Sep 21, 2026 · 58 min · 13 segments
Send us Fan Mail How do you know whether a product idea is worth building before you spend months designing and developing it? In this episode of…
Jamie LevyGuest
Thomas WatkinsHost
So let's get into, so I want to start off by talking about one of the things that I think is the big magnets for people wanting to figure out how to do strategy.
And it's kind of the archetype of the business visionary and they're on stage in the black turtleneck and they know the future and they're building the future and And a lot of founders want to be able to be like that.
And it's hard to find a method to be like that, right? So we kind of think like, oh, this person is just like really innovative and they're naturally very smart.
In a UX, we've always had methods for the design side, for the research side, but not as much for the strategy side.
Well, I think strategy, when designers come to it, seems quite elusive because they might be concerned that they don't know enough about business strategy or business models or all these terms that have very little to do with design and much to do about how a business operates and how it makes money and creates value.
where it really intersects with UX design and customer experience and all these related disciplines is where there's these touch points and we're creating an interface, we're creating an experience that is actually tied to how the company is going to make revenue.
So if it is tied to clicks, then we're thinking about getting the users to jump around the site, like in the old days.
If it's tied to subscription fees like a Netflix, then we want them to be streaming a lot of the content and become addicted to it.
But in terms of strategy, we really need to be thinking about How are we going to create an experience that's rewarding for our users and for the customers, but at the same time is going to create value for the business so they can stay afloat?
Yeah, so it's existential really, right? Later in your career, it moves from the tactical to the enabling.
Like I'm not doing as many wireframes maybe as I used to or directly conducting the usability tests, but I'm using that knowledge to now enable it.
So with the business side of things, you're empowering an organization to continue existing, right?
I mean, that's one of the things that we're trying to do if we're going to make successful products.
We're also looking at other ways for it to, you know, whether it's going to scale or have partnerships and think of new ways for it to integrate with other verticals, let's say.
So I feel like there's a lot of possibilities for designers, you know, when designers are starting out or even researchers or developers or whatever, you know, things might be quite granular at first where you're just trying to figure out like, okay, I'm trying to make this thing work and what do I have to do to do that? And then all of a sudden you feel confident with that and you're like, okay, I want to make bigger and bigger things.
And then at a certain point, you notice that you're getting bossed around a lot by these other people who say, here's a new requirement for you that you don't agree with.
And so then you have to say, well, do I just argue with them because I think it's a bad idea, or do I push back with an evidence-based approach? And so that's where strategy really comes in, because if we are speaking to them from the standpoint of, then it's not going to necessarily get our ideas across.
But if we can come up with things that are objective, that are based on looking at competitors or user research, and we can weave that story into why they think they should make the thing a certain way, there's a much greater chance of getting our ideas deployed.
Yeah, you know, one of the things for me, Jamie, when I was kind of trying to figure out the sort of business side of things is shifting from thinking about only the user to marketplaces.
So let's get into, so I want to start off by talking about one of the things that I think is the big magnets for people wanting to figure out how to do strategy.
And it's kind of the archetype of the business visionary and they're on stage in the black turtleneck and they know the future and they're building the future and And a lot of founders want to be able to be like that.
And it's hard to find a method to be like that, right? So we kind of think like, oh, this person is just like really innovative and they're naturally very smart.
In a UX, we've always had methods for the design side, for the research side, but not as much for the strategy side.
Well, I think strategy, when designers come to it, seems quite elusive because they might be concerned that they don't know enough about business strategy or business models or all these terms that have very little to do with design and much to do about how a business operates and how it makes money and creates value.
where it really intersects with UX design and customer experience and all these related disciplines is where there's these touch points and we're creating an interface, we're creating an experience that is actually tied to how the company is going to make revenue.
So if it is tied to clicks, then we're thinking about getting the users to jump around the site, like in the old days.
If it's tied to subscription fees like a Netflix, then we want them to be streaming a lot of the content and become addicted to it.
But in terms of strategy, we really need to be thinking about How are we going to create an experience that's rewarding for our users and for the customers, but at the same time is going to create value for the business so they can stay afloat?
Yeah, so it's existential really, right? Later in your career, it moves from the tactical to the enabling.
Like I'm not doing as many wireframes maybe as I used to or directly conducting the usability tests, but I'm using that knowledge to now enable it.
So with the business side of things, you're empowering an organization to continue existing, right?
I mean, that's one of the things that we're trying to do if we're going to make successful products.
We're also looking at other ways for it to, you know, whether it's going to scale or have partnerships and think of new ways for it to integrate with other verticals, let's say.
So I feel like there's a lot of possibilities for designers, you know, when designers are starting out or even researchers or developers or whatever, you know, things might be quite granular at first where you're just trying to figure out like, okay, I'm trying to make this thing work and what do I have to do to do that? And then all of a sudden you feel confident with that and you're like, okay, I want to make bigger and bigger things.
And then at a certain point, you notice that you're getting bossed around a lot by these other people who say, here's a new requirement for you that you don't agree with.
And so then you have to say, well, do I just argue with them because I think it's a bad idea, or do I push back with an evidence-based approach? And so that's where strategy really comes in, because if we are speaking to them from the standpoint of, then it's not going to necessarily get our ideas across.
But if we can come up with things that are objective, that are based on looking at competitors or user research, and we can weave that story into why they think they should make the thing a certain way, there's a much greater chance of getting our ideas deployed.
Yeah, you know, one of the things for me, Jamie, when I was kind of trying to figure out the sort of business side of things is shifting from thinking about only the user to marketplaces.
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