User Experience for
Product Managers
Agile Singapore Conference 2016
Michael Ong
Product Team Coach @ The Collab Folks

ABOUT THIS TALK
UX for Product Managers
‣ Why is UX important for Product Managers? Gain an understanding of
the concept and discipline of user experience - defined, explained and
made actionable for Product Managers.
‣ Learn how UX tools and artifacts can help you make better product
decisions, and how to overcome common objections to UX processes.

AGENDA
What we will cover today
‣ The Value of User Experience, beyond screens and interfaces
‣ Discover how UX is critical to your business and bottom line, including
the ROI of UX
‣ Learn to Integrate UX Data points into your product development
decision-making process using personas
‣ Learn how to overcome common business objections to implementing
UX processes
‣ Q&A

Site maps
Wireframes
Card sorting
Usability testing
Contextual
inquiry
Personas
Scenarios
Prototyping
Heuristic
evaluations
Mental models
Affinity
diagramming
Concept maps
A/B testing
Flow diagrams
Taxonomies
Storyboards
User interviews
AGENDA
What we will
not be able to
cover today
How to be a User
Experience
Designer!

Ruth Ho Michael Ong
Focused on digital strategy,
marketing, product development,
and user experience.
Previous projects include Luxury E-
Commerce, Global Payments Tech,
Telco, and B2B Mobile Applications.
Passionate about customer-centric
design/product development,
marketing analytics, stakeholder
management, and bridging the gap
between business and IT.
Focused on product strategy and
development, agile practices, and
user experience.
Previous projects include Mobile
Payments, Logistics Tracking &
Surveying, Cleaning Inspection,
Merchant Monitoring, E-Commerce,
and Real Estate Portals.
Passionate about helping founders
chart a path towards growth through
startup mentoring and coaching.
Focused on user experience, field
and user research, digital strategy
and marketing.
Previous projects include Online
Publishing, E-Commerce, Customer
Loyalty, Online Bookings, and Human
Capital Management Software.
Passionate about customer
discovery, aligning business goals
with user goals, and problem-solving
via user-centric solutions.
Lena Quek

MICHAEL ONG | @michaelon9 | michael@thecollabfolks.com
tech ~ agile ~ ux ~ product ~ team coach
‣ before 1999 : programming in 6
languages
‣ web design / development
‣ research & development
‣ network engineer
‣ full-stack development + sales
‣ programming in +15 languages
‣ business process consulting
‣ internet spaceships
‣ portal development
‣ UXSG.org , Agile Singapore, Product Groups
‣ scrum master
‣ mobile & ux lead
‣ product manager
‣ coo a.k.a even more work including
customer success, operations,
logistics & finance
‣ more internet spaceships
‣ cycling + startup
‣ coach for agile, ux & product teams

MICHAEL ONG | @michaelon9 | michael@thecollabfolks.com
i’ve worked with …
‣ Société Générale
‣ NEC Solutions
‣ K.C. Dat
‣ Nippon Express
‣ Air Asia
‣ Singapore Zoo
‣ Jurong Birdpark
‣ Changi Airport Group
‣ M1
‣ Referral Candy
‣ That Green
Space
‣ Arcstone
‣ KMK Online
‣ Bukalapak
‣ Foolproof
‣ SPH
‣ EMC
‣ Mapletree
‣ VISA
‣ Robert BOSCH
‣ SPH, ST701
‣ iProperty Group
‣ bellabox Australia &
Singapore
‣ Bicycl.asia
at The Collab Folks …

The Collab Folks Approach
Product
Management
Agile Practices
User
Experience Design
Marketing
Founder Mentorship
Product Team Coaching
Talent / Skills Identification
Connect external
Talent / Skills
Explore
Collab
Evaluate

Who’s here today?
Introductions
‣ Are you a
‣ Product Manager
‣ Designer
‣ User Researcher ?
‣ Developer / Engineer
‣ QA ?
‣ Business Development ?
‣ Marketing ?
3
minutes
Let’s Warm Up :)

