Hi, UX friend

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why are we making ANOTHER button?” this one’s for you.

Strategic UX is the difference between designing screens and designing real impact.

Since I started my own business, I’ve called myself a “strategic UX designer.” But what does that actually mean?

Let me show you how I think about it—and the two strategic actions I always start with on any project.

1. Start with strategy

When I work on projects, the first thing I do is to align on the strategy with the stakeholders. And make sure that everyone is committed to it.

I will not start any UX work until the strategy is clear to everyone (and in prioritized order!) because otherwise, I don’t know what we are trying to achieve—and what’s the point then?

2. Set (and align) on scope

For me, strategy and scope go hand in hand. So, when I start with setting the strategy, I also start with setting the scope, and I ensure that all stakeholders are aligned and committed to the agreed scope.

Again, I will not start any UX work until the scope is clear to everyone. Sometimes, you need to set an initial scope and then adjust it along the way because you get wiser. And that is perfectly ok. We cannot know it all upfront.

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Sometimes it can be tough to impact the process if you are part of a bigger team or a large project in a large organization.

I will always recommend that you at least TRY to impact the process, as it is important to your work, and you want to flag that there are other ways to run a process.

Even if nothing happens, you have still marked yourself as someone who knows something.

And perhaps someone will grab you in the coffee break and say, “Hey, I totally agree with your input,” and ta-daaa!

You made a new friend (and ally).

Always speak up if something feels off.

Here are five other things you can start doing today if you want to position yourself as a UX designer who thinks strategically:

1. Ask why

This might be cliché, but nonetheless super important. Sometimes we end up on “delivery teams,” and our work feels like a “feature factory.” Make this button, add this element, more of this, less of that. Regardless of the request, I will always ask, “Why?” What is the business need behind the request? When we understand the problem better, we can give better advice about the solution. It’s simple and effective to ask “Why?”

2. Talk to your stakeholders

We tend to look at stakeholders as potential enemies. And yes, they can make our UX lives miserable, but they can also help us do better work. I will always try to understand my stakeholders and empathize with them the same way I empathize with users. The input that I get from stakeholders is important for the strategic direction.

3. Be curious about the organization

When you understand the bigger perspective, you can start connecting the dots in different ways. I will always try to understand the company strategy and link my own work to the “high-level ambitions.” No one can argue against you if you are working to deliver on the “big future plans” set by the CEO. Who wants to go against the CEO?

4. Grow your network

Inspiration and decisions are not only happening in the meeting rooms. A chat by the coffee machine, a lunch, or a walk-and-talk can lead to great ideas and new perspectives. If you are not the outgoing type, then try and push yourself to make more “dates” with interesting people in your organization and get to know more people. Understand what they work with and what they are trying to achieve. New alliances sometimes appear out of nowhere, and you might need their support in the future.

5. Say it out loud

If you want your organization to work strategically with UX (or whatever it is you work with), then start saying it. Become the “strategy ambassador” and make it your trademark. Push your team and UX colleagues to think strategically, or start a chat about how you can become more strategy aware. If you want to be recognized as a “strategic UX designer,” simply start saying it. You need to put that energy out there to attract the right people (and the right type of work).

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Strategy isn’t scary. It starts with how you think about your own work. Start there...

And have fun with it!

- Christina // Design with Chris

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