Jennifer Pugh

How do design system teams prove their value? Finding hard metrics around the impact of design system teams has historically been a challenge. A year ago, I met the design system team at Eventbrite who could confidently say that they saved 534 days of engineering effort with their design system. Here's their calculation: Time spent to develop a component pre-design system - time spent to install the design system component = Time saved In order to extrapolate this number, though, you need to know how many times a component has been used. And, that used to require a savvy dev on the team to build something custom. That's no longer the case. We built something at zeroheight that will allow you to track component use in a single repo or across all of your repos. This should help teams show how valuable they are, plus do things like: see which components to prioritize based on use see which product teams are adopting As an added bonus, anyone using the new feature set can also monitor design system packages, allowing them to quickly see which teams are using outdated packages. On a personal note, I'm hoping with data like this, more teams can confidently quantify their impact. And along the way, we'll get better as design system practitioners at identifying the right things to work on. This new feature set is in beta and totally free. Even if you aren't using zeroheight to document your design system, you can use it. Takes like 15 minutes and you've got rich data. Here's the sign up:

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🔥Hot Take for PMs: Please don't hand me a solution to a problem. Instead, focus on detailing the problem and help me understand the why. We will ideate and find a solution together. Next week, in our first episode of ⚫️Bounce, Claire and I continue to unpack the PD + PM working relationship. Buckle up. Subscribe today - links in comments 👇

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I want to hear a product story you're passionate about. (Edit for the Monday morning crew: the reaction to this post has been incredible. If you have PMs in your network who have amazing stories, I would appreciate a repost to reach them!) As a product manager, I know it can be hard to describe what we do to those around us. Our work often involves mountains of coded language, company and industry vernacular, and a variety of tasks and processes that can make it hard to describe. Yet, I love telling stories about products I've worked on. I can't be the only one, so I want to create a space for others to tell their stories in their own words. Let me be your audience. Any aspect of PMing is welcome. Your story could be prepared and practiced, or it could be the first time you've spoken it out loud. It could be about how you broke into product after years of trying, or accidentally stumbled your way in. Tell me about the thing you worked really hard on and you're proud to have launched. Give me way too much detail about how your users surprised you once your work was out in the world. I will listen to you vent about the nightmare stakeholder who almost torpedoed the entire thing, or lament the feature you've always wanted to launch, but have never successfully made the case for. I want to be clear: I'm doing this for fun. This is not an interview. I'm not going to come in with a set of prepared questions. Once you get going, I won't interrupt you. This is 30 free minutes to tell your story to someone who understands. And since it's just me on the receiving end, it's more talking to a friend than public speaking. I'm planning to record the audio of these sessions, but feel free to ask me not to. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but I promise I won't start a podcast. PMs in my network: feel free to book a time (or, you know, text me, you probably have my number). I would also appreciate if you could share or repost this to widen its reach. Click the link below to book a time to tell me your story. https://lnkd.in/d6hwuQJ6

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I have a question for the designers in my network. I hear that many designers have strong opinions/fears about reporting into Product, rather than Design. As a product leader hiring a designer, I'd like to better understand these concerns. Folks who prefer to report into Design: what are the drawbacks of reporting into Product? Designers who have chosen to report into Product: what helped you make that decision? Happy to talk outside of this comment thread too.

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Diversity in design isn't just a buzzword—it's a business imperative. 🌈 As a hiring manager, I've seen firsthand how diverse teams boost creativity, product quality, and profitability. I believe in building teams that reflect our users and bring fresh perspectives to every project. How do you ensure fairness during the hiring process when you have to look at portfolios? Here is my perspective on the challenges of inclusive hiring. #DiversityInDesign #InclusiveHiring #TeamBuilding

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Shreyas is spot on. Below are the headers to my most recent First 30 Days Plan: = = = Week 1: Assessment and Familiarization Week 2: Operations, Vision & Strategy Week 3: Team Building and Development Week 4: Research Integration and Process Refinement = = = My goal was to have enough structure to create space around investigating, assessing, and ideating *without* stopping any trains from leaving the station. My new boss had two areas of focus he wanted me to impact out of the gate, which I agreed to do. Expectations. Alignment. The explicit nature of the plan, and buy-in from my boss gave me the space to witness how my people were operating and how other teams were engaging with them. And within that same held space, situational insights into projects, vision, reviews, etc. surfaced in ways that I could either immediately reinforce or begin to tease apart and counter with communicative intent.

