User Experience Design

CHAPTER 49A DESIGN COLLABORATOR’S GAME PLAN: A product manager and an engineer’s journey in becoming awesome collaborators

It takes collaborators in multiple departments—product, engineering, sales, customer service, and others—working in alignment to deliver the best user experience.

Anita is a product manager and Tom is an engineering lead in the same organization. Let’s discuss how they can leverage the UXD Playbook to collaborate effectively with the experience practice.

From Coworkers to Collaborators: Anita and Tom’s Game Plan

Anita and Tom are coworkers at a small e‐commerce company with a successful track record selling perfumes online. Anita is the senior product manager, and Tom has been the senior engineer for the past couple of years. Recently, their company got a significant cash infusion from a private investor with a vision to create a global brand in personal care.

Along with the expansion came a big shift in the organization’s philosophy. The organization began building a high‐quality user experience design practice with specialized roles, including interaction designers, visual designers, user researchers, and a design manager.

Neither Anita nor Tom are used to collaborating with a mature design practice, as they usually work with a consultant who handles UI design tasks. Moving forward, they want to ensure that they can effectively engage with this new ...