It is my fourth article ever and I’m already doing the thing I said I didn’t wanna do — giving advice!

But this advice it’s not for you. It’s for me.

It’s me pulling all my notes from the books, articles, podcasts, and videos I’ve consumed on this topic. I want it all in one place in the most compact form possible.

Background

UI design is going to die soon.

At least, this is how it looks to me from where I’m standing. The barrier of entry in this field is getting lower and lower. Just look at the new material design tool they’ve released. UI design is a commodity. In a year or two everyone with an idea and no prior design experience will have the tools to put together a decent UI design.

At some point this was my favorite thing to do.

Nowadays it’s a more of a boring repetitive job that I’m somewhat good at. And everyone has an opinion on it.

Not fun anymore.

The Challenge

So now what?

What should I do with this pretentious title I’ve given myself — UI/UX designer? Maybe I’ll just remove the UI part.

But I don’t want to be in the business of creating documents no one wants to read except for other UX designers.

I’d like to expand my expertise with something practical that is not going to expire in a few years when the technology gets better.

Limitations

It should be…
Something that can help my clients make better software products.
Measured by value, not time.
Something that separates me from the rest of the UI/UX designers with similar skill sets.
Should solve an evergreen problem that is not going away in the next few decades.

Solutions

I’ve read on this topic for two years now. It’s product strategy.
I know! This is going to be boring! Brace yourself!
I used to think I was going to be a fine artist when I grew up and hate everyone that wears a suit.
I can’t convince you it’s fun. It took me two years to come around this.

It’s a broad topic.
So I’m focusing on what is relevant for app design.
I want to know how clients are thinking what they are trying to build.
What is important to them.
UI design is never on their priority list.
But product strategy is.
Maybe they give it a different name. Or they don’t know there is such a thing.
But when you start talking about the things I’m about to write below… they no longer see you as the image-making person that they get overcharged by. A line item on the invoice they pay. An expense.

Instead, they start look at you as the person they should talk to before investing a big pile of money in their next digital product. As an adviser. Someone that can help them crystallize their idea. And the fact that you also know design now makes you indispensable. Because now you can help them think and show them the results faster than anyone else.

I’ve seen these people call themselves digital product strategists.
That’s even cooler than UI/UX designer, right!?
So, what do you have to know to become a digital product strategist?
Here are all the key concepts to know.

What is Product strategist?

The person in the middle of the business and the product.
Sees the big picture of what the product is and how it works
Able to give clear insights and recommendations on what the team should do next.

Work with:

Business owner
Product manager
UI/UX designers

To help with:

Why are we building it.
Figure out what they should build.
Short-term roll-out strategy of the product.
Long-term strategy — where this product goes in the next 5 years
How this product fits inside the company with the rest of the pieces of the business

Things to understand to become a product strategist

Growth

Acquisition — where/what channels do users come from?
Activation — what percent have a “happy” initial experience?
Retention — do they come back and re-visit over time?
Referral — do they like it enough to tell their friends?
Revenue — can you monetize any of this behavior?

(This is a huge topic by itself. I will do another article just on that at some point.)

Strategy

Mission — This is a statement that describes the problem you are setting out to solve, typically including who you are solving it for.

Vision — It paints the picture of how your product will make an impact.

This is the idealized solution that addresses the problem you’ve articulated in your mission.

Strategy — Is the set of guiding principles for your roadmapping and execution tasks to ensure they align with your mission and vision.

Roadmap — This is the manifestation of your strategy in concrete steps towards your product vision, inclusive of rough milestones and timelines.

Execution — This is the day-to-day activities along the path of the roadmap.

Marketing

Anything that you do to bring new or old users to your product. Create awareness for your products.

Positioning — What problem you solve and for whom. It’s your value proposition.

Branding — Your product reputation. How people talk about your product (ex: the first impressions).

Social prove — Other people or company validating your product is good (ex: testimonials, mentions in media, big social media following…).

Terms to know

OKR — Objective and Key Results
KPI — Key Performance Indicators

Questions to ask on a meeting

What is your growth strategy?
What is the big picture strategy?
What is the marketing roll-out plan?

Conclusion

There is much more that can go in to a design than just the visuals.
I see the benefits of knowing more about the things that I’ve always shied away from before. And this is just the surface. I’m kinda excited to go deeper and learn more about the business and how to really move the needle for my client using design strategically.

I’ll keep you posted.