UX Insights - User Experience Leadership and Strategy

In the last email [https://boagworld.com/emails/selling-your-ux-vision/], I talked about presenting your UX vision to stakeholders and leadership. We looked at how to focus on the value you offer and how to tailor that message to your audience's specific needs. But, successfully driving through your strategy involves more than just a well-crafted presentation. It also needs a strategic approach when you are in the room with those key decision makers. I want to share some additional thoughts on that today. THE PROBLEM WITH ASKING PERMISSION One common mistake I see is when UX practitioners pitch their strategy as something they need management to sign off on. This can trigger a cautious mindset in people. They might start thinking, "Is this going to cost me money?" or "What are the implications for me?" and the conversation quickly becomes a critique. A BETTER APPROACH: ASK FOR HELP Instead, I recommend going in and asking for their help. Explain your goals clearly. Tell them you're trying to improve in specific areas and deliver on the goals they care about. Then, explain that you believe your strategy is the way to achieve this. Crucially, ask for their perspective. Ask if they agree with your approach and what they think about it. WHY THIS WORKS This approach of drawing them in and asking for their feedback does two powerful things. First, you're appealing to their ego a little bit. You're saying that you value their opinion and believe they can help you. People are generally quite receptive to that. Second, if you can genuinely take on board their comments and tweak your strategy based on their feedback, they've essentially given you permission already. If you've incorporated their suggestions, they are more likely to be happy with it. People like to be consistent with their previously stated views, so it becomes very unlikely they will reject it. Even if you don't apply all their recommendations, having a dialogue about it means they feel a sense of ownership over your strategy. FIND YOUR ALLIES It also helps significantly if you do some preparation before you speak to management. Go and seek allies. These are other people who are excited by your strategy and vision and are willing to support you in your conversations with leadership by saying, "Yes, I'm behind this too." The more voices you have, the more momentum your strategy picks up. This means management is much more likely to approve it. It's really worth trying to create excitement around your strategy before you try to make it official. START WITH DESIGN CHAMPIONS When looking for potential allies, start with the obvious people. These are the individuals who already value design and UX within your organization. You likely know who they are. Even if they don't use the specific term "user experience," they are certainly affected by the negative consequences of a poor user experience. Typically, these will be people in marketing or customer service. FIND CHANGE ADVOCATES Next, look for those who are dissatisfied with the status quo. Your best allies are often those who are unhappy with current processes and want things to change. For example, product owners who feel frustrated that the UX team has become a bottleneck, or that you can't contribute as much as they'd like, can often be useful allies. PREPARE FOR OBJECTIONS When you start talking to potential allies, senior management, or any colleagues, you need to be ready for objections. There will be many thrown at you, and you need to have responses prepared. While I won't list every possible objection, here are some common ones you might hear: * Red tape: "We need to go through procurement for that." This is especially common in larger organizations. * Resource constraints: "We haven't got enough people to do this." * Risk aversion: People don't like to do anything different because it might be dangerous. * Lack of evidence or data to support your proposed approach. * Return on investment (ROI). * The objection of others: "That's a great idea, but you'll never get it past so-and-so." * Change fatigue: People are tired of changing their behavior. * Poor market conditions or economic situation. Broadly speaking, I have three different tactics for these situations: * Minimize the impact: Emphasize that what you're proposing will impact others very little. As long as people don't have to do extra work, they are normally more open to change. * Stage the rollout: Suggest a trial period. Implement changes in stages while monitoring to ensure they are having the desired effect. * Don't ask for anything extra: No extra money, people, or time. This gives people very little room to object since you're not asking anything of them. BE PATIENT AND PERSISTENT With all of this, you need to be patient and persistent. Don't just make a one-off attempt. Follow up and keep the conversation going with updates and additional information as needed. That's why you want to avoid a situation where management simply says no. By talking about getting their help rather than their permission, you create opportunities to follow up and continue providing information gradually. Stay committed. Perseverance is not only important to achieve your goal. It also shows dedication to your vision. This can persuade people over time that your strategy isn't just a passing idea but something you are committed to and believe is important. It's important to recognize that shifting your role and strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. NEXT TIME That's all I want to say about defining your role and strategy for now. In the next email, we're going to look at how you can have a much bigger impact on projects within your organization, even with limited resources. This is where we'll really begin to unpack some elements of that strategy and how it can help you have a bigger impact on projects. But that's for next time.

