Responsive Design Guidelines

Do you sometimes feel frustration, as you are building a product to get the management off your back, rather than address the users? Here are 6 ways to become user-centric again: 1) Prioritize in a transparent way This is a great place to start. If your backlog is prioritized based on data and potential opportunity, risk, and cost, it will be easier to put forth user-centric initiatives ahead of those that came from upstairs. At the very least, you will have a good basis for an educated discussion. 2) Utilize users' perspective using user stories and personas If your team understands the users and their problems, it will be easier to craft something great that will later appeal to the same users. Just keep up the empathy of creating something by people for other people, and not get some metric magically go up! 3) Make user feedback public If everyone in the company can see the themes that come from user feedback, it will be way harder to ignore it in favor of some corporate nonsense. Let those voices be heard by everyone! 4) Have the NPS and user ratings at the forefront The same goes for a single metric representing the general product sentiment. If the number is low or, worse, is going down and everyone can see that, the responsible Product Manager has to react. 5) Focus on your product goals Now, upstairs mandates might not be the only distraction you face when trying to improve your product. To survive them all, focus on one thing: your product goals. This will allow you to demonstrate you are doing what you are asked for and you can use user feedback and points 1-4 to pursue those goals. Thus, it's like killing 2 birds with 1 stone. However, you can also simply: 6) Have the confidence to say "No" Not all company/legal/management requests can be ignored. Sometimes changing the law or a wider company initiative will require you to comply and that is OK! However, there will also be times when someone will try to force your compliance. This is where you need to be confident, and exercise your Product Manager's independence, especially when there is no data to support a specific request. There you go! My 6 ways you can become a user-centric Product Manager. How about you? Do you address your users or your management first and foremost when developing your product? Sound off in the comments! #productmanagement #productmanager #usercentricity

What's your approach to designing user flows? ✏️ -Understand the User and Goals: Start by gaining a deep understanding of the target users, their needs, and their goals. Conduct user research, interviews, and surveys to gather insights into their behaviors, pain points, and motivations. Define User Personas: Create user personas to represent different segments of your target audience. Personas help humanize the users and guide the design process to meet their specific needs. -Map the User Journey: Outline the entire user journey from the initial touchpoint to the final goal. This involves understanding the various stages users go through when interacting with your product and identifying potential entry and exit points. Identify Key User Tasks: Identify the primary tasks users want to accomplish within your product. Focus on the core functionality and prioritize these tasks in the user flow. Create a Flowchart: Visualize the user flow by creating a flowchart. Use arrows to show the sequence of steps users will take to complete their tasks. Consider different scenarios and decision points they might encounter. Keep it Simple and Intuitive: Aim for simplicity and clarity in the user flow. Minimize the number of steps required to achieve a task and avoid unnecessary complexity that could confuse users. Consistency across Platforms: If your product is available on multiple platforms (e.g., web, mobile), ensure a consistent user flow across all of them. Users should feel comfortable and familiar with the flow, regardless of the device they are using. Anticipate User Errors: Design the user flow with the anticipation of user errors or confusion. Provide clear error messages and guidance to help users recover quickly. User Testing and Iteration: Test the user flow with real users through usability testing sessions. Analyze the feedback and data to identify pain points and areas of improvement. Iterate and refine the user flow based on the insights gained. Collaborate with the Team: Involve stakeholders, designers, developers, and other team members in the user flow design process. Collaborative efforts lead to a more comprehensive and well-rounded user experience. Consider Edge Cases: Take into account edge cases and less common scenarios in your user flow design. This ensures that your product is accessible and usable for all users, regardless of their specific circumstances. Accessibility and Inclusivity: Design with accessibility and inclusivity in mind. Ensure that the user flow is usable by people with disabilities and diverse backgrounds.

Some of you disagreed with my last post. Fair. Let's talk. Let me explain the topic a bit more and give you a deep dive into how I see the new process. The old way: Think → Research → Wireframe → Design → Spec → Hand off → Build → Test → Iterate Weeks. Sometimes months. Before anyone touches real code. The new way: 👉 Step 1: Start with a problem, not a doc. I don't need a full PRD. I need one thing. Example: "𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰." That's it. That's the brief. 👉 Step 2: Build the ugliest working version. I open Lovable or Cursor and prompt my way to a prototype. Not a mockup. Not a Figma file. A real, clickable, functional thing. 30 minutes. Maybe an hour. 👉 Step 3: Use it. Don't refine it. Don't show it to anyone yet. Use it yourself like a real user would. Click every button. Try to break it. Feel where it's awkward. 👉 Step 4: Now design. This is where design skill actually matters. You're not guessing what the experience should feel like. You already know because you felt it. Now you fix what's broken, remove what's unnecessary, and polish what works. Maybe pivot or try other solutions. 👉 Step 5: Show it, don't spec it. Instead of a 20-page spec, I send a link. "Here, try this. What's confusing?" Real feedback on a real thing beats hypothetical feedback on a hypothetical thing every single time. 👉 Step 6: Iterate in minutes, not weeks. Here's where this workflow really pulls ahead. Someone says, "This flow is confusing." You don't update a Figma file, write a ticket, and wait for the next sprint. You open Cursor, fix it, and send a new link. Same conversation. Same day. The feedback loop goes from weeks to hours. Sometimes minutes. And each round gets sharper because you're iterating on something real. 3-4 rounds of this, and you have something more validated than most products get after months of traditional process. 👉 Step 7: Document what you built, not what you plan to build. Documentation becomes a record, not a prediction. It's accurate because the thing already exists. You can do it at the end or during the process. Why this works: You make decisions with information instead of assumptions. You eliminate 80% of the back-and-forth. You design from experience, not imagination. And you iterate at the speed of conversation, not the speed of sprints. Why it feels wrong at first: Because we were trained to think before we build. And thinking first felt responsible. But we did that because we couldn't build. Now we can. And I don't think it's about ignoring thinking. (𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵) I believe it's about doing it at every step. Refining it based on real feedback. Insights you can get internally and from user testing. If you're still reading this, let me know what you think about it all. ✌️

