In our latest installment of our Design Conversation Series, we spoke with Chris Avore, head of design at Northwestern Mutual, and co-author of "Liftoff! Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You." Chris discusses some of the ways that, like so many things, design leadership has evolved and adapted since the book was released in 2020.
Key Topics
- How needs of newer design leaders differ from those with years of experience, and some universal themes for anyone overseeing a design team
- How increased risk aversion and scrutiny of decision-making during turbulent or uncertain times can impact outcomes
- How to measure the strength, maturity, and influence of existing design leadership when applying at new organization
What's Next
Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to learn about upcoming discussions with other design leaders at: www.linkedin.com/company/proximitylab. If you have ideas about an interesting topic or speaker you'd like to see, please reach out at hello@proximitylab.com.
Check out our recent discussion with Jon Yablonski, author of "Laws of UX" and Senior Product Designer at Mixpanel. We explored the fundamental concepts behind the Laws of UX framework and how understanding user behavior psychology can enhance the work of any UX/UI or product designer. Don't miss out on the valuable insights and takeaways from this discussion.
Key Topics
- The importance of psychology in design: Yablonski discussed how understanding user psychology can help designers create more effective and engaging digital interfaces
- Jakob's Law: User's implicit bias towards designs based off existing mental models
- The Peak-End rule: A cognitive bias in how people remember experiences and how this may affect design decisions
What's Next
This event is the fifth session in a discussion series that explores the topic from the perspectives of design leaders, product strategists and product designers. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or questions please send them to hello@proximitylab.com.
In this 1-hour session, we talked with “The Jobs to Be Done Playbook’ author, Jim Kalbach of Mural to dig into what the Jobs to be Done framework is and how it can drive innovation efforts and predict adoption by flipping the perspective from the solution to the problem of what an individual is trying to get done.
Key Topics
- How the JTBD framework drives innovation by shifting the focus to the problem versus the solution
- How to talk about the objectives of individuals without talking about the product
- Why using this technique can provide a perspective on what factors might increase adoption later on
What's Next
This event is the fourth session in a discussion series that explores the topic from the perspectives of design leaders, product strategists and product designers. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or questions please send them to hello@proximitylab.com.
In a recent talk about product vision design, Alissa Briggs, Director of Design at Autodesk, describes a successful vision-oriented research process as “meeting with customers and dreaming with them.” UX research is often viewed as the science that informs the art of design, but when developing a product vision design, it is important to approach research as both science and art. Dreaming with customers requires empathy, flexibility and the willingness to explore ideas organically, in the moment.
Going off-script is critical for creating a new vision
The boundaries often created by reviewing wireframes and prototypes with users can limit the possibilities that could be central for creating a new vision. Typical UX research methodology includes understanding the needs and expectations of users, but how do you discover the opportunities that may lie beyond users’ expectations, beyond their current experience?
- Focus on developing an understanding of users’ unconscious needs. These are the things they don’t expect because they don’t know what’s possible. By forming a holistic understanding of the user’s ecosystem through probing questions about how they spend their time, experiences that bring them joy, what they find frustrating, we can begin to dream with them about new possibilities. We should also ask who we should be talking to, outside of our target personas, in an effort to expand our perspective and understanding.
- Set aside the constraints of product road maps and current technology. We need to bring the same approach of empathy and flexibility to our research with internal stakeholders. It’s challenging for people to look at themes and to envision possibilities beyond what the product has traditionally solved. Workshops and discussions with internal stakeholders to identify opportunities, clarify vision and balance business drivers are key to defining the vision.
Have people participate in creating the vision - internally and externally. As we shape the vision, we can connect it back to that engagement and the bigger meaning behind it. - Alissa Briggs, Director of Design at Autodesk
- Conduct market research to help identify new technologies and trends to be considered in the product vision. What can we learn about the greater culture, current trends and potential risks? We want to understand the range of problems addressed and solutions offered in a particular space. Some may be more specific and niche, others more wide ranging. Understanding and evaluating how other products frame the problem, communicate their own unique value and solve for this can really help a team expand their sense of what's possible and how their own solution might evolve over time. Review and understand the models and conventions that users may have already been exposed to so product teams can make informed decisions about whether to leverage existing workflows and methods or introduce something new. Are there untapped markets to consider? Who are the leaders and why are they winning? Identifying opportunities and then grounding them in specific business drivers will help develop the vision and define what will really deliver value and what will be your differentiator.