In the last email [https://boagworld.com/emails/before-you-present-to-management-draft-your-strategy/], we talked about sketching out your UX strategy. Not a polished final document, but a draft that clarifies your direction and invites collaboration. But that strategy is only useful if people buy into it. And that means you now need to switch hats: from strategist to storyteller. That's what this week is all about: how to present your vision in a way that gets your colleagues and leadership on board. DON'T JUST PRESENT. INVOLVE. The biggest mistake I see people make is showing up to stakeholders with a "here's what I'm going to do" approach. Instead, try: > Here's what I'm thinking. What's your take? That small shift does two powerful things: * It invites others into the process, giving them a sense of ownership. * It makes it harder for them to say no later because they helped shape it. A strategy that's co-created is much more likely to be supported and championed. But to create something together effectively, you need to truly understand who you're working with. UNDERSTAND YOUR STAKEHOLDERS LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR USERS We're great at user research. We'll run interviews, analyze data, and build personas to understand end users. But when it comes to internal stakeholders? We often just... guess. Or worse, we get frustrated when they don't see things our way. So flip the script: do your research. Talk to stakeholders one-on-one. Ask them what their priorities are. What challenges they're facing. What success looks like for them this quarter or this year. Then map your strategy to those things. This leads us to an important realization: your strategy needs to be flexible enough to speak to different audiences. ONE VISION, MANY VERSIONS When it comes time to share your strategy, don't use the same pitch for everyone. A marketing lead wants to hit quarterly targets. A finance director cares about cost savings. A project manager is drowning in dependencies and missed deadlines. So don't talk generically about improving the user experience. Talk about: * Reducing churn (for marketing) * Cutting support call volume (for finance) * Smoothing collaboration (for project management) Make your strategy speak their language. The more personal the value, the more likely they'll back your plan. And speaking of personal value... SOLVE THEIR PAIN, NOT JUST YOURS Another powerful approach is to speak directly to pain points. If your UX team is seen as a bottleneck, talk about how your strategy empowers others to take on basic UX tasks themselves. If product managers are stressed about missing targets, show how better UX will help users complete key tasks faster. The question to answer is: what's in it for them? And sometimes, the best way to answer that question is through storytelling. TELL A STORY THAT STICKS Let me give you a quick example. I once watched a waitress struggle to take our order on a clunky app. It took ages. So I started calculating: how many seconds lost per table? Per day? Per restaurant? Across the entire chain? It added up to hundreds of thousands in wasted wages. That's the kind of story you can tell. You're not just saying "bad UI wastes time." You're showing how much money is on the table. If you can connect your UX strategy to tangible outcomes (even if they're estimates), it will land so much better with management. But remember, while stories are powerful, timing is everything. MIX SHORT-TERM WINS WITH LONG-TERM VALUE Let's be honest. Most leaders are focused on next quarter's results, not next year's vision. So give them both. Yes, your UX work might improve retention or reduce churn, but also talk about what you can do now. Can you run a quick usability test that reduces support tickets? Can you tweak a key flow that lifts conversion rates? Make it clear your strategy delivers both immediate impact and long-term value. Now, let's put all of this into action. YOUR ACTION STEP This week, identify 2 to 3 key stakeholders. Book a quick chat with each one. Ask what they're working toward. Listen for pain points. Then write down: * What they care about * How your strategy helps * The best way to frame your pitch to them We'll build on this next time when we dive deeper into how to present your ideas to management effectively, especially when things get political.

