“How does this approach differ or complement design processes you’ve used before.”
This approach complements the way I do design by adding human-centered component to the people that I work with. Previously, my understanding of human-centered design was predicated on centering my design work on the humans I design for, a skill I developed in Human Values in Design. However, the author of this reading posits that centering our work on the humans we design with can help us make more effective and impactful products. This kind of human-centeredness especially manifests itself in two major ways in this reading.
The first is utilizing story-telling as a means of conveying our ideas to those we work with. Previously, my understanding of story-telling was more of a marketing of value proposition to potential users. Conveying a story about how a product will help the potential user understand how they may fit into that narrative and, therefore, benefit from the product. Yet, this reading introduced the power of utilizing stories to convey the workings of your product. I’m currently a PM intern, and as part of my PRDs, I have to write user stories of different use cases. Initially, I never truly understood the value of it. It felt like just a box to check off as a responsibility. This reading brings color to its value: “The real goal of using stories is shared understanding.” The value of it is building shared understanding amongst my team so that we can align on goals and ultimately build a product in a cohesive manner. It’s difficult to parse the finer details on a PRD without giving context to how it contributes to the user story.
The second is the trickle effect of human-centered design on business success. This reading notes that it’s not just about keeping the customers happy but also keeping those that you work with happy. And how does that happen? Keeping the business performance up. But it turns out, business performance and customer satisfaction are tied together: “Your company can’t get what it wants unless your customers and users get something they want.” Customer success directly affects business success, which in turn, affects employee happiness. It’s like an entire ecosystem working together, and it really illuminates the true meaning of human-centered product management.
