Product & UX Lean Coffee Takeaways: Tips for Greater Collaboration & Impact

At the end of January, Lean TECHniques hosted a virtual lean coffee with product and UX professionals to share stories, swap ideas, and explore what great collaboration really looks like. Here are some of the high-level takeaways from that event.

1. UX Involvement in the Discovery Process

• Ways to Get Internal Buy-in for Discovery: Demonstrate the value of research by presenting it in a way that’s actionable and meaningful to stakeholders and leadership. Starting with smaller projects and showing positive results by investing in it will give way to scaling discovery efforts for broader organizational initiatives.
• Consider Different Types of Research to Back Decisions: You might not always be able to do the level of research and discovery you’d like. Start where you are. Can you at least get buy-in for quantitative research and push for qualitative later?
  • Evidence Guided is a great resource around this topic.
• Highlight the Cost of Not Doing Discovery: Product and UX teams are often asked to hit a deadline and cut corners when it comes to research and discovery. People have found success in being able to communicate that there’s a cost to skipping discovery. That it’s not just ‘time to release’ that needs to be considered, but the ‘time to get it right.’ Highlight the risks, including a big one which is the potential loss of customer trust. Another way this was phrased: without discovery, you risk not solving the right problem. 

2. Using User Insights and Analytics in Product Decisions

• Leveraging KPIs to Inform Decision-Making: KPIs are a helpful measure in determining whether a change is needed in the first place and/or if it’s worth doing research on.
• The Duality of Research and Measurement: Research and measurement go hand-in-hand. Democratizing data by making analytics available through public dashboards helps educate and engage stakeholders on the importance of CX efforts.
• Data as a Medium for Building Trust with Leadership: Leveraging data effectively is key to building trust with leadership. It allows you to clearly tell the story of how the right thing was delivered – with data to back it up.
• The Importance of Gathering Multiple Types of Data: Observing how users interact with a product is often very different from what they say about it. Gathering data in different ways gives you a clearer and likely more accurate picture of user engagement and value.
• Connecting Teams Closer to Customers: Distributing analytics and data to teams helps them better connect with the people actually using the product. Teams want to feel like their work is meaningful and that they’re building the right solution.

3. Success or Tips When UX Isn’t Dedicated to Your Product but Shared Across the Organization

• Awareness & Exposure: When product or UX is a shared service, communication and education are crucial. Raising awareness about what you can do helps align efforts and support the organization’s broader goals.
• Design Systems & Component Libraries: Having a design system or component library provides teams with standardized design components that can be used across the organization. This reduces inconsistencies and speeds up the design process.

4. UX Structures at Your Organization

• Centers of Excellence and Regular Meet-Ups: If UX isn’t embedded in every product team, establishing a Center of Excellence can provide a framework for offering guidance and maintaining best practices. Regular meet-ups with UX counterparts can help keep work aligned and work through challenges.
• Establishing Trust & Getting Buy-In: In organizations where UX or product teams face challenges in gaining traction, focusing on customer outcomes (rather than just the UX or product discipline itself) can help make a case for the work. Providing examples of customer-centered opportunities and asking stakeholders for help in contributing to these efforts can give UX and product a foot in the door.
  • Org Design for Design Orgs was a book recommended around UX Structures and incorporating design as part of broader strategic planning.

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