In the last lesson [https://boagworld.com/emails/auditing-your-ux-resources-making-the-most-of-what-you-have/], I said we’d be talking next about how to present your ideas to management. But, jumping into that too soon could actually backfire. If you go to leadership now with nothing but frustrations and vague intentions, it’s likely to come across as a complaint. And that’s not what you’re aiming for. You're not there to moan about the state of UX in your organization. You're there to show leadership. To demonstrate vision. And to earn their trust. That’s why, before we move on to stakeholder conversations, we need to step back and put together a draft UX strategy. I’m calling it a draft for a reason. This isn’t a final plan. You don’t need to have every detail nailed down yet. In fact, you shouldn’t. You’ll be far more successful if you involve others in shaping the strategy with you. If you present something that’s 100 percent locked in, people are more likely to push back. Not because the plan is wrong, but because they feel excluded from it. On the other hand, a draft invites collaboration. It shows initiative without being presumptuous. It says: “Here’s what I’m thinking, but I’d love your help refining it.” And that’s the mindset we want to take into these early conversations with management. WHY NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR STRATEGY WORK Over the last few lessons, you’ve been quietly building toward this. You’ve audited your current role, taken stock of your resources, and thought through where you already have influence. You’ve probably also started identifying which organizational goals UX could support. Now it’s time to bring all of that together. A strategy isn’t just a roadmap. It’s not a shopping list of new tools or a wish list for more staff. And it’s definitely not a list of complaints. A good UX strategy does three things: * It explains why change is needed by highlighting real challenges and opportunities * It defines principles and priorities that guide UX efforts across the organization * It outlines practical tactics for making progress with the resources you already have That’s what we’re going to build. You might be wondering, “Why bother drafting a UX strategy if I don’t have a boss to present it to?” It’s a fair question. But the value of a strategy doesn’t disappear just because you work for yourself. In fact, it might be even more important. A strategy gives you clarity. It helps you decide what kind of work you want to do, who you want to work with, and how you’ll position yourself. It stops you from just reacting to client requests and starts putting you in a more proactive, consultative role. Maybe you’re tired of being handed poor wireframes and asked to “make it look good.” Maybe you’d rather help clients define their goals, shape better experiences, and have a real impact on outcomes. If that’s the case, then a strategy helps you frame that shift, both for yourself and for your clients. It also becomes a powerful sales tool. When a prospect says, “We’re thinking of redesigning our website,” you don’t just say “Great, let’s get started.” You can say, “Here’s how I typically approach UX projects, and why that delivers better results.” Suddenly, you’re not just a supplier. You’re a strategic partner. So even if there’s no internal stakeholder to share it with, a clear UX strategy helps you steer your business, strengthen your pitch, and attract the right kinds of clients. WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR DRAFT STRATEGY Let’s begin with a few common pitfalls. These are things I see in struggling strategy documents again and again. DON’T INCLUDE PROJECT PLANS OR TIMELINES The goal here isn’t to map out every task for the next year. That approach makes your strategy rigid and quickly outdated. Instead, you want a strategy that can flex with shifting priorities. One that defines how UX operates, not just what it delivers. DON’T LEAD WITH REQUESTS FOR MORE RESOURCES At this stage, avoid asking for extra staff, tools, or budget. Most managers spend their lives fielding those kinds of requests. You want to stand out by showing what you can do with what’s already available. That makes it much easier to have resource conversations later — when you’ve proven value and built credibility. DON’T JUST LIST BROAD GOALS It’s tempting to include statements like “improve usability” or “reduce friction.” But on their own, these are too vague. A strategy needs to explain not just what you want to achieve, but how you plan to get there, and why it matters to the business. WHAT A GOOD UX STRATEGY INCLUDES Let’s walk through the key elements your draft strategy should include. Think of these as building blocks; you don’t need to get them perfect, just sketched out enough to invite discussion. