Keeping PMs and designers on the same page

I’ve found that more than anything, “design” is the decisions made in conversations between teammates. To be effective I’ve needed to learn how to stay on the same page as my PM, which means learning how to talk about the project to others in the company. The use of a design brief for each project has become instrumental for me. In effect, it’s the common vocabulary for talking about and evaluating a project.

Product managers are ‘what’ and ‘why’

I think in most organizations, product managers are best equipped to be responsible for the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of a project. The ‘what’ should be fairly abstract and not prescriptive in terms of design.

At my company the design brief is a one-page document that captures the ‘what’ and ‘why’, and I’ve found it to be a good rallying point for each project. The ‘what’ is composed by a one-sentence problem statement and select criteria that provide...