Product Story: CEO-Centered Product Design
When I first met my UX designer friend, Pouria, he told me that there are different types of product design with other "axioms," such as User-Centered Design.
But the design method, which is not mentioned, is a product design focusing on high-level employees of companies, and he used the term CEO Centered Product Design for it.
Several times, I realized the truth of Pouria's words during my professional life. The second time, a friend of mine who worked in front-end design and development told me about his experience in a job interview during one of the sessions we had together.
In this meeting, after many questions were asked of him and he answered all of them, they came to the question that if your expert opinion for designing a product is different from the personal opinion of the CEO, what decision would you make?
He understood his position in this interview well and knew the primary purpose of the question he was asked; he answered:
I will do the design in the way that the CEO says. Because they pay my wages, so I will do what they say.
These people (Pouria and my other friend) are active in product design and management. And so far, they have had success in this area. Hearing about their experiences made me think about this more carefully.
Do what I say:
At one of the product committee meetings, one of the product designers was reprimanded and mistreated by the business owner because he did not include one of the features he wanted in his design. He was questioned why he didn't design one of the features as he was told to do.
If this product designer were not strong in terms of design and personal communication, the product re-design project would most likely have encountered many problems and obstacles initially.
He was consulting with the company's top employees until the last moment. He was the first person who was able to defend customers' needs for the first time and put the customer at the center of his design.
One of the most important skills needed in professional life is the ability to communicate properly with different people, based on their characteristics.
Because the results are obtained through communication and for the expression of opinions.
Not everyone is Steve Jobs:
Unfortunately, it is an undesirable but common thought among some people who consider themselves upstream (business owners, CEOs, and even some product managers); they behave like the late Steve Jobs and generally dismiss any dissent.
We do not doubt that the late Steve Jobs is a great product manager, designer, marketer, and strong leader. But we can't become "Steve Jobs" by behaving like him. If such a thing were possible, his character would be repeated. And he was not mentioned as a particular person with outstanding success.
We will see severe conflicts and debates when everyone tries to show the other person they know more than him. Or they cut off communications, each guarding their stronghold and location. This is where communication between teams in the company becomes extremely difficult, and complex work processes will take the place of agility.
I will save you:
One of the things I discussed earlier in the article Anti-Patterns is the importance of the role of a "superhero" in organizations.
A superhero, after several years of team effort, suddenly appears and convinces the business owners that everything that has been done so far has been fundamentally wrong and:
"Come with me; I will show you salvation."
The role of the "superhero" in the organization causes drastic changes in the environment. With the presence of this new person, there is a possibility that a large number of people will be fired or resign.
To read more about Anti Patterns, Read my other story here:
Me as a USER:
This term is often heard from people involved in product development. They always start their sentences with "I as a user" to express their entirely personal opinions if they do not have in-depth knowledge and experience in User Research and other issues.
These people can well exploit the introversion of some designers and put them in the position of an operator by applying their personal opinions and pressuring them—an operator whose only duty is to visualize what they say.
If you disagree, I will block your way:
This story summarizes several hours of conversation, which is not a very nice title for key persons in the organization that does not object to you doing user tests, A / B testing, etc. But to implement your solutions, you need to consult with them and get the seal of approval from them.
Of course, there may be solutions in their view that, although in your opinion, are weaker in terms of efficiency. But if you dare, oppose seeing obstacles in your way that you did not believe existed before.
What is the solution:
Given my limited experience in this area, I think the solution needs to be summarized by design colleagues and hear the other party talk. The conclusions will be somewhat crude, but this (limited) conclusion can be a good starting point.
Fight, Freeze, and Flight:
The term fight freeze flight refers to how people instinctively choose to deal with problems.
Of course, there is always another way, "better situation management and communication" is recommended instead. As far as I know, some designers leave their workplaces because of such conditions.
Others get into lengthy, costly discussions with the top echelons of the organization, and eventually, after getting bored, either leave the company or turn to do what the business owner wants them to do until they have a chance to escape.
Common ground:
After talking to Pouria again about this issue, we realized that some decision-makers (investors, business owners, etc.) need a background in the IT industry. For this reason, using familiar concepts and understandings, we can reach positive conclusions with them.
Suppose these people have a purely "business" background. As they get closer to the business language (numbers), product designers can share the impact of the changes or the reason for their designs with a standard and more comparative language.
My primary purpose in writing this article was that I think that actors in different areas of product development (product managers and owners, designers, developers, etc.) can work together to find a shared understanding and become closer to investors and business owners.
As a result, in addition to more freedom, they will receive more support in developing projects and making changes.
Building trust is always two-way. The question is, does anyone know what steps need to be taken to build trust? And does he want to take those steps or not?
While the so-called negative experiences presented in this text do not indicate that there were no positive experiences, I have tried to use scenarios that are in line with the theme.
We actually learn the most from failures and problems because when we reach our goal easily, there is not really much to learn.
I want to thank Pouria, and all my friends in product management, marketing professionals, and especially top business executives who have shared their positive and negative experiences with me over the years to write this article.
However, it is necessary to address this issue in more detail,l and this time from the perspective of business owners.
Thank you for being with me until the end of this article. I will be happy if you share your opinions and experiences in this field with us in the comments section.
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