At iContact, my responsibilities spanned UX and marketing design. That made for an interesting opportunity to think about experience as something that does not begin or end at the product boundary.
One customer, many touchpoints
The way a product is introduced, explained, purchased, learned, and used all contribute to the experience people have with a company. Separate teams may own those moments, but the customer does not experience an org chart.
Make feedback a shared resource
Usability testing gave us a way to put real behavior into conversations that might otherwise become debates about preference. It also helped connect interface choices with the expectations created elsewhere in the customer journey.
Design leadership as alignment
I’ve come to think of design leadership as a connective practice: helping different contributors understand what matters, where their work intersects, and how to make a more coherent whole.