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It’s just easier to deflect and let “sh*t roll down hill”. John Cutler is right. More engaged IT team members aren’t enough to overcome systemic #culture and leadership issues. “Someone hired those PMs. Someone funded those companies. Someone set expectations for those PMs. A leader benefitted (or didn't from their work). Someone had the job to mentor those PMs, and share business context and the strategy (assuming one even existed).” #itleadership #projectleadership #projectmanagement #productleadership #productmanagement.

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Product Rockstars in tech....It's not about strategy. It's not about frameworks. To play big...it's about the soft skills. Yep....your EQ is critical to level up and lead. You need to master the human side of work.  Treating people with respect Understanding how to communicate Executive presence Managing politics (yep...,I said it) Treating people as human beings To level up in the world of tech....it's about the human game. #productmanagement #techleaders #womenintech Are you ready to level up into leadership? Are you ready to learn how to play the human game? Respond with 'yes' and I'll send you my E-Book on The Next Generation of Leadership in Product

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The reactions vary wildly when stakeholders hear the acronym, "PRD." Some folks dread them in companies with rigid ways of working. Those are our traumatized Product Managers in the crowd. The phrase, "That's not in the PRD!" rings loud on loop for them. (Poor one out for the jaded PMs out there). Other folks hate them because they represent planning work. Planning? Ugh. Defining scope? Eww. Timelines? Not very sexy. Especially when UX has "the Figmas" ...and Engineering has live demos. Some folks ask, "PR-what?" Product. Requirement. Docs. The thing that maintains alignment. It keeps your 4itB, 3itB, or maybe (but not hopefully) your 40itB on the same page. For the Fortune 1? PRDs are great for CYA. For the Fortune None? They're for tracking of your ever-changing scope (and maturing your fledgling org via forcing tough decisions). Oh yeah. And it rolls up into your roadmap. They are as flexible and adaptable as your Product leader needs them to be. And your company's SDLC maturity needs them to be. Ideally, the former drives the latter (but that's for another day). DM any questions you have on PRDs and how they could drive value for your org.

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"Product Owner" is not a title!!! Hiring managers and recruiters, please stop using this term as a title. It's just a role in Agile. If you're frustrated with what has happened to the product management profession in recent years and you're in Southern California, please join me for "Reclaiming Product Management - Moving Beyond the Feature Factory" with John Mansour, July 25 in Tustin. If you're not in SoCal, visit my LinkedIn profile to check out my article on The Difference Between Product Manager and Product Owner. And, if you think "Product Owner" should be a title, leave a comment or show up next Thursday night. Let's get a discussion going! #productmanagement https://lnkd.in/gAmR-67q

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As designers, we often find ourselves needing to defend our design decisions—whether we’re presenting to stakeholders, working with developers, or chatting with our team. You’ve probably heard the question, "What informed this design decision?" especially if you’re in a product-led organization. We get asked this question for various reasons, depending on who's asking. But a key reason is to make sure our design choices are based on real user needs and behaviors, not just personal preferences, assumptions, or gut feelings. Picture this: you’re in a design review meeting for a new feature, and someone asks "What informed this design decision?". The best way to respond from the user's perspective is by using data from the product. Data helps set the right context for the question. This means explaining which metrics were measured, what was observed, where it was observed, any further tests conducted to confirm findings, the insights drawn, and so on—until you can clearly state the goal of the change and its impact on the product and users. Using data to back up design decisions not only strengthens your argument but also builds trust with all stakeholders. But remember, this shouldn't be done in isolation. Make sure to involve everyone on your team. Everyone needs to be on board before and after changes are made. I’d love to hear your thoughts! How has data-informed your design decisions? Share your insights in the comments below! #ProductDesign #Data #Analytics #UserExperience #DesignThinking #ProductAnalytics

