Product Management & User Experience: Are they the right career paths for you? Rob Houser Sr Director, Product Sage

About Me  Technical Writing  Training  Usability/Design  UX Consulting  Managing UX Teams  Product Management  Managing PM Team Career focused on understanding users of software and designing ways to help them achieve their goals So they will buy our products and services and my company will generate revenue for its shareholders Later in Life Realization:

What do we have in common?  Problem Solving  Innovation  Curiosity  Knowledge  Learning  Enjoyment of Technology + PATTERN IDENTIFICATION

What is UX? USER EXPERIENCE  Intentional design of the end-to-end series of interactions for products, systems, and services  Developing products and services through a user-centered design process  Not just about making products easy to use, but also about making the entire experience enjoyable  Focused on users (not usually on customers) – how people work

What UX jobs are available? Traditional UX Jobs  Usability Analyst  Interaction Designers  Information Architect  Visual Designer Adjacent Opportunities  Prototype Developer  UI Developer

Usability Analysts What do they do?  Conduct user research (in the lab and in the field)  Create personas and scenarios to keep the focus on the users  Analyze user research and identify key UX moments of truth  Works with PM and R&D on product innovation/improvement What skills do they need?  Interview and observe users for insights  Surveys, usability tests, contextual inquiries, card sorts, affinity diagrams, and other methods for understanding user needs  Strong analytical skills to identify key findings from studies  Psychology, statistics, human factors/human-computer interaction What personality types are attracted to this job?  Detail-oriented, analytical, thorough, empathetic, organized, objective, able to apply established principles to new situations

Interaction Designers What do they do?  Identify layout of software UI  Choose appropriate interactions and behaviors based on usability requirements  Ensure consistency of design patterns  Creates wireframes (and mockups) to provide design requirements What skills do they need?  Problem solving, conceptualize complex systems and make them simpler, UI knowledge (know what is possible), flow charting, wireframes What personality types are attracted to this job?  Big picture people who see patterns easily, strong conceptual thinkers, comfortable with frequent change, able to identify multiple solutions to a problem quickly, collaboration, creative thinkers, logical, thick-skinned

Information Architect What do they do?  Organizes and labels information (websites, communities, applications)  Creates navigation and signage  Sometimes the same person as the Interaction Designer What skills do they need?  Flow analysis/diagramming, visual design, conceptualize complex systems and make them simpler, knowledge of wayfinding What personality types are attracted to this job?  Big picture people who see patterns easily, strong conceptual thinkers, comfortable with frequent change, able to identify multiple solutions to a problem quickly, collaboration

Visual Designers What do they do?  Develop mockups and graphic assets for the UI, create the skins for the UI, sometimes oversee/manage UI requirements/consistency What skills do they need?  Graphic design, artistic ability, sometimes basic prototyping (not usually coded in the target language), animation, video creation/editing What personality types are attracted to this job?  Artists, highly creative, extremely detail-oriented, perfectionists, introverts

Adjacent Opportunities  Prototype Developers  UI Developers

Is UX right for you?  Do you enjoy the early phases of software development, especially the analysis and design phases?  Do any of these specific UX jobs sound interesting to you?  Do you tend to interact with products and services and immediately see ways to make them better?

What is PM? PRODUCT MANAGEMENT  Focused on customers (more than users) – why people buy  Responsible for understanding the market and developing (build, buy, or partner) products and services  Strong emphasis on the business side of software development  Often the bridge between R&D and the rest of the business (Sales/Marketing/Partner Channel/Support)

What PM jobs are available? Traditional PM Jobs  Product Manager  Business Analyst  Market Researcher Adjacent Opportunities  BA/SME for complex/technical systems  Analytics expert/interpreter

Product Managers What do they do?  Talks to customers frequently to understand their wants and needs  Sets product roadmaps and strategy working with business leaders  Develops and presents business cases to drive new business  Represents the business at public events, especially trade shows  Product evangelist, conducting demos to customers and prospects  Often responsible for leading product innovation What skills do they need?  Market research, business planning/financial analysis, persuasive presentations, leadership, project management, strong interviewing skills, problem solver, MBA a big plus What personality types are attracted to this job?  Creative, analytical thinkers, futuristic/strategic thinkers (can see possibilities), innovators, strong collaboration, interested in helping people

Business Analysts What do they do?  Identifies requirements for products, systems, and services  Creates stories for agile teams  Works with R&D on day-to-day development; may also be the primary interface with IS/IT or external data/systems management  May serve as product owner What skills do they need?  Technical knowledge of the system(s) being extended or connected to, ability to write requirements documentation from a user perspective (stories), project management, highly organized, collaboration, problem solving What personality types are attracted to this job?  Extremely detail and schedule oriented, enjoys completion/closure, practical/pragmatic, responsible, dependable, well-organized, hard working, many are introverted

Market Researchers What do they do?  Creates, conducts, and analyzes survey results  Run or organize focus groups or other customer interview methods  Analyzes market research from third parties  Reviews events and stories in the news media  Conducts competitive analyses  Shares important data and insights with the internal organization What skills do they need?  Market research, analysis, written communication (reports), presentations, knowledge of business finances and market valuations What personality types are attracted to this job?  Extremely detail-oriented, practical, analytical, introverted, well-organized

Adjacent Opportunities  BAs/SMEs for complex/technical systems  Analytics expert/interpreters

Is PM right for you?  Are you interested in the business side of software as much as the technical side?  Are you able to get others to do what you need them to do?  Do you want to manage the business one day (outside of managing a single group/department)?

Relative Pay  Visual Designer  Interaction Designer  Information Architect  Market Researcher  Analytics expert/interpreter  Usability Analyst  Prototype Developer  Business Analyst  Baseline: Software Developer  UI Developer  BA/SME for complex/technical systems  Product Manager Warning: This list is meant to be illustrative and is not based on any research. Salaries have wide ranges and are based on more factors than job title alone.

Q&A Traditional UX Jobs  Usability Analyst  Interaction Designer  Information Architect  Visual Designer Adjacent Opportunities  Prototype Developer  UI Developer Traditional PM Jobs  Product Manager  Business Analyst  Market Researcher Adjacent Opportunities  BA/SME for complex/technical systems  Analytics expert/interpreter