UX Leadership, Part 1: The Nature of Great Leaders

This column is the second in our series that highlights our insights on what it would take for companies to go from producing dreary, overly complex user experiences to producing truly great user experiences that differentiate their products from those of competitors in their marketplace. In our first column, we stated that producing great, highly differentiated user experiences should be the goal of every UX leader. But in many companies, UX leaders face challenges that force them to approach leading User Experience in a less than optimal way. If, as a UX leader, you find yourself stuck in a situation where you and your team cannot do great work—that is, you are unable to produce user experiences that solve people’s problems, inspire, and delight—you’re working for the wrong organization and should find a better job. In that column, we also discussed how to position User Experience for optimal impact.

Great leadership is essential to producing great user experiences, so in this two-part series, we’ll look at what it takes to be a great UX leader. In Part 1, we’ll discuss the need for great leaders in User Experience, describe some qualities that are characteristic of all great leaders, and consider some unique factors that make a UX leader great. Although UX leaders share many leadership traits with other disciplines—including business, product management, and engineering—leading UX research, strategy, and design requires particular strengths as a leader.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss what great leaders do that enables them to be successful in leading their UX teams and their entire organization to greatness.

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