Use the best tools to inspire feedback that is right for the moment
Frequent engagement with users and stakeholders for clarity and feedback will help to refine the vision concepts and design. The level of fidelity that is used to present the vision shapes the way people will respond to a concept or idea.
There is definitely a hazard of getting feedback that isn’t right for that moment in time. If it’s too detailed, it closes the door for ideas because people think it is already done. - Keela Robison, VP of Product Innovation at Netflix
When considering whether to use storyboards, wireframes or high-fidelity prototypes to validate the vision design, we should ask ourselves what type of feedback is right for this moment. What can we show that will communicate just enough for people to understand what it is, how it can fit in their lives and offer meaningful feedback?
There is no formula for the best research methodology for product vision design, but by approaching vision research as both art and science; constantly evolving and focused on empathy, conducted with the mind of a beginner instead of an expert, we can begin the hard work of dreaming up a new product vision.
To hear the full discussion between Keela Robison and Alissa Briggs as they discuss product vision design as part of our Product Vision Design Discussion Series, check out our podcast or watch the video now. If you would like to chat with us about research for your next product vision design project, contact us at hello@proximitylab.com.
This 1 hour session explores the leading edge product vision design work from Adobe that leverages machine intelligence in ways that shapes new market opportunities and is influencing Adobe’s business strategy. Our discussion spans near term and longer term initiatives at Adobe with a focus on leveraging AI and machine learning into design tools for creative pros. This event features the perspectives from designers, researchers and scientists at Adobe.
Key Topics
- Adobe's "AI infused" and "AI first" approaches to vision design and how theses approaches impact product and business strategy in unique ways
- Opportunities and challenges that exist with AI
- Exploration of some of the product experiences / features Adobe has been working on
Listen to the podcast now.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What's Next
This event is the second session in a discussion series that explores the topic from the perspectives of design leaders, product strategists and product designers. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or questions please send them to hello@proximitylab.com.
It’s a few weeks into a project. Everyone has taken their seats and logged into the web conference. The key bullet on the agenda reads: Review first iteration of product visual designs. You’ve even built a prototype to show participants the proposed end-to-end experience. But a few clicks into the walk-through, the meeting grinds to a halt. A key stakeholder has questions. Others chime in. Instead of showcasing your work, you find yourself bouncing between mock-ups, requirements documents, and pitch decks. Your hopes of forging consensus around the customer experience have faded.
We’ve all been in meetings like this. Frequent working sessions, well-documented business requirements, and extensive design iterations prove insufficient to establish consensus. The reality is that stakeholders and team members are often on different pages, and there are plenty of opportunities for misunderstandings and confusion when dealing with complex products, time-constrained activities, and geographically distributed teams. Executives may not be able to attend key meetings. Stakeholders can get lost in a sea of PDFs, Sketch files, and Google Docs. Not everyone pays attention to the latest Slack post. And some team members struggle with technically complex documents and detailed process flows. What if you could synthesize all of the complexities into one simple visual that conveyed the story clearly to stakeholders?
One approach: Thumbflows
If you work in a creative firm or are part of an in-house design team, you understand the importance of getting clarity and consensus from stakeholders early in the project. However, it can be challenging to find the right way to communicate the story to a diverse team with different needs and backgrounds. Over the past few years, our product design team has found a surprising level of success addressing this problem by using a hybrid kind of design deliverable we call a thumbflow. It’s an artifact uniquely suited for communicating complex product experiences and getting everyone on the same page. Our UX design work for clients like Adobe, Citrix, and Oracle has given us an opportunity to explore, iterate, and test several variations—each tuned for a slightly different set of needs.
A basic thumbflow that showcases flow, some design elements and the user interaction
A thumbflow tells a story of how customers interact with products and each other. It draws from a number of design artifacts and document types you’re already familiar with and is presented in an approachable and easy-to-consume format. Much like a flow diagram, it showcases a sequence of events and interactions, but it avoids the temptation to illustrate all possible scenarios and keeps the amount of technical detail appropriate for consumption by less technical team members. Like a wireframe, it includes a high-level, abstracted view of the product interfaces, but instead of representing all content and interface elements, only a thumbnail version of the screens are shown. This forces the designer to consider only the aspects of each screen that are essential to high-level storytelling and ensures that the document remains glanceable. Similar to journey maps and personas, it touches on who the user is, what they are doing, and why. It does this in a way that focuses exclusively on user actions and the relevant product screens, features, and workflows that exist to support their needs and activities.
