Co-ownership is the new MUST in product design

The old model of cooperation when project manager from studio side just assigned the client’s tasks to the design team is doomed.

As products have become more sophisticated and innovative, finding the external partners that not just resolve tasks in the task manager but are ready to dive deeper into the project, is a key.

It’s time for the new, entirely different model of work, where product co-owning and co-creating becomes the primary value. And its name is Collaboration Driven Design. And we are sure, it will steal the show in the nearest future.

What the hell is Collaboration Driven Design?

Being in the design business for years, we derived the cooperation formula that leads to top-notch design products. This model has specific characteristics and peculiarities.

De facto, Collaboration Driven Design is the model of visionary partnership between Interface Designers and Product Manager from agency/studio side and a Product Owner as the client.

In collaboration, they form a Super Trio, where everybody is responsible for one’s peace of work to create an outstanding product that will achieve business objectives and hit the market.

But there’s more to it.

What happens when a product owner hires the design team with such approach?

A cohesive unit of UX/UI designers headed by the one who we call the Product Manager gets to work.

The members of such design unit literally become the engineers of the product helping the Product Owner form the product vision.

In close collaboration with the product owner, united by a common goal they start with a design workshop and define the scope of the project.

So what are the roles in this love triangle?

In this team Product Manager is supposed to be the voice of the Product Owner.

Some may confuse this role with Project Manager. But there is a big difference between them.

Product Manager is a chief firefighter, focusing the efforts on managing the entire lifecycle of the product. In contrast, Project Manager oversees a fixed project from beginning to the end, executing the strategy set by the Product Manager.

Here is the list of what Product Manager does:

• paints a vision of the project keeping strategy foremost in mind to guide the designers;
• makes sure the design team understands why the features on the roadmap are right for the customers and business;
• understands how each component of the system contributes to the whole and substantiates proposed solutions;
• s/he is responsible for the efficiency of proposed solutions;
• gives thoughtful pieces of advice to the product owner that help make the better decisions.

PM makes an extra effort and added value in managing product owners expectations and keeping them posted on the progress of the design team.

Designers become the co-owners of the product from the user experience and visual point of view.

They:

• analyze the data to validate the hypothesis;
• research users needs and behavior to create seamless UX;
• practice empathy and curiosity to gain market and customer insights;
• create visual solutions to make project remarkable on the market.

And, perhaps most importantly, co-owning the project, the design team develops it as if it was its own, taking care of the product and identifying new opportunities.

Product Owners get involved in the process when it is necessary and don’t waste their time on managing process. If the designers require PO’s feedback or recommendations to proceed further, the PM will settle that right away.

To put it simply, the design studio that uses Collaboration Driven Design approach will help you not only bring your project to life but also:

• form the product vision;
• define product’s functionality that will impact the technologies;
• highlight the project milestones;
• optimize budget and terms of the design process;
• iteratively improve your project on future lifecycle;
• delegate significant parts of work to have more free time for other aspects of the project.

To create marvelous products, Designers and Product Owners are in dire need to bring their relations to the next level.

Takeaway

Still, Collaboration Driven Design is suitable not for every product owner. Not everyone is ready to share the biggest part of the responsibility for the project success with the design studio. But those who dare to take this step with the right one design studio empowered by efficient design process will win more in a result.

Thanks for reading! Hit the heart if you enjoyed.

And let’s create future together!

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