…what is the difference between a Customer, User and Buyer? What is the difference between Customer Experience (CX), User Experience (UX), Service Design and Experience Design (XD)?

Remember your goals

Product managers and UX practitioners each have a slightly different goal; the differences are subtle but might be one of the sources of conflict.

Anyone who has been in product for a while knows that the role of Product Manager varies from company to company, but in all cases, I believe that the role is:

to seek to maximize business and customer value through offering products and services that they value and can be delivered in a targeted, scalable and profitable way

Product Management is about balance across all areas of the business built on a broad and deep market understanding. This understanding is typically established through customer and internal discussions as well as extensive market research and analysis.

UX practitioners, including Designers and User Researchers, on the other hand are:

seeking to ensure that they are solving real user problems in an effective and efficient way

They try to understand users (as well as other business stakeholders) to match the problems and needs they have with solutions the business can offer. They do this through research and by taking an evidence-based approach with a wide array of methods – including observation.

 

Origen: The fight over the customer. Product vs UX | Product Focus

 

One of my favourite philosophies is that of Paul Saffo of having “strong opinions, weakly held”. This might sound a bit odd, but the reality is that we all know if we are honest (and think about it) that many of our opinions are based on very little. As a Product Manager, you are often expected to make decisions, quickly and with minimal information.