In this episode, we interviewed Ali Maquet, a Principal Portfolio Manager at WGU. She has had an array of experience, from working as a business analyst, a scrum master, a product manager and now a portfolio manager. She gives advice for moving into different roles, shaping your role, working with different disciplines, and building trust. Ali is one of the best, so get ready for an amazing conversation. What to do if you're considering a move to productHow to shape your roleHaving difficult conversations and building trustRemote work and working agreementsAdvice for leaders

It's critical we continue our learning and development as product managers and UX designers. But it can be hard when our jobs take up so much time day-to-day. What are some of the best ways to continue professional progression? We dive into that topic and more on this episode.Professional Learning:PodcastsWebinars, Publications and Newsletters: Product Thinking, Product by DesignBooksConferencesTrainingMentoringOther Links:Evans WoodshopInstagram

Links:Presentation Link: Google Slides

Choosing the right things to work on is often the hardest part in any role, especially product development. Whether it is strategic initiatives, product features, or backlog items, we have to ensure we're saying yes to the right things and saying no to the wrong things. In this episode we tackle a framework for making those hard decisions and how to incorporate the various prioritization methods (from MoSCoW to User Story Mapping) into your process. If you like this episode, you can find more information at https://productthinking.substack.com/p/strategic-prioritization

Product roadmaps can be an extraordinary tool, or an extraordinary pain. It all depends on how we create them and use them. In this episode, we tackle product roadmaps, what they are, what they aren't, and how to get the most out of your roadmap. We also sprinkle in some pumpkin spice, because we all love pumpkin spice.Notes:What a roadmap isn'tWhat a roadmap isWhat is its purposeWhat are the principles in creating a roadmapWhat are the components of a roadmapWho should be involvedLinks:Product Roadmaps: Love, Hate (& Hate) articleTwitter thread

If you like Netflix, Audible, motorcycles, movies, or online shopping, we've got examples from all of the above and more. Join us for a thorough analysis of key usability principles and how many of the products you use incorporate them (or don't).Links from the episode:10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface DesignGoogle slides from our showSlidesgo Templates

In this episode we have a great conversation about product strategy, where design fits in strategy, and how to involve your product team, including UX designers in the strategy and vision.Where does strategy fit?What are the major headaches for product managers?What difficulties are there in getting support for product strategy?How can we create the product vision, strategy and measure it to ensure success?We also tackle other important questions:Star Trek, Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica?What is a Timberking 2000 and why Kyle needs one

Why don't teams have designers?What can you do if you don't have a designer?Get inspirations from wherever you canFind tools and libraries to leverageUtilize UI kitsWhat if you have a little budget for contract work?There are some good options such as UpworkUnderstand and be upfront about your budget, timeline and scaleLinks from our discussion:Collect UIDribbleAdele UXPinJakob Neilsen 10 Heuristics of UI DesignCanva Presentation Templates

We cover an array of topics, includingJordan's background before designHow he got into designHow he moved into product design from graphic designHow is background contributed to the moveWhat he wished he knew before

What is inclusivity?How does it align with accessibility?Why is inclusivity important in product design and development?How can we begin to identify and overcome some of our own blind spots?References:Why does Siri sound white?Census Data