How to Become a GOOD UX Manager and Leader
Role models are very important for our career progresses since we live the world by modeling others around us, mostly thanks to mirror neurons. I wonder what is a good UX research (UXR) leader/manager that can be a good role model. Who is that person?
Finding a good manager who helps the company and his/her teams and cares about your growth. Is this person even existing, or is it a myth? What are the characteristics of good UX research managers and leaders?
I read the background of some of the most influential UX leaders and managers to learn from them. I actually met some of them for different reasons. I like to share what I see about them in common.
They are human beings with a life
First of all, they are human beings: D Actually nice human beings with a personal life. The life for them is not just rotating around business, data, and users. They have a character and life. You can go to talk to them about kids, pizza, sports, and hobbies. This is I think very important for a leader: To have a life and show out without hesitations. Being human is a very important quality they show. They are approachable, they are one of us and attractively likable somehow.
They have eye for design and product
Although they are not necessarily a designer at the core; some of them had some design background; they do defiantly understand what is a good design and what is not. They have spent years of experience doing research and design and with years of experience of understanding of UX and UXR. Show them a product and they tell you if this product will have potential beauty in it or not in a minute. Plus, they can easily tell you a lot of usability problems about the design without a single usability testing, but they do usability testing anyway. Maybe it is a way of saying “I told you so” (Actually the usability test is for validation what they do is the heuristic evaluation in technical words).
Considering UX practice is basically an application of the strategy, these UXR leads knows the strategy due to the experience of working with user data and insights every day. They have the eye for design.
They have good processes supported with efficient tools
Every start-up uses a variation of Agile. But not all of them have UXR teams that run operations aligned with the agile. Good UX research leads/managers I have seen, have some processes to adapt the research procedures to comply with agile design and development. I learn that these managers use tools and processes to make UXR fir the project ’s critical limitations. It’s mostly time and money. The former is hard to create but good managers have some way around for this. Mostly they have faster communication and project management tools, quicker tests (e.g. Guerrilla) and rapid prototyping tools etc.
They make sure users’ voice is heard, understood and responded
UX research is the users’ voice. Good managers always make sure this is heard and understood. On top of that, they also put their effort that the necessary actions are taken by the other teams so that the voice also receive a response from the company. Once there is a response there is a dialog between your entire company and the users. Once dialog started, the relationship starts and rapport is made. Basically rule of thumb for good business is to have a rapport with your customers.
They don’t tell and yell. They just show and throw
Most of the bad UX managers I have seen and read are just telling their team members what to do. If you can’t do it well then they yell. Some of us may remember the performance feedback sessions. :(
For me, it is basically nagging. Like a parent shouting the child. Actually, experts say, shouting give the message to your kid such this one: “ Sorry, I am out of control, I can’t control my feelings, thoughts and I am powerless in this situation and don’t know what to do about it to fix. I can just shout”. This is toxic feedback.
Good UX research managers first show how to do. They train and monitor the team members. They lead by example. Once they show, they throw you in a playground in which you can practice your skills and grow them. They are the parents watching from far and letting you do things that allow you to grow.
They hire smartest, even smarter than themselves
Great UX managers always hire smart people. As Steve Jobs says:
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
They listen to smart people. They are open-minded and don’t afraid of her critics and feedback from their team members. They also don’t punish people who give feedback and critics. They are not the emperor with no clothes. They know the critic is important to see if they are naked and weak.
Support and lead teamwork
They know UX research is a team sport. They always create a chemistry of the team that allows great teamwork. Great leaders I have seen are supporting a team atmosphere, create events and opportunities to leverage relationships between team members and they make sure there’s alignment between team members motivation and the team objectives.
They don’t afraid to speak up
It’s UX manager job to say when things are bad without hesitation. They do n’t afraid to speak up to executive management level. They worry about the quality of the product instead of their title and losing their job.
They are the bridge; they are the shield
Great UX leaders don’t play the game only with the executive management. They connect their team and senior management. They are top-down and bottom-up. They are the bridge.
Distraction after distraction never ends in start-ups. The leader should have a laser focus to know what to do on those moments. Good managers don’t allow distractions to affect the team. And when necessary they shield the team from the toxic clouds of the senior management and the other toxic teams of the company. Heroes always self-sacrifice.
They love their jobs and respect team members
Once we love our job we can show other how to love it and motivate and influence others to love it. If you understand the motivation of your team members, you can engage them towards it. Good leaders know how to keep this balance between team members’ personal goals vs team goals.
We teach other people how to treat us. If we love our job and respect our team members they do the same thing to us, mostly. Good leaders give credit to the team, respect the ownership of work and the personalities/life of others. Once you show respect you get the same, especially when you need to get things done in tough times.
I share my attempt to list the qualities of a great UX and UX research managers/leaders. I hope to see more of those people. I personally try to model these people in my career. I am sure there might be many things to add to this list. Please share your comments and experiences with great and terrible UX managers and leaders.
