This week in UX & Product Management — 19 Mar
04 / Redesigning Upworks hiring flow, The MoSCoW method, Retaining great team members, & User research methods, explained briefly
Welcome to Issue 04!
Creating quality products people want to use isn’t easy. It takes a great team, systems thinking, mixed methods of research and the ability to prioritize properly towards a clear vision. In this issue we’ve chosen to highlight four articles which will help you.
Finding talent that understands how to build quality products is difficult; it’s helpful to read in-depth case studies of those doing it right. Haden Tarr’s redesign of the Upwork hiring flow is one such example. We showcase it here because of the great balance of explanation, research, imagery, and interaction.
Finding talent is difficult and retaining talent is just as hard. Cameron Moll shares two fail-safe principles to retain talent. They need to believe in the trajectory of the product and feel that they’re able to work at their full potential. So much of this has to do with internal communication at the team level and with the entire organization.
Once we have the talent we need and we’re confident in them staying. Knowing that we’re working toward a shared goal is important. To do that it’s important to understand the problem. Many companies now understand the importance of user research but don’t fully understand the variety of research methods that can be utilized in improving their products. Gregg Bernstein shares a simple way to understand the many methods of research and which to use when.
After learning what is important through research deciding how to prioritize those needs is a constant part of creating products. Using the MoSCoW method is a simple method that can help if you’re struggling to make decisions as a team.
We hope you enjoy the articles as much as we did!
— Ben, Andrew, and Wade
*Please let us know of anything else you think would be valuable to share in the newsletter.
// Spotlight
Redesigning Upworks hiring flow
“The hiring flow is how customers find and decide which freelancer to hire. It’s really important that the flow is efficient and easy to use. The problem is, it’s currently disjointed.”
// Articles
Product ⟶
How do you know what to work on next?
The MoSCoW method. How to prioritize product backlog and get most valued functionality faster
“In the startup environment, MoSCoW is a way to prioritize stories, features, tasks or requirements. That system makes you break all your features down into 4 categories.” They are Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have.
UX ⟶
Are you retaining great talent?
Two Fail-Safe Principles for Retaining Great Team Members
“Team members stay when they believe in the trajectory of the company/product/team, and when that trajectory goes off course or stagnates they feel empowered to course-correct.
Team members stay when they’re operating at or near their full potential sustainably, and they feel recognized and compensated for doing so.”
Research ⟶
Research methods 101
User research methods, explained briefly
Interview: Listen to people, distill findings
Survey: Listen to people indirectly, distill findings
Usability test: Listen to people about a thing, distill findings
Contextual inquiry: Listen to people at their place, distill findings
Field work: Listen to people away from your office, distill findings
Ethnography: Embed with people, distill findings
Jobs to be Done interview: Listen to people while doodling a timeline, distill findings
Switch interview: Listen to people around a specific event, distill findings
// Upcoming Public Workshops
User Story Mapping
BY JEFF PATTON
New York, NY • APR 01, 2019
Introduction to Design Sprints
BY RICHARD BANFIELD
Boston, MA • MAY 24, 2019
Certified Scrum Product Ownership
BY JEFF PATTON
New York, NY • SEP 05, 2019
// Job Openings
Pluralsight // Principal, Product Management // South Jordan, UT
Apply ⟶
Pluralsight // Product Designer // South Jordan, UT
Apply ⟶
Podium // Product Designer // Lehi, UT
Apply ⟶
Podium // Sr. Product Manager // Lehi, UT
Apply ⟶
Rev // Visual Designer // Remote
Apply ⟶
Samsung Next // Sr. Product Manager // San Francisco, CA
Apply ⟶
// Annoucements
— TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
Early bird discounts are only available for the next 3 weeks! Get the discount now while they’re still available!
Early bird passes are $500, that’s 30% off if you purchase before April 1st. It gets even better if you bring your team. Tickets are only $450 each for groups of 10+, which is 35% off on the full price passes.