The Value of User
Experience, beyond
screens and interfaces
User Experience for Product Managers

A Product Manager’s Job
Credit : http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager/
1. Help your team
2. (and company)
3. ship
4. the right product
5. for your users

The Role of the Product Manager is challenging
Credit : https://medium.com/@tyahma/how-to-hire-product-people-aab926e077c8

The Four Pillars
What it takes to be a great Product Leader
‣ Soft Skills
‣ Communication
‣ Relationship Building
‣ Negotiation
‣ People Management
‣ Business Acumen
‣ Domain Knowledge
‣ Technical and UX Skills
‣ Technology
‣ User Experience (UX)
‣ Product Lifecycle (technical)
‣ Processes, Methodologies and
Frameworks
Source : What it takes to be a great Product Leader http://techproductmanagement.com/what-it-takes-to-be-a-great-product-leader-the-four-pillars/

What is User Experience ?
WHAT IS UX?

It is all-encompassing
What is User Experience?
“User experience”
encompasses all aspects
of the end-users
interaction with the
company, its services, and
it’s products.
Image Credit : www.servicedesigntools.org

It is about people
What is User Experience?
The first requirement for an exemplary
user experience is to meet the exact
needs of the customer, without fuss or
bother.
Next comes simplicity and elegance
that produces products that are a joy to
own, a joy to use.
True user experience goes far beyond
giving customers what they say they
want, or providing checklist of features.

It is achieved through integration
What is User Experience?
In order to achieve high-
quality user experience in
a company’s offerings,
there must be a seamless
merging of services of
multiple disciplines,
including engineering,
marketing, graphical and
industrial design, and
interface design
Image Credit : websites.premierit.com/images/pictures/database-integration-people

for your organisation ?
What is User Experience …
‣ What does User Experience mean to you and your organisation ?
‣ Why do you think User Experience is important to your product ?
‣ What Challenges do you face today in your product?
10
minutes

Designing Products
Today
Physical +
Digital
we design for
Tomorrow
we design for
Connected
Experience!
Yesterday
Desktop
Mobile
we design for
Physical

Which product(s) do you consider to
have a good user experience ?
What is User Experience?
5
minutes

Positive Experience
Image Credit: Michael Ong
Quote from Feedback : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1670187625/see-sense-icon-the-intelligent-and-connected-cycle
“1st, I love the new design,
charging slots are brilliant and
much improvement from
previous versions.
2, App works great. First attempt
to update didn't go, so stopped
app and connected 1 at a time to
update, worked easily.
3, Quality!”

Melissa Perri :
Do you agree?
“Product Management with no User Experience Design
creates functional products that don’t make users excited.
User Experience Design with no Product Management
produces delightful products that don’t become businesses.”
Source : Melissa Perry on Changing the Conversation about Product Management vs. UX http://melissaperri.com/2016/01/17/pmvsux/#.VrDr4jZ96L7

Can you think of product(s) that
have a bad user experience?
What is User Experience?
5
minutes

Negative Experience
“I bought two of these... Very
unhappy. Both do not work right.
Have to reset every single time as
it freezes and just doesn't work.
works for ten minutes. Not happy
and wasted money. want my
money back.”
Image Credit: http://thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/02/flyfit2.png
Quote from Feedback : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/522669502/flyfit-unique-ankle-tracker-for-fitness-cycling-an

Product Management and UX Design Responsibilities
Credit : http://melissaperri.com/2016/01/17/pmvsux/#.VrDr4jZ96L7

How to work together
User Stories and epics :
Define users, goals and
value
Product Management can
own the acceptance
criteria
Requirements

How to work together
Understand user needs
and how they use
technology / services
That means customer
visits and regular
interviews
User Research

How to work together
Designers facilitate the
design process with
whiteboard and hand
sketch sessions
Ideation

Communication
How to work together
Include both in the
regular cadence of
product meetings to
ensure a regular flow of
communication

What : Product Management vs How : User Experience
Product Managers
Responsible for
product’s overall success
UX Designers
Responsible for ensuring
users’ needs are met

Discover how UX is critical
to your business and
bottom line, including the
ROI of UX
User Experience for Product Managers

Jeneanne Rae
Do you agree?
“Integrating Design into your company involves more than
just hiring superstar designers. It takes a long-term
commitment and developing a culture that brings
everyone up to speed”
Source : Jeneanna Rae on 6 Keys for Turning Your Company into a Design Powerhouse http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669433/6-keys-for-turning-your-company-into-a-design-powerhouse?