During meetings with stakeholders, we often hear about 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒔. If you're feeling confused and overwhelmed about how to do all of this, you're not alone. Here's something for those new to the world of metric-driven design. Trust me, your designs can make a real difference :) 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 → Talk to real users. Understand their pain points. But also, grab coffee with the marketing team. Learn what those metrics mean. You'd be surprised how often a simple chat can clarify things. 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 → Sketch it out, literally. Where are users dropping off? Where are they getting stuck? This visual approach can reveal problems you might miss otherwise and which screens you need to tackle. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 (𝗞𝗜𝗦𝗦)→ We've all heard this before, but it's true. A clean, intuitive interface can work wonders for conversion rates. If a user can't figure out what to do in 5 seconds, you might need to simplify. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 → Trust isn't built by security badges alone. It's about creating an overall feeling of reliability. Clear communication, consistent branding, and transparency go a long way. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 → Transform mundane tasks into engaging experiences. Progress bars, thoughtful micro-animations, or even well-placed humor can keep users moving forward instead of bouncing off. Remember, engaged users are more likely to convert and return, directly impacting your key metrics. 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 → Set up usability tests to validate your design decisions. Start small - even minor changes in copy or button placement can yield significant results. The key is to keep iterating based on real data, not assumptions. This approach improves your metrics and also sharpens your design intuition over time. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹 → While it's tempting to create something totally new, users often prefer familiar patterns. Research industry standards and find data around successful interaction models, then adapt them to address your specific challenges. This approach combines fresh ideas with proven conventions, enhancing user comfort and adoption. Metric-driven design isn't about sacrificing creativity for numbers. It's about using data to inform and elevate your design decisions. By bridging the gap between user needs and business goals.

I got rejected after this Interview answer 💔 Not proud of it. But this one still lives rent-free in my head. Company: One of the top product companies Round: Product Design Challenge Question: Design a feature to help users discover relevant content in our app? What I did: I jumped straight into wireframes. Added a "Recommended for You" section on the homepage, designed some cards with thumbnails and CTAs, picked nice colors, and called it a day. Result: A polite rejection email the next week. Here's what I should have actually done: Before jumping to solutions and wireframes, a good answer starts with thinking. 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴:  - Who are the users? (new users? power users? different personas?)  - What kind of content? (articles, videos, products, connections?)  - What does "relevant" mean? (based on past behavior? trending? personalized?)  - What's the current discovery problem we're solving?  - What are the business goals? (engagement? retention? revenue?) 𝗔 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 & 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁  - Understand user pain points through data/interviews  - Map the current user journey  - Identify where discovery fails today 𝟮. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀  - What does success look like? (time spent? click-through rate? return visits?)  - How do we measure relevance? 𝟯. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀  - Consider multiple approaches (algorithmic, social, editorial, hybrid)  - Weigh trade-offs of each  - Don't marry one solution too early 𝟰. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲  - Information architecture first, visuals later  - Think about empty states, loading states, error states  - Consider personalization vs. serendipity  - Design for accessibility and inclusion 𝟱. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻  - How would we test this? (A/B test? prototype testing?)  - What could go wrong?  - How do we handle edge cases? 𝟲. 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗳𝗳 & 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁  - How does this scale across platforms?  - What's the technical feasibility?  - What's the rollout plan? This way, the solution is user-centered, strategic, and actually solves a real problem.