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Here's the #1 piece of advice for anyone trying to break into a role in product: DO STUFF. Make your own experience. - Go conduct user research for your product idea. - Build a prototype of your app with no-code solutions. - Offer to do pro-bono work to help a small startup. - etc. BOTTOM LINE: Don't wait around for a job opportunity to start developing real skills and product intuition.

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Wow, spot on… Also consider the complexity of a “design system factory” product intended to offer design system stability to the diverse clientele of a consultancy with vastly unique clients, all with critically important needs. I often describe(d) the design tokens and design system as the CENTER of the tech ecosystem, or at minimum on par with the most critical data APIs. Few were ready for what that would cost. Financially, technically and emotionally. #outofwork

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The greatest challenge of leadership is found in the daily exercise of understanding others as you drive towards reaching desired outcomes.

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Question to product ops people (I'm looking at you May Wong Graham Reed ) Something I rarely see spoken about as a responsibility of product ops is hiring PMs. I feel like your product ops people understand what makes a good PM, especially in the specific context of your company, as well if not better than anyone. If the role of product ops is to make your product org a slick well oiled machine then adding the right people feels like it should fit squarely within that wheelhouse and is one of the highest leverage activities that can be done. I'm not suggesting that they should own the whole process end to end but it feels to me as though it's a place where they could add a lot of value.

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Important : ruthless prioritization . Random inputs will generate random outcomes

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A question for hiring managers in UX / Product Design and Product. Have you been in a position where you were able to successfully make a case internally for hiring the first UX Researcher for your company? What were some of the talking points that you used to sell this in and get the green light to hire? 

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Happy Wednesday!! Here are 3 things that recently caught my eye recently: 1) Defining Job Levels If you're a manager who isn't sure how to come up with job levels, expectations, a path to progression for your team then don't want to miss this article about how Intercom redesigned its job levels for product designers. And if you're a team member trying to figure out your career path then this will be helpful for you too :)  https://lnkd.in/gz4rFeNd 2) Design Systems and AI Your design team won't be able to leverage AI unless you have a solid foundation, including a design system, in place. In this article, Brad Frost explains how his team has been able to leverage AI in product design including how they recently showed off how LLMs can generate and translate component code.  https://lnkd.in/gkT5dmZs 3) Always be Open To Work Bonnie Dilber is a recruiter lead at Zapier and I stumbled upon a great LinkedIn post she did about why you should always be open to work. Regardless of the state of the job market this is 100% a good idea. https://lnkd.in/gCqfcC87 ⭐️These were also in newsletter on Monday! So if you want to get my newsletter then just head to https://lnkd.in/ggfyb7CM #uxresearch #uxdesign #uxresearcher #productdesign #uxdesigner #contentstrategy #productmanagement #prodmgmt #techladies #techjobs #uxjobs #uxcareers #designsystem

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Let’s imagine you’re building your product design dream team. You get to hire ONE person, currently active (which means alive) for each position on your team. Each role needs to be a different person; you can’t hire the same person twice for two roles. Here are the slots (skip any you don’t know anyone for): 1. Leadership (overall strategy and team support) 2. Workshops and facilitation 3. User research 4. Data analysis and tracking 5. Personas and journey mapping 6. Mapping flows, systems, and IA 7. UX writing and content strategy 8. Information and content design 9. Interaction design and prototyping 10. Usability testing 11. Design systems Who are you going with? ---- Post credit: Joel Klettke knocked it out of the park with the above prompt for copywriters, and I was so into the idea. I'd love to see who is on your dream team. Mad props to everyone who is tagged in a response! Your hard work to get to where you are is noticed, appreciated, and valued.

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