ROI of Design-centric firms
Creating
sustainable
competitive
advantage
through
design is not
a quick or
easy task.
Source : DMI Design Value Index (Source: Design Management Institute) http://designforeurope.eu/news-opinion/value-design-business

Design Maturity Ladder
Source : The Design Maturity Ladder (Source: Danish Design Centre) http://designforeurope.eu/news-opinion/value-design-business

5 tips for Building Corporate Design Organisations
Source : Jeneanna Rae on 6 Keys for Turning Your Company into a Design Powerhouse http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669433/6-keys-for-turning-your-company-into-a-design-powerhouse?
1) A vision and strategy that is well-articulated and understood
by the organization
2) Leadership that is capable and committed to driving its vision
3) An organisation that is structured and resourced for success
4) A talent pool that is diverse in design principles and deployed
at key points of functional integration
5) A culture that embraces the myriad dimensions of design

Think about Direction = Vision + Strategy
Credit : dcnorris.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/algebra-what-is-role-af-coo.html
Direction = Vision + Strategy
And for the company to be successful it needs to be
capable to pursue that direction.
Success = Direction x Capability
Capability has two main drivers...
Capability = Competence x Capacity

think about Direction = Vision + Strategy
Credit : dcnorris.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/algebra-what-is-role-af-coo.html
Competence is how good we are at doing something and it's
driven by 4 main factors;
Competence =
Communication x Skills x Experience x Information
Capacity however is how fast we are at doing it and it's driven by
how many resources we have (money, people, assets) and how
productive or efficient we are with those resources.
Capacity = Resources x Efficiency

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
30
minutes

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Challenges
What Problems are you trying
to solve?
What obstacles must you
overcome?
Examples
Lack of coherency
Migration of customers
Deteriorating image
Internal Constraints

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Aspirations
What are the ideal desired
outcomes?
What do you want to achieve?
Examples:
Unification of experiences
Accelerated Adoption
Market Recognition
Transformational impact on
users

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Focus Areas
What is the scope of the
strategy?
What will you focus on for the
most impact?
Types
Users and Personas
Regions, language, culture
Services and Products
User Cases and Scenarios
Areas of UX (e.g. IA, content)

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Guiding Principles
How will you overcome the
challenges?
What specific mantras will
guide teams?
Examples
Particular sequence of
activities
Approach for persuasion
Coordination of touchpoint
Differentiation play

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Activities
What types of activities solve
the problem?
What capabilities achieve your
aspiration?
Types:
Research methods
Information Architecture
Design Activities
Prototyping and Testing
Best Practice and Patterns
Skill Development

Developing a UX Strategy Blueprint
Credit : https://www.uie.com/articles/ux_strategy_blueprint/
Challenges
Aspirations
Focus Areas
Guiding Principles
Activities
Measurements
Measurements
What type of measurements
will you employ?
What metrics will be used to
gauge success?
Examples
Increase user satisfaction
Better task completion
Higher frequency of use
Increased self support

Learn to Integrate UX Data
points into your product
development decision-
making process using
personas
User Experience for Product Managers

Design Freedom vs Cost of Change
Design Freedom vs Cost Of Change
Credit :Adaptive Path

Empathy
For the Product you work on, Understand Your Users
‣ The intellectual
identification with the
feelings, thoughts, or
attitudes of another.
‣ The vicarious
experiencing of those
feelings, thoughts, or
attitudes.
empathy is not sympathy

