The power of the Product Triad

Uniting Product Management, Engineering, and UX Design

Have you ever been part of a project for a new feature where, despite everyone’s best efforts, things just don’t seem to click? The team is ticking off tasks and completing tickets, but the end product feels disjointed, as if each piece was crafted in a vacuum. In these moments, it’s not the dedication or skills of the product team that are lacking, but rather the synergy amongst the team members.

This is where the Product Triad framework comes in. The Product Triad is a collaborative framework used in product development where the three key roles — product management, engineering, and user experience (UX) design — work together to build a great product. This framework pushes each domain to work in a sector of their expertise that considers and overlaps with the other two.

Working at this intersection ensures that every aspect of building the product — from the overarching vision to minute details — considers and is aligned with the all three domains.

A Quick Overview of Each Domain’s Focus:

Product Management: Guides the strategic direction, aligning product vision with business goals. They map the development journey, prioritize features, and aim for clear, achievable objectives.

Engineering: Transforms vision into reality, tackling technical challenges and ensuring the product’s architecture is robust, scalable, and efficient, laying a durable foundation.

User Experience Design / Product Design: Connects strategy with user needs, crafting intuitive and engaging interfaces through deep empathy and understanding of user behavior, enhancing overall user satisfaction.

My Personal Experience and Implementation

At ReviewTrackers, the Product Triad model is the cornerstone of our product development approach. Together, my product manager, technical lead, and I (in the design role) steer our scrum team through crafting our roadmap, strategizing upcoming tasks, and navigating through the complexities of product development challenges.

To ensure seamless collaboration, our triad convenes every Monday, following the broader Telestand meeting with the scrum team. These triad meetings serve as a melting pot for our diverse expertise, where each of us contributes insights to shape the project’s direction. Given the dynamic nature of product development, we also schedule interim meetings on Wednesdays when necessary to fine-tune our plans and review upcoming tickets or features, ensuring everything is aligned before presenting it to the larger team.

For asynchronous communication, we use a dedicated Slack group chat as our central platform to share ideas, ask questions, and stay informed about everything happening in our product domain. This chat is highly active and ensures that each of us is kept in the loop on topics that might not directly involve all three roles but are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of our projects. We emphasize transparency and strive for over-communication in this space, making sure that every detail, no matter how minor it may seem, is shared.

Working in this format allows me, as a designer, to produce my best work. It allows me to produce designs that are not only valuable to the user but also to the business (thank you, product) and designs that are not only easy to use but also easy to maintain and scale (thank you, engineering).

Navigating through this framework, we’ve encountered our fair share of challenges and triumphs. It’s a journey that has required continuous adaptation and learning. One pivotal moment in the success of the Triad was when we established a “working agreement”. This working agreement was a deliberate effort to define our collaboration: setting clear expectations, roles, and guidelines. By articulating these aspects explicitly, we were able to reduce ambiguity significantly, fostering a smoother collaborative process.

Central to this agreement was a mutual recognition of expertise. We acknowledged that while we can offer perspectives outside our domains, the final decision in a specific field should rest with the domain expert. This acknowledgment wasn’t about relinquishing control but about trusting each other’s expertise and perspective.

Such trust demands that we occasionally set aside our personal judgments in favor of collective wisdom. Viewing issues through a narrow lens is a natural inclination for specialists, but true collaboration requires us to trust in the broader perspective. This trust not only decentralizes ownership but also cultivates humility — a quality less talked about but crucial for effective teamwork. Admitting that we might not always have the complete picture is not a sign of failure but a step towards more inclusive and comprehensive decision-making.

Why is this framework so powerful?

Within the Product Triad, each discipline is held accountable by the other two, ensuring that success is measured not solely by that individual’s expertise, but by the collective impact on the product.

For instance, a solution that might initially seem optimal from a technical standpoint can be reevaluated and refined through the lens of UX and product management leading to a more holistic and ultimately superior product outcome. This same scenario can be applied to any of the other two disciplines.

This cross-disciplinary dialogue ensures that every solution is more than the sum of its parts, benefiting from the diverse perspectives within the team. The strength of this framework lies in its open lines of communication and mutual respect, where the focus is always on refining and enhancing the product from all angles.

However, the pressure to deliver quickly can sometimes lead to bypassing this collaborative process, sidelining essential perspectives and creating gaps in the product strategy. Such shortcuts can increase costs, extend development timelines, and ultimately compromise the product’s integrity.

The absence of any Triad component disrupts the delicate balance necessary for crafting exceptional products. Much like a three-legged stool, removing one leg doesn’t just affect its stability; it compromises the entire structure’s functionality. The Product Triad, therefore, is not merely a framework but a fundamental principle for achieving balanced and effective product development.

As we navigate the complexities and nuances of product development, the Product Triad model stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and holistic thinking. It’s a reminder that the best products are born from the union of diverse perspectives and expertise. If this resonates with your experience, or if you’re curious to explore how the Product Triad can transform your approach to product development, I’d love to hear from you. Clap for this article if you found it insightful, and let’s continue the conversation in the comments below. Your thoughts, experiences, and questions can spark further discussion and learning for us all. Thanks :)