Mir Reza

Highlighting my new article on the timeliness of the Design Process and the standards that drive its evaluation. https://lnkd.in/ee_X-kqP #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui #ai #genai 

2

Highlighting my article on Holistic Product Design and building Omnichannel Product experiences. https://lnkd.in/ewtEpgW #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

4

So this take is amusing but quite pervasive, especially within engineering circles. There’s some truth to it in a lot of cases, but if you’ve spoken to me about my PM experience, you’ll know that I was also seduced by the TikToks of people PMing by the poolside, when it actually turned out to be (if not one of) the most stressful jobs I’ve had. And I think this disconnect comes from the fact that there’s a lot of variance between PM positions (even within the same org/company)—from positions that are more on the project management end of the spectrum, to folks that are more on the product end of the spectrum. An article I read recently dives into this dichotomy quite expertly (warning: long read): https://lnkd.in/ekmyhuUy At Google, I was probably more on the Product side of things. It’s a consumer focused profuct, lots of moving parts, collosal userbase spanning different geographies and cultures (which brings up some interesting concerns about understandability of certain phrases/strings when they’re translated into other languages and a potential PR scandal —something most apps don’t have to worry about. And while what I had to build was defined for me (just in title, and because I was an intern) you basically decide what the ENTIRE feature looks and feels like, guided by extensive discussions with your Design and Engineering counterparts. But one week into the job you quickly learn the sheer stakes of the game you’re playing at. As my manager then said to me described it “this is the Super Bowl” Pretty accurate IME. Also id still like to highlight that just because project management is less… I don’t know, glorified? Doesn’t mean it’s unnecessary, It’s definitely still a lot of work to align stakeholders and the complexity almost increases exponentially when collaborating across different orgs with different OKRs and incentives. It’s work that a lot of engineers would rather not do *in addition* to all their more technical work. So all in all, in most cases, PMs(regardless of the type) are necessary. And engineers who’ve worked with good PMs in a complex enough project will let you know as much.

6

3 Comments

Highlighting a powerful feature from Dovetail focused on clustering of findings from Research endeavors. This speeds up the process of synthesizing and the ability to share insightful information with participants of the Design process. https://lnkd.in/e2yP3wSf #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

7

This got me thinking. I hear a lot of leaders say they're looking for cultural transformation, and want to shift in a direction that values reactivity, challenge confrontation, and collaboration. What they're describing is a design-driven culture. Many of these attributes are vital when UX is at the center. If that resonates, then looking at design maturity is the better route. #DesignMaturity #DesignDriven #Culture

2

How is your organisation setup? Is it customer-centered? I would say most organizations talk the talk, but when it comes down to adding value to the customer they fall short. Until there is a change in mindset, and a real understanding of customer-centered design, UX Teams will continue to be challenged and require more people to get the job done than required in a more mature organisation. Peter Merholz beautifully unpacks the challenges orgs face. #uxdesign

2

There’s still time for folks to sign up for my Fundamentals of User Experience Design class at SVA which runs three weeks, meeting twice a week, starting next Tuesday. That's six weeks of UX goodness packed into three. More information below if you're interested or want to pass this on to someone else who may be. #UX #UXdesign #IA

4

I am shocked at how few product people (PM, UX, UXR..) know how to apply the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework to their work. The JTBD framework is built around a simple but transformative idea that customers fundamentally hire products and services to perform specific jobs. These 'jobs' can be functional - like cutting a piece of wood, emotional - such as feeling secure, or social - like gaining status among peers. The key to innovation, isn’t just improving products but deeply understanding and addressing the specific jobs customers need to complete and what gets in the way of them completing these jobs. If you are working on a product team, then take the time to understand this framework and you will radically improve your product sense. I have spent the last decade with this knowledge and continue to learn more about it. #jbtd #innovation #productinnovation #productmanagement #productleadership

162

15 Comments

Highlighting my article on Friction in Design Process and how to overcome it. https://lnkd.in/gKXMAsBd #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

3

My weekly newsletter on Design, Innovation and Technology is out now. This issue covers topics such as PMs leveraging Dovetail's research solution for strategizing their roadmaps, looking at what a PM for a Design System covers, and Email List Hygiene. https://lnkd.in/eJCMas22 #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui #ai #genai 

3

Great writeup on the value design can bring to product organisations irrespective of technoöogical shifts such as AI.