Highly flexible, thumbflows can demonstrate interactions with multiple users
Other powerful attributes of thumbflows include:
- Useful throughout a project. Thumbflows are certainly beneficial in the early stages of a project, but there are many other times they help out. For example, when hi-fidelity designs are being reviewed, thumbflows give teams a way to revisit or further develop a use case narrative. They can also help size up engineering efforts, acting as a playbook for product teams to create technical stories and requirements. We’ve even used thumbflows during user validation interviews as a guide to explain flow and UX.
- Personalized to each situation. There’s no single recipe for creating thumbflows. They morph to meet specific business needs. The ones we have created are highly customized depending on what a particular product, team, or project requires for success. Some show single persona flows, while others highlight multi-persona, multi-device activities. Yours might incorporate attributes we haven’t thought of or needed.
- Easy to create and revise. While you can wait to create a thumbflow until after you have solid drafts of more traditional design artifacts approved, there is no need. A detailed product roadmap or a sketch on a whiteboard is enough to get started. Since thumbflows require minimal effort to build and consume when compared to other deliverables, multiple iterations can be created without burning too many hours. Feedback from thumbflows reviews can also provide invaluable, early guidance to help designers understand interaction models, reveal pain points, and test alternative scenarios.
A complex thumbflow that showcases an extended user experience, including switching devices
As for business benefits, thumbflows:
- Help determine if you are solving for user needs. Thumbflows help everyone understand if they are building the best solution for end users. The combination of images and words clarifies even the most complex ideas and lends a human face to analytics data and research findings. We’ve seen many times when thumbflows uncovered an issue or surfaced a need that the team hadn’t thought of before or couldn't articulate clearly.
- Allow you to focus on the best path and avoid dead ends. Teams often get drawn into the weeds too early, wasting time discussing details that might not even pertain to the final designs. Since thumbflows provide a high-level, concise explanation of what should happen and purposely omit technical requirements, everyone involved—design, development, and stakeholders—can reach consensus before investing too much time and effort. By avoiding erroneous work, design teams can spend more hours exploring new options and creative solutions.
An example of a thumbflow that incorporates Jira tickets to ensure engineering is also in the loop
Getting Started
Today is a perfect time to experiment with thumbflows. If a project is underway, you’ll have plenty of design artifacts to draw from. If it’s just starting up, think about incorporating thumbflows from the outset. You might want to begin with a simple one, or just jump right in with a more complex version if the situation warrants it. As the product evolves, so will your thumbflows. And the next project? The thumbflows will probably look very different. No matter what you come up with, we’d love to hear from you about your experience. Contact us at hello@proximitylab.com.
This 45-minute session explores the importance of investing in vision-oriented product design and examine how it can help drive value and alignment across the organization and how it relates to product strategy, road map development, and release-focused design and implementation. This event features the perspectives from product leaders from Autodesk and Netflix.
Key Topics
- When product vision can help achieve commercial success with market leading products
- How product vision can enhance product strategy, road map development, and release-focused design and implementation
- Why product vision increases internal alignment between product and executive teams
Listen to the podcast now.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What's Next
This event is the first in a discussion series that will explore the topic from the perspectives of design leaders, product strategists and product designers. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or questions please send them to hello@proximitylab.com.
Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer at Adobe, shares insights from his critically acclaimed book "The Messy Middle" as part of our Design Conversation Series. Watch the full podcast to hear the discussion about the book and other guidance and inspiration to product leaders and those tackling bold creative endeavors.
Key Topics
- Why reflecting on lessons learned during the messy middle is critical for teams to understand challenges ahead
- How to create product experiences for different mindsets and sustain product simplicity
- How organizations and leaders can adapt in the future to constantly changing customer needs and work environments
Listen to the podcast now.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What's Next
This event is the first in the Design Conversation Discussion series. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or questions please send them to hello@proximitylab.com.
Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a broad range of technologies and capabilities that will continue to radically change the way we interact with digital content. As design professionals seeking to better understand the impact of AI on product design and creativity, we spoke with and surveyed product and design tool experts, designers and knowledge workers. We combined this with our own experience helping companies research, envision and build AI-powered experiences to develop this report.
Key Takeaways
- Next generation products will need to evolve how users interact with AI to build trust with users, improve guidance and comply with regulations
- Design tools that leverage smart computing technologies will free designers from the mundane and allow them to focus on more strategic and creative work
- AI-powered business applications will help knowledge workers make better decisions and will help them better express their ideas.
Next Steps
We hope you enjoy the report and invite you to share your responses, ideas and insights with us. If you'd like to explore ways we can help your product team with research, product strategy and UX design, we'd love to talk with you.