Welcome back. No matter how stressful your week may get, just remember: There’s no way it’s as stressful as the week the engineering team at CrowdStrike is having (you can read about the chaos right here). Life is all about perspective, huh?

—Tommy (@DesignerTom)

The Wireframe:

• The Venn diagram of PMs and designers
• What PMs need to know about design
• Some great UX jobs

Navigating the PM x Designer Overlap

If you’ve ever lived with a roommate, partner, or really anyone…you know things run more smoothly when everyone knows their role: toilet paper buyer, dishwasher unloader, Netflix curator, etc.

Design-focused teams are no different: We can do our best work when it’s clear who’s supposed to do what and when. But? That’s not always easy to accomplish.

Enter: the designer x PM dilemma. These days, there is more overlap than ever between the job descriptions of designers and PMs. In fact…

• Over 50% of PMs surveyed by creator (and fellow PM) Aakash Gupta said they wireframe.
• But when I reviewed 30 PM job listings recently, only one mentioned design output…compared to 30 design jobs that required it.
• Often, PMs are tasked with championing a user-centric approach and establishing a product vision—roles that can blur responsibilities between them and designers.

Navigating this dynamic can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be a minefield. Today, I’m running you through my tips for understanding ownership, collaborating effectively, and working with your team…instead of against it.

Let’s get into it.

Starting here: Succeeding on an empowered team requires mapping out core roles and responsibilities. I like this breakdown from Aakash →

But there’s an important caveat: This split should never be one-size-fits-all. It’s an evolving back and forth between designers and PMs to determine what works for your team and your needs.

Next up: Once you’ve gotten a feel for the right breakdown for your org, it can be helpful to put yourself in your counterpart’s shoes. Since most UX Tools readers are designers, we’re going to focus on how designers can think like PMs to better engineer for cohesion.

I loved the responses from PMs on Shreyas Doshi’s question on X, “What do you wish designers understood better about product management?” Here are some standouts →

• “Users are not always customers—b2c best practices aren’t necessarily appropriate in a b2b context.”
• “There are times for pragmatism. There are times for boldness. Don't let the pragmatic decisions of today deflate the boldness of your designs for tomorrow. We need design to always aim higher.”
• “Minimum Viable Products—how to slice the design into the bare minimum needed vs. extra features down the line.”
• “A better sense for the feasibility of the various things they are proposing and why some things might be too expensive to build than others.”

On the flipside: I hear from PMs who want to close the gap between a designer's idealism and their business context all the time. If PMs and designers spent a little more time openly talking about how each other could be most empowered to do good work…imagine what kind of products design teams could be shipping.

And maybe we could shrink some of the distances between PMs and designers as seen here:

No matter what your role is, though, understanding how to function on a unique team will always be a crucial skill. Trust me—I haven’t always had it.

Six years ago, I was the first design hire for a PM who had been designing. He handed me wireframes with pre-decided information architecture and user flows. At the time, I saw this as an overstep. Initially, I handled it poorly by getting defensive, creating friction, and working in isolation. What I should have done, though?

• I should have leveraged his interest in wireframing to benefit our collaboration instead of getting defensive about my role.
• I should have earned his trust by enhancing his ideas in ways he couldn't instead of creating unnecessary speed bumps.
• I should have built stronger bridges for his input, such as creating teardowns of similar products and discussing what he liked about them, instead of putting myself in a silo.

We all live and learn, and I’m proud to say that I’m much more adept at bridging gaps between PM and design team members today than I was back then. As far as I’m concerned, making your team work well is about three core elements of effective collaboration:

1. Leveraging PM interest: Instead of seeing PM wireframing as an intrusion, view it as a starting point for deeper collaboration. Use their wireframes to understand their vision and suggest enhancements that align with design best practices.
2. Building trust: Show PMs how you can elevate their ideas. Work together on refining wireframes and turning rough sketches into polished designs. This will help build mutual respect and trust.
3. Creating structured feedback loops: Establish regular check-ins and collaborative sessions where both parties can share ideas and feedback. This ensures that both the design and product visions are aligned and that there are no surprises later in the process.

When you master this collaborative dance, PMs and designers can become the strongest duo on the team. By leaning into each other's strengths and working towards a shared vision, you can create products that are not only user-centric but also innovative and successful.

TOGETHER WITH FRAMER​

Designing a Website 🤝🏻 Building a Website

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Are you ready to learn how Framer can streamline your web development process? Learn more now.

News, Tools, and Resources: Knowing Your Role

• The project manager’s role in the design stage. What do you think?
• One takeaway from Atlassian’s State of Teams 2024 report: “Knowledge workers spend so much time planning and talking about work that it prevents them from actually doing work that matters.”
• Here’s my list of 8 things PMs should know about product design.
• I dig this well-reasoned response to balancing design duties with a hands-on PM.

Got a great tool, podcast episode, idea, or something else? Hit reply and tell me what’s up.

The UX Tools Job Board

• Escape Velocity Entertainment is looking for an experienced, fully-remote UX Designer to work on acclaimed video games.
• Block needs a Senior Product Designer, Applied AI.
• A Senior Associate, Experience Design role is open at Capital One in Plano, Texas.
• Cisco ThousandEyes seeks a remote Head of Product Design.

Hiring for a design role, or know someone who is? Submit it here to hit the inboxes of 75k+ talented designers.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any tips for working with PMs who design? Hit reply and let me know.

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