Building Product Teams
August 18, 2023
The Fusion Phenomenon: Product Strategy vs UX Strategy
Phillip Keiken advocates for merging product strategy and UX strategy, a concept he calls the fusion phenomenon. He believes this integration will lead to a new era of user-focused product delivery.
Phillip Keiken is the Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy at Farm Credit Services of America, with over 25 years of experience in design, product strategy, and innovation. He has advised numerous companies on experience design, product development, and innovation strategies.
Let’s explore the intricate relationship between product strategy and user experience (UX) strategy and consider: what if product and UX strategists merged into one role?
Conventional Definitions:
– Product Strategy: This high-level plan outlines a product’s journey from conception to market, focusing on unique value propositions, key goals, and aligning with business objectives.
– UX Strategy: This guides the design and development of user experiences, ensuring the product is functional, usable, and delightful, focusing on user desirability.
Key Similarities:
– Goal-oriented: Both strategies set clear, measurable goals aligned with business objectives, whether for new products or enhanced user experiences.
– User-centric: Both prioritize the user, whether for product development or creating beloved user experiences.
– Iterative Process: Both involve continuous learning, testing, refining, and iterating based on feedback and market trends.
– Cross-functional Collaboration: Both require collaboration across teams, including product managers, UX designers, developers, marketers, and stakeholders.
Distinguishing Differences:
– Scope: Product strategy covers the big picture, including market analysis and product launch, while UX strategy focuses on user pain points, needs, motivations, and interaction with the product.
– Outcome: A successful product strategy achieves business goals, while a UX strategy results in a delightful, intuitive, and seamless user experience.
– Metrics: Product strategies use business-centric metrics like market share and revenue. UX strategies rely on user-centric metrics like satisfaction and usability scores.
– Approach: Product strategy balances user needs, market demand, and business goals, while UX strategy primarily focuses on meeting user needs and expectations.
The Fusion Phenomenon:
The idea is to blend product and UX strategy roles into a single, unified position. Here’s how it can work:
Unification Process:
– Cross-skilling: Develop a diverse skill set that covers both disciplines. This might involve a product strategist learning UX design principles or a UX strategist mastering business and market analysis.
– Vision Unification: Create a unified vision aligning product and UX goals, balancing business needs with user needs.
– Collaborative Execution: The unified role must collaborate seamlessly across teams to ensure a cohesive product and user experience.
Impact on Disciplines:
– Holistic Approach: The fusion will lead to integrated strategies, resulting in business-savvy and user-centric products.
– Efficiency: One strategist handling both aspects can streamline decision-making and reduce back-and-forths.
– Improved User Satisfaction: A combined focus on product and UX enhances user satisfaction.
– Greater Innovation: Deep understanding of both strategies can drive unique, innovative solutions.
Potential Challenges and Mitigation Strategies:
– Overburdened Role: Clearly define responsibilities to avoid overwhelming the role. Delegate tasks strategically.
– Dilution of Expertise: Encourage continuous professional development to maintain expertise in both areas.
– Bias towards One Discipline: Regularly review and adjust focus to ensure balance between product objectives and user needs.
– Lack of Checks and Balances: Implement peer reviews and feedback systems to maintain effective checks and balances.
Steps to Implementing Unification:
1. Evaluate Current Structure: Assess how current roles function and interact.
2. Identify Skill Gaps: Determine competencies needed for unification.
3. Develop an Education Plan: Create workshops, mentoring sessions, and courses to fill skill gaps.
4. Draft a Unified Role Description: Clearly outline responsibilities and expectations for the new role.
5. Pilot the Integration: Test the unified role in a single project or team to gather insights.
6. Collect Feedback and Iterate: Regularly gather feedback and adjust the role and process as needed.
7. Full-scale Rollout: Implement the integrated role organization-wide after refining the pilot phase.
8. Continuous Review and Improvement: Keep reviewing and improving the role based on evolving business and market conditions.
The fusion of product and UX strategy roles is a continuous process requiring adaptability, commitment to learning, and iterative improvements. How will you evolve your product and design disciplines for success?