Working with Product Managers (PMs) is a delight for me. As product designers, you’ll spend a lot of time with PMs. They are not rivals, but rather your partners in creating exceptional SaaS products. The relationship between PMs and Product Designers (PDs) is fascinating, scared and dynamic, often characterized by diverse perspectives, opinions, and occasional ego clashes. But when it all comes together, it’s truly a party. It’s well known that the level of excellence in a product is directly tied to the level of collaboration between team members. Product managers and product designers complement each other, with both roles being essential to the success of the product. The balance and harmony between the two roles is crucial for achieving the desired outcome.
A strong bond is not always necessary, but a healthy working relationship is crucial. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of collaborating with some of the smartest, compassionate, empathetic and user first PMs, and some of them are even friends outside of work.
Building a software product is a team effort, and the collaboration between design, engineering, product, research, and data teams is what makes it all possible. To ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal and long-term strategic vision, it’s essential for PDs and PMs to function as a united team.
Similarities between Product designers and Product Managers
Product Managers (PMs) and Product Designers (PDs) may have distinct responsibilities, but they share a common objective: to collaborate closely to create products that are both functional and user-centric, solving the problems of the target audience for a seamless experience. Both PMs and PDs work together to ideate, design, develop, and launch products that are loved by users. The PMs are focused on the overall strategy, vision, and goals of the product, while the PDs are responsible for the design, user experience, and visual aspects of the product. However, both PMs and PDs are committed to understanding and solving the needs of the target audience through research, user feedback, and testing. Ultimately, both PMs and PDs play critical roles in ensuring that the product is successful and meets the needs of the users, making them a vital part of the product development process.
- PMs and PDs are equally committed to understanding and addressing the needs of the target audience through research, user feedback, and testing.
- They work together in ideation, design, development, and launch of products that are loved by users.
- Both PMs and PDs play crucial roles in ensuring the success and user satisfaction of the product.
- Creating functional and user-centric products is a top priority for both PMs and PDs.
- PMs and PDs are essential players in the product development process.
- The common goal of both PMs and PDs is to create products that solve the target audience’s problems for a seamless experience.
- PMs and PDs collaborate closely to ensure that every team member is working towards a shared goal and a long-term strategic vision.
- Collaboration with other teams such as engineering, research, and data teams is necessary for the successful delivery of the product for both PMs and PDs.
- Both PMs and PDs continuously monitor and analyze the product performance and use data and user feedback to make decisions and improvements.
- Both PMs and PDs are responsible for communicating and presenting the product vision, strategy, design and progress to stakeholders, upper management and the team.
Benefits of collaboration
Designers need to understand the business goals behind the product they are creating in order to make decisions about features, user experience, and design elements. Product Managers, on the other hand, need to understand how design solutions can be implemented in order for their products to succeed in the market. This is why collaboration between designers and product managers is essential for successful products — it ensures that everyone involved has a better understanding of how decisions will affect one another.
For example, when designing a feature, it’s important for designers and product managers to work together closely to ensure that the feature meets both customer needs and business goals. A designer might have an idea for a feature that solves a very specific problem but doesn’t really address customer needs or provide any return on investment (ROI). The product manager can then help explain why this feature may not be worth investing in from a business perspective. On the other hand, if the designer suggests something innovative that could potentially provide significant ROI but requires additional resources or time constraints, the product manager can help figure out ways to make it happen within budget constraints or timelines.
Another benefit of collaboration between designers and product managers is increased creativity. When two people with different perspectives come together with different ideas, it creates an environment where creative solutions can emerge more easily. Through open dialogue between designers and product managers, new ideas can be discussed openly without worrying about who came up with them originally — which encourages everyone involved to think outside of the box and come up with creative solutions that may not have been considered before. It’s essential to recognize that the goal for both Product Designers and Product Managers is the same, therefore the key is how we can work together to achieve that goal as a team?
Include Product Managers in the Design Process at an Early Stage
Effective Product Managers comprehend the significance of understanding the design process to collaborate effectively with Product Designers. This entails taking the time to learn about how designers approach problem-solving, their approach to understanding user needs, and their decision-making processes. Product Designers usually don’t respond well when PM’s come with solutions instead of identifying problems, present mundane dashboards instead of clear insights, set in stone requirements instead of strong hypothesis, or mundane Jira tickets instead of having meaningful conversations.
By comprehending the design process, Product Managers can communicate better with designers and provide more meaningful feedback, resulting in a more natural collaboration. Additionally, understanding the design process allows Product Managers to identify potential roadblocks early on, which can streamline the development process. Understanding the design process and the work of Product Designers enables Product Managers to make more informed decisions and prioritize features better, ultimately resulting in a better and more successful product.
Facilitating Open Communication and Feedback between Product Managers and Product Designers.
Having open feedback between Product Managers (PMs) and Product Designers (PDs) is essential for the success of any product development process.Here are some ways I have learned to facilitate open feedback between PMs and PDs:
- Create a culture of open communication: Encourage team members to share their thoughts, ideas, and feedback openly and honestly.
- Schedule regular check-ins: Schedule regular meetings between PMs and PDs to discuss progress, share feedback, and address any issues.
- Use a shared platform: Use a shared platform, such as a project management tool, to track progress and provide feedback on designs and development tasks.
- Encourage constructive criticism: Encourage team members to provide constructive criticism, rather than simply pointing out flaws.
- Make feedback a two-way street: Make sure that both PMs and PDs are providing feedback to each other.
- Encourage the team to listen: Encourage team members to actively listen to feedback and take it into consideration when making decisions.
- Be open to feedback and suggestions: Be open to feedback and suggestions from PMs and PDs, as it can help improve the design and make the product more successful.
Finding Common Ground: Harmonizing the Approaches of Designers and Product Managers
Creating a product from scratch can be a challenging task, particularly when it comes to understanding the user experience. One common issue that arises between Product Managers and Designers is a lack of clear understanding on how to validate assumptions and develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Product Managers often prioritize speed in testing while Designers prioritize user experience. To overcome this challenge, it is essential for PMs and PDs to collaborate and understand each other’s perspectives. PMs should appreciate the significance of user experience and design, while PDs should acknowledge the importance of testing and validation. This can be accomplished by setting clear goals and objectives for the product that align with the target audience’s needs, and through regular communication and collaboration. Additionally, utilizing appropriate validation techniques such as market research, prototype testing, A/B testing, and analytics can provide the necessary feedback and data for PMs and PDs to make informed decisions.informed decisions.
Final Thoughts
As a Product designer, it’s important to have a strong partnership with product managers in order to build great products. This partnership involves open communication, understanding each other’s strengths and working towards a common goal of delivering an exceptional user experience. We should have a shared understanding of objectives and key results, what are the top line metrics and goals for the projects and work together to find a balance between design and business priorities. In order to achieve this, we need autonomy and freedom in solution thinking, while product managers should make design and user experience a priority and include designers in key decision-making processes. Ultimately, building a strong partnership between PDs and PMs leads to improved collaboration, transparency, and success in delivering an awesome product experience for customers.
Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any current or former employers. The content is a result of the author’s personal interpretation and understanding of the topic at hand.
