How PO/UX dream team will make you live the best love story.

In today’s digital business world, if you have any connection to product development activity or service management it is unlikely that you have never heard about the roles of Product Owner (PO) and UX expert. But have you already figured out what these two roles can do for you and especially the added value they bring if they optimally work together? Discover what kind of impact it could have on your product/services.

Why PO should work in close collaboration with UX designer/researcher?

The collaboration between a UX expert and a PO is a key element to ensure a great user experience while remaining in line with your business strategy. For the synergy to happen in this dream team it’s very necessary to clarify roles and working processes beforehand. Indeed, good communication and alignment on roles responsibility and accountability is essential to avoid overlaps, deliver your product and ensure a great user experience.

Who’s Who’s? Let’s explain the skills and responsibilities necessary for this love story

In order to clarify things, when we are speaking about a love story we want to illustrate the relationship between the Product and the dream team. When you build a product with passion, dedication while being user centric it will clearly make the difference at the end. Let’s know jump into the role descriptions: </p>

The Product Owner is responsible for creating a strong vision and delivering the best possible product or service. He/ she knows the marketplace and the strategic direction of the company. The PO has the knowledge over processes involved, the assets and has the right network to make things happen. He ensures the project runs smoothly, that the team is committed, aligned with the vision and that the tasks are well defined (what comes next, who’s working on what, …). He manages the backlog, defend user’s needs, monitors the KPI’s and defines the roadmap.Sounds interesting? Become Product Owner certified

If you are not familiar with the Agile methodology, do not hesitate to read our article about this topic.

The UX expert (designer, architect or researcher) always keeps the end user in mind. He/ she is there to ensure the solution is relevant and answers a real demand. To do so, the UX researcher conducts investigations towards the user, maps their journey, their pain points and is then involved in the usability testing to find the right pain relievers. If your UX expert is also UX designer, he/she will support the team in everything related to visual design like mock-ups and prototyping. This team member is mostly present in the early stages of the project but can also be involved in the testing or continuous improvement phases. User needs can change that why it’s important to continuously listen to them and the last technological / cultural trends.
Interested? Start your UX Journey!

In short, the PO is the guarantor of the product’s vision while the UX is the person who ensures the user experience.

A Greater impact

It is the blend of both their expertise that will ensure you deliver a user centric product to the market. Together they will bring an optimal equilibrium of business value and customer value. At the end it’s only a question of building an efficient user journey for your product or services that will generate a high adaption rate with great business results.

Most of POs having already worked with UX experts understand that it’s a necessary part for product or service success. They state that is allows greater anticipation and better market adoption.</p>

This is why, at the end of the day, you want both of a PO and a UX working and communicating together on your product. The entire development team will thank you and the end user too.

written by Alexandra Liénard