all in this together."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"It's not just about the artifacts but the conversations had to come to that system or structure."
Noreen Whysel Katie SaindonShort Take #4: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
"Education is the foundation upon which we build a more sustainable future."
Ash BrownSilver Linings: What DesignOps Learned in the Shift to WFH
October 23, 2020
"Modernizing legacy platforms while maintaining a cohesive UX is a major challenge enterprises face."
Uday GajendarTheme 1: Introduction
June 9, 2021
"Designing and researching wisdom is a dialogue, not a monologue."
Cassini Nazir Meah LinThe Dangers of Empathy: Toward More Responsible Design Research
March 27, 2023
"We can’t say understanding users is someone else’s job; no white knight is coming to save us."
Gregg BernsteinOpportunistic Research with Gregg Bernstein
July 11, 2019
"Companies with strong user experiences had twice as many designers as product managers, often with senior design strategists."
Kaaren HansonStop Talking, Start Doing
June 9, 2017
"People will talk to customers whether you want them to or not. The question is how to make it a better experience."
Erin May Roberta Dombrowski Laura Oxenfeld Brooke HintonDistributed, Democratized, Decentralized: Finding a Research Model to Support Your Org
March 10, 2022
"A lot of times those data streams are acting somewhat independently."
Brad Peters Anne MamaghaniShort Take #1: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
"Failure is easy but recovery is really hard. Naming your feelings and sharing them is key to resilience."
Tutti TaygerlyVideconference: How to Work with Difficult People with Tutti Taygerly
June 25, 2020