Create an
Empathy Map
For the Product you work on, Understand Your Users
‣ Think & Feel
‣ Hear
‣ See
‣ Say & Do
‣ Pain
‣ Gain
15
minutes

That was not easy ?
For the Product you work on, Understand Your Users
‣ Invite your team when you are back in the office
‣ You
‣ Stakeholders
‣ Customer support leads
‣ Vendors
‣ Product developers
‣ Salespeople
‣ Copywriters

Ask questions like
For the Product you work on, Understand Your Users
‣ How do they think about their fears and hopes?
‣ What do they hear when other people use your product?
‣ What do they see when they use your product? What is the environment?
‣ What do they say or feel when using your product, whether in private or public?
‣ What are their pain points when using your product?
‣ Is this a positive or a painful experience for them?
‣ What does a typical day look like in their world?
‣ Do they hear positive feedback about your company from external sources?
‣ What do they hope to gain from using your product?
‣ Has your customer repeated quotes or defining words?

Who are your
customers?
Creating Personas
‣ A persona is a way to
model, summarize and
communicate research
about people who have
been observed or
researched in some
way.
Image Credit : http://www.slideshare.net/GemmaMacNaught/gemma-macnaught-simplifying-personas-final-2

Why User Personas?
Image Credit : https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-1/

How we could create Personas
Image Credit : https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-1/
1. Interview and/or observe an adequate number of people.
2. Find patterns in the interviewees’ responses and actions, and use
those to group similar people together.
3. Create archetypical models of those groups, based on the patterns
found.
4. Drawing from that understanding of users and the model of that
understanding, create user-centered designs.
5. Share those models with other team members and stakeholders.
if we had a lot of time and some help …

What if you are a lone Product Manager?
10
minutes

What if you are a lone Product Manager?
Image Credit : http://leanuxtools.com/Lean-UX-templates.html
Sketch & Name
Sketch the scenario in which the
user is having a problem
Tips:
Add information about the
environment he is in

What if you are a lone Product Manager?
Image Credit : http://leanuxtools.com/Lean-UX-templates.html
Behaviours and Beliefs
What behaviours and beliefs
might the person have? How
does he conduct himself ?
Tips :
Think about the actions the user
takes to use your product / or
service

What if you are a lone Product Manager?
Image Credit : http://leanuxtools.com/Lean-UX-templates.html
Demographics
Try to focus on demographic
information that predicts a
specific type of behaviour
Tips:

What if you are a lone Product Manager?
Image Credit : http://leanuxtools.com/Lean-UX-templates.html
Needs & Goals
What does the user need and
their goals for using your
product / services?
Tips:
Focusing on pain points can help
understand their needs

Great! I now have a Persona Sketch
but it’s not validated!
Image Credit : https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/lean-ux-getting-out-of-the-deliverables-business/

Usability Testing
User Research and Product Validation
In a usability test, people
try to do typical tasks with
the design, while
observers, including the
development staff, watch,
listen and take notes. The
product does not have to
be a finished design.

How many to test?
Usability Testing
Are just 5 test participants needed to
catch all major usability problems?
On average, 5 tests (per user group)
catch 85% of usability problems.
However, usability-problem detection
rates can go as low as 55% for a
sample size of 5.
With 10 tests, you captures between
82%- 95% of problems.
Credit : Jakob Nielson www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

How many to test?
Usability Testing
More tests means more reliability
More tests means fewer new results
Consider conducting multiple rounds of
smaller tests than one big test

What should you test?
Let’s Develop Some Tests for your Product
‣ Write task scenarios that
are realistic, encourage an
action, and don’t give away
how the interface should be
used
Image Credit: Michael Ong

Make the Task Realistic
Let’s Develop Some Tests for your Product
‣ User goal: Browse product offerings and purchase an item.
‣ Poor task: Purchase a pair of orange Nike running shoes.
‣ Better task: Buy a pair of shoes for under $40.

