UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
August//25//2023
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Smarter UX Democratization, a conversation with Julie Norvaisas. Great interview with Julie Norvaisas documented on dScout’s design blog by Ben Wiedmaier. The article probes on the evolution of her career (she was the Head of User Experience at Linkedin), and some of the iniatives she took in order to democratize User Experience, Product Design and Research. The article also highlights some of the programs Ms. Norvaisas implemented, which included Field Days, Research Bento, Lemonade Stand, and Tapas. All these programs had different goals and levels of exposure and interaction with clients/customers, but ultimately they all contributed to tell a story about the impact of strategic research across the company. Well worth reading through this fascinating conversation. Highlight of the article includes:
“Executive Field Days resulted in much more attention on and accountability to our work at very high levels, and cleared the way for our involvement in earlier strategic planning meetings and conversations. That said, a couple “watch-outs” if someone out there wants to try this with their exec team. One, it is a herculean effort. Shaping executive Field Days required deep collaboration with the Product and Marketing teams in the areas we focused on and a lot of time to get them right with the stakes so high. Two, we were always mindful of managing the situation so as not to create fire drills for product or eng teams in the areas we were digging into. The last thing we wanted was for them to be seen as threatening by participating teams.”
2.
Virgin Australia and Customer-Led Innovation. Interesting article from Qualtrics documenting a case study with one of their clients, namely airline Virgin Australia. Though the article is of course an endorsement to the virtuosity of Qualtrics and its platform, moving beyond the obvious product plug there are interesting insights on capturing the Voice of the Customer, and how that can impart innovation and iterative cycles. This case in particular with aviation is something where customers are always extremely vocal about their experiences, but seeking out feedback, reviews, and qualitative (and quantitative) data is fundamental to assure that Product Design cycles are effective and actually manifest the resolution of issues customers are demonstrating. Highlight of the article includes:
“Despite the challenges associated with a global pandemic for airlines around the world, Virgin Australia emerged a stronger, more disciplined and resilient airline. For a brand that has always embodied a challenger mentality predicated on delivering great experiences through innovation, it was an opportunity to reset and rebuild, taking the airline in a new direction. Instead of going head-to-head with full service or low-cost carriers, Virgin Australia went after the mid-market heartland for guests who want a more premium experience at an affordable and competitive price. A key pillar of the strategy was to invest significantly in technology to understand what customers value and enhance and improve their experience.”
3.
Netflix and a $900K Project Manager Job. Another interesting article hailing from the Pendo blog and author Nichole Mace, this one more of a reflection on AI and how its existence is generating the emergence of some interesting job opportunities, namely the one posted by Netflix (in all honesty the range for the position is situated between $300K and the aforementioned $900K). While the article doesn’t necessarily detail what the role actually entails, and eventually devolves into a series of well known and rather obvious considerations, it’s worth considering what a role such as Machine Learning Platform Product Manager (the actual role title from Netflix), will contemplate, and how AI in itself while solving many issues also opens the need for specialization of certain professionals. Worth reading through, and digging deeper. Highlight of the article includes:
“So what’s the future of product management going to be? Granted, there’s a lot of possible outcomes in the space between outright role elimination vs. elevating the PM to near seven-figure salary status. Nevertheless, what to take from the Netflix story is that AI will play an outsize role in the future of product management. And effective product leadership will be instrumental to any successful business effort leveraging AI. Netflix has long been a leader in AI, leveraging machine learning (ML) to power their recommendation engines, for example. So it makes sense that they’re now expanding their use of AI into the realm of content. When it comes to AI, the kind of agile development practice that Netflix has been known for, one in which PMs operate “on the edge of chaos,” is a tremendous advantage.”