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Start by making the case for change. What's broken in the current user experience? Where are users struggling? Where is the organization missing out? Frame these points through a business lens. If user frustration is leading to increased support calls, that's not just a UX problem, it's a cost issue. If your site's onboarding process is clunky, that's not just bad design, it's hurting conversion and revenue. Be careful to strike the right tone here. You're not trying to point fingers. You're highlighting real pain points or untapped opportunities so you can help the organization move forward. Which you emphasize, challenges or opportunities, depends on your context. In large, established organizations, it's often more effective to talk about risks of not changing. In smaller, growth-focused environments, you might want to lean more heavily into what could be gained by investing in UX. GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES This part of your strategy sets the tone for how UX should operate across the organization. It gives leadership a sense of your approach, not just your activities. Start with a few core principles. These could be things like: * "We design with evidence, not assumptions" * "We aim to empower teams across the organization to think about UX" * "We prioritize inclusivity and accessibility from the start" Then, sketch out any policies or playbook elements that would help make those principles real. For example, maybe you want every new feature to go through at least one round of usability testing. Or maybe you propose a standard onboarding workshop for new teams to learn about UX best practices. For each principle and policy, clearly outline the benefits they'll bring to teams and the organization. Will they speed up development? Reduce support tickets? Improve customer satisfaction? The more concrete these benefits are, the less like bureaucracy they'll feel. Keep everything as lightweight as possible. The smaller the ask, the more likely people are to embrace it. And always emphasize that you're there to support teams through any changes - you're not just adding requirements and walking away. These policies aren't rules to enforce from day one. They're flags in the ground. They show where you want to go. TACTICS TO BUILD MOMENTUM Finally, identify some practical steps you can take to start making change without waiting for a bigger team or a bigger budget. Don't worry, we'll explore each of these tactics in much more detail as the course continues. Here are some examples: * Create internal resources: things like UX checklists, journey mapping templates, or research guides * Offer lightweight support services: quick audits, design reviews, or discovery workshops * Run training sessions: lunch-and-learns, onboarding sessions, or short videos to introduce UX thinking * Start culture-building efforts: sharing success stories, publishing small wins, highlighting user quotes These kinds of tactics show you're ready to help others succeed. They also create visibility and credibility for UX, without overpromising what your team can deliver. We'll dive deeper into implementing each of these approaches in upcoming lessons. KEEP IT LIGHT AND COLLABORATIVE The point of this strategy is not to have all the answers. It’s to create a foundation for better conversations. When you take this draft to management, you’re not saying, “Here’s what I need you to approve.” You’re saying, “Here’s what I’m thinking; does this direction make sense to you?” That shift changes everything. It turns your strategy into a shared journey, not a top-down mandate. And it gives your stakeholders a sense of ownership in the process, which, as we'll see in the next lesson, is critical to getting long-term support. YOUR NEXT STEP This week, set aside some time to sketch out your draft. Start small. Write one paragraph about the UX challenge that most worries you. List two or three principles that reflect how you want UX to work. Jot down one tactic that could help you move things forward right now. You'll add to it and refine it over time. But getting started and getting it out of your head is what matters most. In the next lesson, I'll walk you through how to share this with leadership in a way that invites support instead of skepticism.

In previous lessons [https://boagworld.com/emails/baking-ux-into-the-dna-of-your-organizations-strategy/], we've discussed aligning your UX role with organizational goals and understanding your current position. Today, let’s explore the tangible resources you already have. Many UX leaders instinctively request more people, budget, or time. While there’s a place for such requests (which we'll cover later), effective UX leadership begins by honestly recognizing what's achievable within your existing means. I understand this exercise might initially feel discouraging, particularly if resources are limited. But the goal here isn’t to uncover hidden opportunities immediately; rather, it’s about having a clear and honest appraisal of your current situation. This will enable you to set realistic expectations with senior leadership and articulate your needs more effectively. BUDGET: UNDERSTANDING YOUR CURRENT LIMITS Start by assessing your current budget honestly. Can you directly purchase tools, or do you always need approval? If you require approval, how supportive is your manager, and roughly how much per year can you typically spend without causing friction? Knowing your financial constraints and managerial support is essential for realistic planning. TOOLS AND SOFTWARE: INVENTORY AND OPTIMIZE Clearly identify the tools already available to you, from user research platforms and design tools like Figma, to