Make the tasks actionable
Let’s Develop Some Tests for your Product
‣ User goal: Find movie and show times.
‣ Poor task: You want to see a movie Sunday afternoon. Go to
www.google.com and tell me where you’d click next.
‣ Better task: Use cathay.com.sg to find a movie you’d be interested in
seeing on Sunday afternoon.

Avoid Clues and Describing the Steps
Let’s Develop Some Tests for your Product
‣ User goal: Look up grades.
‣ Poor task: You want to see the results of your midterm exams. Go to the
website, sign in, and tell me where you would click to get your transcript.
‣ Better task: Look up the results of your midterm exams.

What would you test?
Let’s Develop Some Tests for your Product
Describe 2 scenarios in which
you would test with real users
with your product
5
minutes

Usability Tests : Sharing Results

Usability Tests : Aſter addressing pain points

Usability Evaluation : Time to Complete Task and Goals

Learn how to overcome
common business
objections to implementing
UX processes
User Experience for Product Managers

What are the common objections?
Do you face objections in introducing User Experience?
When introducing User Experience topics to
your organisation, what questions do you face?
10
minutes

but Change is _HARD_, what if …
Sounds worrying ?
‣ Talking to Customers Isn’t a Part of an Organization’s Culture
‣ Leadership Doesn’t Have a Clear Vision
‣ Leadership and the Design Team Don’t Share the Same Vision
‣ The Design Team Hasn’t Laid a Sound Foundation by Establishing a
Design Process
‣ The Designers on a Team Aren’t on the Same Page
‣ An Organization Doesn’t Allocate Its Resources Properly
‣ An Organization Encourages Feature Creep
‣ There’s No Effort Dedicated to Fit and Finish
Source : http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/04/organizational-challenges-for-ux-professionals.php

As a product manager, you
are in the ideal position to
Take charge
‣ Listen up!
‣ Be the voice of honesty and
open-mindedness
‣ Get practical and collaborative
‣ Make it good enough, but no
better
Source : http://uxmastery.com/how-to-apply-ux-in-an-organisation-new-to-user-centred-design/

Who are your
customers?
Understand Your Environment
Can you develop
personas to determine
Demographics
Behaviours
Needs & Goals

Who are your
stakeholders?
Understand Your Environment
designers
developers
qa
marketing
sales
operations
customers service
finance

Where are the
problem areas?
Understand Organisational Key Concerns
Communication ?
IT Responsiveness?
Bad Customer Service?

Agile?
How are you delivering projects?
it is also helpful to
identify what type
of project delivery
method you are
using in your team
perhaps you are in
transition and it is
helpful to know the
contraints and
paths towards each
state (whether it
will succeed or fail)

Put it together
Goals , Vision, Strategy
‣ Run workshops to educate
basics of User Experience
‣ Hire dedicated UX team
members or go at it yourself
‣ Measure
‣ Present
‣ Repeat

What we covered today
The Value of User Experience, beyond screens and interfaces
Discover how UX is critical to your business and bottom line,
including the ROI of UX
Learn to Integrate UX Data points into your product development
decision-making process using personas
Learn how to overcome common business objections to implementing
UX processes
User Experience for Product Managers : RECAP

GREAT BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ

Tools you can use
‣ Primarily use Google Docs
‣ Draw is great for task flow diagrams
‣ I favor BPMN
‣ We also use diagramming tools like Cacoo
‣ For prototyping
‣ Paper, Sketch, Mockflow, Balsamiq, Mockflow, Fireworks, Photoshop works depending on
your team
‣ For sharing visual designs and collaboration
‣ Google Draw, Invision
‣ For usability testing
‣ Silverback or Morae
‣ For Mobile Usability testing, setting up a rig for camera is quite easy.

Q&A
Agile Singapore Conference 2016 : User Experience for Product Managers
MICHAEL ONG | @michaelon9 | michael@thecollabfolks.com
More questions? contact me via e-mail or setup a time to chat.

Thank You
& enjoy the rest of Agile Conference!
Agile Singapore Conference 2016 : User Experience for Product Managers