Both the product designer and product manager contribute to making a digital product. But how do their processes differ, and how do these two roles connect?
The concise response is: they view a product from slightly different perspectives.
A product manager serves as a business advocate, possessing comprehensive knowledge of the product and maintaining a long-term vision for product strategy. They understand the product's market position, its relation to competitors, and adeptly interpret product analytics. This role involves identifying areas for improvement, managing the roadmap by prioritizing features, and making strategic decisions based on a holistic understanding of the product.
The primary question every product manager should be capable of answering is 'why is the problem a problem,' identifying the most crucial area for the product team to concentrate on presently (an approach like Jobs to Be Done could be effective here). Concerning the roadmap, the product manager specifies the 'what' – determining the direction the team should take next and forecasting the anticipated overall impact.
The product designer is also expected to possess knowledge of the product, but in a different way. They act as advocates for users and their interactions with the product. The focus is on every touch a user makes with the interface, with the aim of ensuring that each interaction is clear and meaningful.
Basically, the talent of the PD is to translate technical requirements into people's language and vice versa – to translate users' pain points into the scope of possible solutions from the design perspective. When the PM's main question to answer is 'what,' the PD's main question to answer is 'how.'
How the system or product should respond to each user action, how to seamlessly integrate the feature into the product without disrupting existing flows, all while considering technical constraints.
I believe that effective collaboration between a product designer and a product manager is crucial throughout the entire product delivery process. Both roles share the responsibility of delivering an optimal user experience and cannot thrive independently.
When growing a team, your primary focus should be on achieving perfection in communication between these two roles. This ensures that the beauty and effectiveness of the final solution are realized.