4

Since this is the last month of the year, here's a retrospective I did for 2016, right as I had just started writing more frequently on Design topics. https://lnkd.in/g5GMztrM #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui #ai #genai 

5

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” — James Clear A few folks have asked my thoughts on Product Ops recently. I may have an unconventional view, but I strongly believe that Product Ops is _NOT_ Project or Program Management of specific initiatives in flight. It is not intermediation between PMs, Engineers, and Designers so they don’t have to talk to each other either. Read on... https://lnkd.in/e76DKnV6 #ProductManagement #ProductOps #ProductOperations

20

2 Comments

I love the points this piece makes about gen AI and design. It's awesome that more people can flex their skills and experiment. But the world has had the quality/quantity argument since the dawn of time. Legendary designers possess a unique set of skills that enable them to create extraordinary design outputs. In the context of this article, these skills are a blend of selection, taste, and discernment. (Three qualities that gen AI, for all its advancements, still can't replicate.) #Design #UXDesign #GenAI #FutureOfDesign

8

2 Comments

Highlighting my article on Designing product solutions leveraging Data. https://lnkd.in/eAJhsZKX #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui

4

AI anxiety and how to design for it: Resources and best practices By creating transparent and user-friendly AI systems, we can establish trust and confidence in AI technologies by addressing adults' concerns about artificial intelligence. #AI #UX

7

This is a long post regarding my take on the controversial topic of Design Portfolios. You will find at the bottom excerpts from a portfolio that I reviewed for the Product Designer II roles that we opened. I feel free to post it here, because it is so vague and void of substance that it is an example of what not to do. Actually, I would not be surprised if Chat GPT or another AI regurgitated that text. Let me know what you think! But first, here is my take on the topic: to be successful in landing a job with a portfolio (at least with people like me), one must be able to explain their thought process: Which method(s) or framework(s) did you use? Why these specifically? What insights did you learn? How did you present your findings? What project constraint(s) did you have? How long did it take? Where there any conflicts? If so, how did you resolve them? What could you have done better? etc etc Tell me a story so that I can learn about your design approach by answering similar questions. Do not give me too many details either. You can keep it short as I need to have just enough to see a tangible proof of work and to support the conversations we will have during the interview. Finally, I believe this can be done by being honest and transparent without breaching any NDA you may have signed. Hope this can help any candidate to our postings or others. Now the excerpts: Initiation and Empathize We began by immersing ourselves in the experiences of potential users through interviews, and focus groups. This approach allowed us to gather authentic insights and understand user pain points deeply. Define and Ideation We synthesized user data into actionable insights, creating personas and journey maps. Brainstorming sessions focused on generating ideas to leverage high-quality visual content, ensuring we pinpointed the most impactful features. Prototype and Interaction Design Starting with low-fidelity wireframes, we developed interactive mockups. Key interaction design principles ensured an intuitive, engaging application, making navigation and dining decisions seamless. Usability Testing and Evaluation Usability testing combined quantitative and qualitative methods to assess performance and gather feedback. This phase was crucial for refining the design and optimizing user interactions.

53

18 Comments

Since I shared my Strategic User Research Framework (SURF), I got several requests and suggestions about putting that in a easier-to-refer guide. I am hoping this will infographic will serve the purpose of having a quick guidepost while creating user research programs within your product design teams. Feel free to comment here if you would like the Checklist version of this (Microsoft Excel), or the Figma template. You can read about the Strategic User Research Framework (SURF) here - https://lnkd.in/gc3wnkHy #designleadership #designmanagement #ux #uxdesign #productleadership #productdesign #userresearch #figma #productstrategy

19