Product managers (often referred to as Product Owners) and UX designers have unique skills and perspectives that help them create user-focused products.
However, misunderstandings and conflicts can appear when their responsibilities overlap.
As a result, their collaboration is negatively impacted, making them miss out on understanding each other’s expertise and sharing knowledge.
What are the overlapping responsibilities of Product Managers and UX Designers?
Before discussing who does what, I’ll begin with a quote from Melisa Perri:
“It’s not about the role, it’s about the skill.”
It makes sense when you think about it. Product managers and UX designers are often limited to specific roles, with only product managers creating user stories and identifying user needs and only UX designers creating user personas, wireframes, and so on.
Not to mention that switching from one company to another can add to an already existing confusion.
While some responsibilities should be clear for each role, there are others where they can overlap. In such cases, clear communication and mutual respect are essential to avoiding misunderstandings.
This promotes a healthy work environment in which neither of them should feel that their position is being compromised.
Both roles may sometimes overstep their boundaries, leading to conflicts and potentially building the wrong product. But, by reassessing their goals and tasks, they can overcome these challenges.
Let’s check out their individual and overlapping responsibilities.
Melissa Perri, Fair use
These responsibilities can be divided into two categories. One aligns with the role of a product manager on the left, and the other is aligned with the role of a UX designer on the right.
The central part of the image often brings disagreements between the two roles. This is because each thinks they are solely responsible for fulfilling those tasks.
However, the truth is that the central part consists of various tools and resources that can assist both roles in carrying out their respective responsibilities.
How can product managers and UX designers collaborate using the right tools?
Next, I will describe how I work with the UX designers on my team and how we use various tools referenced in the image above.
- User research
We work closely together to ensure that our research goals are aligned. We have specific responsibilities during the research process, so understanding each other’s roles is necessary.
As a product manager, I focus on providing insights into the needs of target user personas through market research and business goals. I also leverage my networks and resources to recruit participants for user research and provide input based on project timelines and resource availability.
On the other hand, the UX designers contribute their understanding of user behaviors and pain points. They help select participants who represent the target user personas and play a key role in facilitating interviews, moderating usability tests, and observing user behavior during the research phase.
Once the research findings are available, we collaborate to prioritize and translate insights into actionable steps. I prioritize features based on business impact, while UX designers propose design solutions that address user needs.
2. Wireframes
Working together on wireframes ensures that the product design meets user needs and business goals. Here are the main aspects of how we achieve this.
- Establish requirements together;
- Work together on the initial sketching phase;
- Offer feedback and make iterations to ensure wireframes meet user and business requirements;
- Collaborate on developing interactive prototypes based on the wireframes and conduct user testing sessions together;
- Communicate the reasoning behind the wireframes to stakeholders while the UX designers provide insights into user-centered design decisions;
3. User stories
I often use user story mapping, which helps me visualize user stories and how they relate to each other.
Writing user stories with my UX team is very valuable because I can explain each story’s business value and what users want to achieve.
And the UX designers can make sure the team understands how users will interact with each feature.
4. Personas
We start by agreeing on the desired outcomes of creating user personas to make our process effective.
We then gather qualitative and quantitative data through interviews, usability tests, and data analysis.
My insights from market research and customer feedback, along with the UX designer’s insights from usability research and user testing sessions, allow us to understand our users better.
Then, we analyze the data to identify common patterns, behaviors, needs, and user pain points. We conduct workshop sessions to brainstorm and translate the research insights into user personas, goals, motivations, challenges, and behaviors for each persona.
Our next step involves creating detailed persona profiles that contain their characteristics.
Having these personas defined allows me to prioritize features and make product decisions. They also assist UX designers in informing design decisions and ensuring that the user experience aligns with the target audience’s needs.
5. Experiments
First, we determine why we’re running these experiments. Knowing what we expect from them from the start is important. This helps us decide when we’ve collected enough data and what to do with it.
Then, we brainstorm experiment ideas based on user research, analytics, and competition.
During the experimentation phase, we observe user behavior, interactions, and outcomes and collect data to assess the changes’ impact.
After we analyze the data, we collaborate to extract insights and decide our next steps, which could involve testing new concepts, refining product design, or enhancing successful features.
My focus is on interpreting the business implications of our findings while the designers assess the impact on user experience.
Why should Product Managers and UX Designers work together?
- When the product managers and UX designers share the same vision, they can create products that align with user experience and business goals;
- They have different perspectives and data, leading to better product decisions;
- Regular check-ins between product owners and UX designers in the early design stages can help prevent expensive redesigns and user dissatisfaction;
- Together, they can quickly tweak designs and get user feedback, ensuring that the product meets user expectations and keeps improving;
Essential principles for successful collaboration
Product managers and UX designers need a foundation of open and transparent communication.
They achieve this through:
- regular meetings
- brainstorming sessions
- and documentation
The important part is to create an environment where they both feel comfortable expressing their ideas, providing feedback, and addressing concerns. Mutual respect for each other’s expertise should always be present.
Working together – from brainstorming to putting plans into action
Below I’m describing how I work with my UX team in the various stages of the product development cycle.
1. Ideation
In the ideation phase, we generate ideas for our product by considering the needs of our users or how they use it. Our goal is to make their experience easier.
2. Research and User Testing
Once we know what to do, we do more research. The UX team runs user research, while I focus on market research and competitor analysis.
3. Design and Prototyping
At this stage, the UX team starts working on prototypes. We have regular syncs where stakeholders are also involved, so that we can get enough feedback before we start development.
4. Development and Implementation
Once the design is finalized, the development team starts implementing the functionality. The designers and I are there to answer any questions that may appear.
5. Testing and Iteration
After the product is developed, it undergoes testing and iteration. We gather feedback from users and stakeholders to improve the product, identify areas for optimization, and refine the user experience.
Collaboration challenges and how to overcome them
- Communication Gaps
It’s common for the product manager and UX designer to both believe they are responsible for the same task, leading to confusion and redundancy. So, they must establish clear expectations and have regular check-ins to stay in sync.
- Differing Priorities
Different priorities can lead to conflicts. They need to find common ground and align priorities to resolve these conflicts.
- Resistance to Change
Resistance to change can be a significant barrier to collaboration. However, embracing a culture of experimentation and learning and encouraging new ideas can help overcome resistance to change.
- Lack of Trust
Effective teamwork depends on trust. This trust comes from being open, understanding, and doing what you say you’ll do. To create a great team environment, product managers and UX designers must build a strong trust foundation.
Final thoughts
Product managers and UX designers share the same mission: creating products that satisfy user needs and align with business objectives.
When working together, they must maintain open communication regarding the information they possess based on their responsibilities.
They should refrain from isolating themselves to the point of withholding progress updates, neglecting to report obstacles, or failing to share decisions that could impact their original plans.