UX Strategy: How to Devise Innovative Digital Products That People Want

I couldn’t imagine just being a wireframe monkey anymore.

My formula is this: UX Strategy = Business Strategy + Value Innovation + Validated User Research + Killer UX

Because when everyone shares a product vision, you and your team really have a chance at changing the rules of the game for your product, company, and future customers.

Good enough just isn’t good enough, and just identifying these tenets won’t be enough to get your team flying.

a UX strategist, I am paid to help my clients face dilemmas and chase dreams. This is why solid problem-solving skills are absolutely critical to mastering UX strategy. Strategy goes beyond the abstract nature of design and into the land of critical thinking. Critical thinking is disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.[6]

These are people who also are passionate about using technology to devise products that customers want.

Customers have to see the value in the new way before they’ll consider abandoning the old.

This is why I love working with startups, because entrepreneurs are the biggest risk takers of them all. They quit their day jobs and go all in on one big idea that they are passionate about. Our software engineer was just that type of person—after a difficult personal experience, he wanted to solve a problem so that others would not have to experience his pain. He wanted to change a mental model.

The 2015 mental model for getting cash is very different from the 1976 mental model. That’s because new technologies and new business processes come together to offer a more efficient way for people to accomplish tasks. Stale mental models are overturned. Life is disrupted for the better!

The purpose of any strategy is to create a game plan that looks at your current position and then helps you get to where you actually want to be. Your strategy should play to your strengths and be mindful of your weaknesses. It should rely on empirical, lightweight tactics that quickly move you and your team (because let’s face it, you’re probably not doing this alone) toward your desired destination. A solid strategy is the difference between success and failure. In the digital-product world, chaos—time delays, increased costs, and bad user experiences—get exacerbated when there is no shared product vision among team members.