analytics platforms. Evaluate if you're spending effectively on these tools; could you reduce spending on applications you only occasionally use and reallocate that budget to areas of greater value? This clarity reveals immediate opportunities for optimization and highlights critical gaps. STAFF AND SUPPORT: MAXIMIZING EXISTING TEAMS Next clearly understand what internal or external teams are already at your disposal. Make an honest assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, identifying how you can maximize the value of your current staff or partners. Consider how AI tools could augment your team's capabilities and improve efficiency, rather than immediately requesting additional headcount. TRAINING: LEVERAGING AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES Evaluate existing opportunities for professional growth. Do you have current access to training, webinars, or coaching? Using these resources effectively will fill skill gaps without waiting for additional investment. AUTONOMY: RECOGNIZING YOUR CURRENT INFLUENCE Reflect honestly on your current autonomy. Do you have the authority to set policies relating to user experience? Do you get to decide and prioritize your own work? Can you influence broader approaches that teams use when developing products and services? Identifying the boundaries of your current influence helps you strategically expand it over time. SUPPORTERS: LEVERAGING EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS Identify your current supporters within the organization. Who already values UX? Building and nurturing these relationships is critical. Regularly engaging with your advocates, encouraging their support, and ensuring they see the positive impact of their involvement can significantly amplify your effectiveness, even with limited resources. YOUR ACTION STEP Take 10 minutes today to jot down honest bullet points under these resource categories. Recognizing what you already have is crucial for practical planning. When you’re finished, reply to this email sharing one surprising strength or unexpected gap you uncovered. Your insights help me shape what we cover going forward. In the next email, we'll explore how to effectively present your findings to management. Don’t worry, we'll also revisit resources and influence later in the course, ensuring your strategy is as impactful as possible.

In the previous lesson [https://boagworld.com/emails/before-we-charge-ahead-lets-see-where-were-standing/], I asked you to take an initial look at your role, your resources, and your reach. Now, over the next three lessons, we're going to dive into those three areas in more detail, starting with your role and how it aligns with something much bigger: your organization's goals. Because if you want UX to be seen as more than a support function, you can’t define your role in isolation. You need to connect it to the outcomes your leadership team is already striving for. WHY YOU SHOULDN’T ASK FOR A JOB DESCRIPTION One problem I often see is that UX practitioners implicitly wait for their manager to define their role. Maybe they don't directly ask "What should my role be?" but their behavior suggests they expect management to take the lead. The intention is good. The outcome usually isn’t. Most managers don’t have the time (or the context) to define your role in a meaningful way. They don’t know your full skill set. They don’t always understand UX deeply. And they’re juggling a dozen other priorities. So what do you get in return? Either something vague and generic. Or a polite but firm, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” That’s not leadership. That’s maintenance. Instead of asking what your role should be, come to them with a proposal. Show that you’ve thought about where you can add the most value. Frame it in terms they care about. Make it easy for them to say yes. This isn't just a UX tip; it's a universal rule for working with leadership: never go to management with a problem unless you also bring a potential solution. THE SECRET WEAPON: YOUR ORGANIZATION’S STRATEGY Every organization has a strategy document floating around somewhere. It might be a PowerPoint from the senior leadership team, a CEO memo, or a PDF in your company wiki that nobody’s opened since it was uploaded. Dig it out. Read it carefully. These documents are more than corporate fluff. They’re your map to influence. Inside, you’ll usually find the goals that matter most to leadership over the next 1 to 5 years. Things like: * Reaching new customer segments * Increasing revenue per user * Improving employee productivity * Strengthening brand loyalty * Reducing operational costs These aren’t just executive priorities. They’re your starting points. Because when you tie UX to goals that are already considered urgent and important, people stop seeing your work as “nice to have.” FIND THE UX ANGLE IN THE BUSINESS GOALS Take each goal and ask yourself: How could UX contribute to this? You might be surprised how often the answer is “quite a lot.” For example: * If the goal is to improve employee satisfaction, you might look at the internal tools staff use every day. Could they be more intuitive, faster, or less frustrating? * If it’s about growing market share among Gen Z, consider whether your