313: Building relationships with PM's & Product Marketers

Thank you to our sponsor, Framer. Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Start free today at framer.link/femke Femke and Charli delve into the relationship between a designer and a product manager, exploring perspectives on role responsibilities, skill overlaps, relationship-building advice and distinctions between product marketing and brand design roles. Timestamps: 01:27 Episode starts 02:22 Framer sponsorship 04:00 Typical relationship between a designer and a PM — what it looks like from Fem’s perspective. 05:26 Is it the PM's responsibility to set the direction of the role, meaning: defining the problem to solve, outlining potential solutions? And then, is it the designer's role to present what they believe is the best solution? 06:55 Is it fair to say that there's a significant overlap in the skill sets of a product manager and a UX designer? 11:55 What advice would you give for building a strong relationship? How can designers foster a good partnership with PMs? 13:47 What are the key differences between a product marketing manager and a brand designer or marketing designer? Specifically, on the product design side. 17:57 Regarding briefs from product marketers — how solution-oriented are they? Are they more focused on campaign goals, or do they also include specific design solutions? 19:58 Since you work in a decentralized manner from the product or feature teams, do product marketers coordinate among themselves? What happens if two campaigns conflict or need to be run simultaneously? How does Charli handle such situations? 22:57 How do you collaborate with a product marketing manager as a UX designer? Links: A huge shoutout to our sponsor for this episode, Framer. Make sure to check them out Femke's new community Femke’s course “Product strategy for designers” Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]