Establishing Product Principles
Overview:
Product principles are a set of considerations that form the basis of any good product. They balance the values of the business with the needs of the users. They illuminate our design journey, defining the essence of excellence while remaining rooted in customer insights.
In 2023, my group in HubSpot underwent a strategic reorganization aimed at sharpening our focus on the Marketing Campaign product. This restructuring aimed to foster greater cohesion among the teams. To achieve that cohesion, I proposed introducing product principles to serve as our north star in crafting remarkable user experiences.
The goal of establishing product principles:
I aimed to unite the team around a common vision for directing our efforts in product decision-making. By collaboratively establishing these principles, we empower every member to harness their guidance effectively in the future.
Approach to the workshop:
I orchestrated two workshops to kickstart the process. The initial session convened all PMs, Technical Leads, and UX designers to brainstorm potential principles. As the moderator, I provided context on the benefits of product principles, delved into pertinent personas and customer feedback, and showcased examples from peer groups and industry standards. With the stage set, we embarked on two activities. First, we collectively generated keywords to uncover themes that resonated with our target personas, customer insights, and business objectives.
The second activity involved breathing life into these themes by crafting phrases embodying both user-centric and business perspectives.
Product principles workshop board
Refining the product principles:
Post-workshop, I organized for the UX and Content designers to work together to refine the raw ideas into polished drafts. These drafts were then presented to the team triads for voting and feedback collection. Once the final product principles emerged, I packaged them together and worked with the UX designers to create “This” vs. “That” examples for each principle.
Key Takeaways:
The process of crafting product principles proved instrumental in aligning our product teams around shared standards. Establishing a unified vision and lexicon within the group is pivotal in steering teams toward delivering stellar products. Effective communication of context and benefits is paramount for the successful creation of product principles.