Iteration drives design impact. Done well, the results of an iterative design approach far exceed the time used to “produce quality.”  In my years of leading design, there’s often a misplaced idea that iteration and fast are similar, and both get in the way of design quality. Iteration and fast are different. Both fast and iteration can build momentum but serve different purposes. Fast focuses on quick results to test ideas or meet deadlines, while iteration focuses on refining and improving ideas through repeated cycles. These can also be fast. Fast helps explore options quickly, while iteration ensures the final result is well-thought-out and effective. Together, they balance speed with quality. "Having time to do the work" is a misplaced idea when it comes to creating quality design because great design isn’t about unlimited time. It’s about structured iteration and rapid problem-solving OVER TIME. I get that many struggle to find enough time to iterate properly, but the issue isn’t about choosing between time or iteration, it’s about organizing the design sequences in the right order. Focusing too much on having time often causes delays and overthinking instead of action. Quality comes from experimenting, testing ideas, and refining them with user feedback, not from waiting for the "perfect" time to start or finish. I’ve found that showing improvement over cycles opens up more time to create value. Instead of seeking perfection from the start, iterating allows teams to learn, adapt, and improve. Designers create more impact and maintain momentum throughout the process by generating ideas quickly, testing them, and refining them based on feedback. Great design isn’t about the speed of execution. It’s the thoughtfulness that happens WITH the speed of user feedback. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

My approach to addressing user experience challenges involves several steps ⤵️ 1. Understanding User Needs: Conduct user research to understand the goals and pain points of the target audience. Utilize interviews, surveys, and usability testing to gather insights. 2. Collaboration and Alignment: Work closely with cross-functional teams such as product management, engineering, and customer support to align on user goals and prioritize UX issues. 3. Data Analysis: Analyze user data to understand behavior patterns. Look at analytics, feedback, and support tickets to identify areas where users are struggling. 4. Ideation and Sketching: Encourage brainstorming sessions and sketching to come up with creative solutions. Focus on solving the real problems and not just the symptoms. 5. Creating User Journeys and Wireframes: Develop user flows to understand how users will interact with the product. Create wireframes to visualize the structure of the interface. 6. Prototyping and Testing: Create high-fidelity prototypes that simulate the final product. Conduct usability testing to validate design decisions and uncover issues. 7. Iterative Design: Use feedback from usability testing to refine the design. UX is an ongoing process; be prepared to iterate based on user feedback and changing needs. 8. Implementation Support: Assist the development team during implementation to ensure that the design is translated accurately into the final product. 9. Post-Release Analysis: Once the product is released, continue to monitor user feedback and analytics. Be proactive in identifying new challenges and opportunities for improvement. 10. Educate and Advocate: Constantly educate stakeholders on the importance of UX and advocate for resources and prioritization of UX initiatives. This cyclical approach helps in creating a product that not only meets user needs but also adapts to changes and continuously improves over time. #ux #strategy #userexperience #innovations

Getting ready for a website redesign because it’s been a while? Hold up. While the prospect of a fresh look is exciting, there are some steps to consider before hitting the redesign button. ➤ Understanding Performance: Take the time to analyze your current website’s performance. ✓ What's working? × What's not working? × What isn't resonating with your audience? × What are the biggest pain points? Identifying these strengths and weaknesses can lay the roadmap for a redesign and help you make informed decisions. ➤ Upfront Testing the Waters: Consider conducting usability tests, gathering user feedback, or getting input on a feature you think will work. User testing can uncover valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. We love using Helio for this. ➤ Experimentation & Iteration: Rather than turning things upside down, experiment with small changes. Streamline the user journey, enhance page speed, fine-tune content, etc. Implement A/B testing to see how users respond to variations. This iterative approach allows you to refine and optimize without the risk of a complete overhaul. ➤ Data-Driven Decisions: Numbers don't lie. Use analytics to guide your decisions. What pages are performing well? Why? Where is the bounce rate highest? Data-driven insights can help pinpoint areas that need the most attention. ➤ Continuous Improvement: Remember, a website is a living and breathing thing. Once relaunched, don't stop there. Regularly revisit and reassess performance. Technology evolves, user expectations shift – it’s important to adapt accordingly. A website redesign is about more than being new, it's about being better!

What users say isn't always what they think. This gap can mess up your design decisions. Here's why it happens: → Social desirability bias. → Fear of judgment. → Cognitive dissonance. → Lack of self-awareness. → Simple politeness. These factors lead to misinterpretation of user needs. Designers might miss critical usability issues. Products could fail to meet user expectations. Accurate feedback becomes hard to get. Biased data affects design choices. To overcome this, try these strategies: 1. Create a comfortable environment: Make users feel at ease. Comfort encourages honesty. 2. Encourage thinking aloud: Ask users to verbalize thoughts. This reveals their true feelings. 3. Use indirect questions: Avoid direct queries. Indirect questions uncover hidden truths. 4. Observe non-verbal cues: Watch body language. It often tells more than words. 5. Triangulate data: Use multiple data sources. This ensures a complete picture. 6. Foster honest feedback: Build trust with users. Trust leads to genuine responses. 7. Analyze discrepancies: Compare what users say and do. Identify and understand the gaps. 8. Iterate based on findings: Refine your design. Continuous improvement is key. 9. Stay aware of biases: Recognize potential biases. Work to minimize their impact. 10. Keep testing: Regular testing ensures alignment. Stay connected with user needs. By following these steps, designers can bridge the gap between user thoughts and statements. This leads to better products and happier users.