digital products align with their expectations around speed, personalization, or visual language. * If leadership wants to reduce support costs, you could examine the onboarding experience, help content, or navigation to reduce friction and prevent confusion. Now, not every goal will have a clear UX application. You don’t need to force it. Your job here is to find the intersections—where user experience has a natural role to play in business success. PRIORITIZE WHERE YOU CAN MAKE THE MOST DIFFERENCE Once you’ve mapped out a few potential connections, it’s time to focus. Ask two questions: 1. How important is this goal to the business right now? 2. How much influence do I realistically have over it? Goals that rank high on both fronts should be your top priorities. That’s where you’ll have the best chance of delivering visible results and earning trust. Also, consider the feasibility. Some goals might be technically within your remit but would require fighting through years of legacy systems or organizational red tape. Save those for later. Start where you can move quickly and show value. WRITE IT UP AS A ONE-PAGE ROLE VISION With your priorities in place, draft a simple one-page proposal. This doesn’t need to be formal or fancy. It just needs to show your thinking. Structure it like this: * Your Understanding of Company Goals: A brief summary in your own words. * Where UX Can Contribute: A few bullet points on how user experience can support each goal. * Your Role: A description of how you propose to spend your time and focus your energy. * Next Steps: What you’d like to do next, and any input or validation you’re seeking from your manager. Here's a simplified example focusing on just one goal (you'll want to do this exercise for each relevant business objective): > Company Goal: Increase first-year customer retention by 15%. UX Contribution: Redesign the onboarding experience, improve clarity of initial comms, run usability testing on account setup. My Role: Lead a cross-functional initiative to streamline onboarding and reduce user drop-off within the first 30 days. Next Step: Kick off initial discovery sessions with Customer Support and Product next week. This is just a basic example - your actual proposal should be more detailed and cover multiple goals. You can present this informally, over coffee, in a 1:1 meeting, or as a short follow-up email. The point is to shift the conversation from "What should I be doing?" to "Here's how I believe I can help. Does that align with your thinking?" OUTIE’S ASIDE If you’re an agency owner or freelancer, you might be thinking, “Well, that’s all fine for in-house roles, but what about me? I don’t have a strategy doc to refer to.” True; but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Instead of aligning to an internal strategy, your task is to identify the recurring goals and pain points your clients face and then position yourself as the answer. Start by asking: * What business outcomes are my clients struggling with? * Where does UX have the potential to make a measurable difference? * What problems do they know they have... and what problems don’t they see yet? You might notice patterns. Perhaps your clients struggle with onboarding new users, reducing bounce rates, or turning traffic into leads. Or maybe they’re failing to stand out in a saturated market due to poor brand consistency or a clunky experience. Once you know what they care about, you can define your own role in relation to those needs. For example, instead of simply offering “UX design,” you could describe your service as: * Helping SaaS founders reduce churn through better onboarding * Improving donation flows for nonprofits to increase conversion rates * Creating design systems that cut dev time and speed up feature rollouts This isn’t just about writing better sales copy. It’s about clarifying your role so that potential clients see you as a partner in their success, not just a pair of hands to execute wireframes. You’re not waiting to be told what to do. You’re bringing insight, clarity, and structure, and that’s something clients will pay a premium for. THE BONUS: EDUCATING WHILE YOU ALIGN This process does more than define your role. It helps educate your manager and colleagues about the value of UX, without lecturing them or asking them to read articles. It also gives them a sense of ownership. Because you’ve involved them in shaping your priorities, they’re more likely to defend and champion them when needed. This kind of soft influence builds credibility fast. You’re not just seen as “the designer” anymore. You become someone who helps the business solve problems. COMING UP: GETTING REAL ABOUT YOUR RESOURCES So far, we’ve looked at aligning your role with what the organization wants to achieve. Next time, we’ll talk about what you can realistically achieve, given your current resources. Because defining your role is one thing. Delivering on it is another. And we need to make sure your ambitions are rooted in what’s actually possible. In the meantime, see if you can track down your company’s strategy doc. Read it through and highlight 3 to 5 goals that UX could directly support. If you find something interesting or surprising, hit reply and tell me about it. I’d love to hear. Talk soon, Paul