Making Design decisions as a Product Manager is a lot of responsibilities, so here is your guide on how to do it!

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What is a PM's Guide to Making
Design Decisions by LinkedIn PM

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7. Arpit Dhariwal
&
Chris Arrowood
TONIGHT’S SPEAKERS

8. Arpit’s Journey
Born in
Jodhpur, India
DA-IICT
Bachelors in
Information &
Communication
Technology
Infosys
User Experience
Designer
S.P. Jain
MBA in Marketing
LinkedIn (6 yrs)
Principal Product Manager
Messenger

9. Chris’s Journey
Born in Ohio University of
Louisville
Bachelors
Communication
Design
Procter &
Gamble
Design Manager
Carnegie Mellon
University
Masters
Interaction
Design
LinkedIn (4 yrs)
Design Manager
Messenger

10. We’ve seen the
product evolve

11. Commitment to
LinkedIn Values
Members first
Relationships matter
Be open, honest, and
constructive
Demand excellence
Take intelligent risks
Act like an owner

13. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
Learning #1
Define your value proposition

14. FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
LINKEDIN’S VALUE PROPOSITION
Connect to Opportunity

15. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
Connect to Opportunity
Stay well-informed
Build meaningful
relationships
Get the right job
Establish and manage my reputation
Research and contact people
Keep tabs on my activity

16. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
Learning #2
Frame the success criteria in terms of
member value

17. Framing the success criteria
• Intended: By making ‘Send’ easier, our
members will be more productive.
• Actual: Members have established
patterns with communication
professionally, including the need for
paragraph returns.
• Result: We rolled back the changes to
ensure our definition of value
(productivity) aligned with our members
• This change, at first, looked like a major
success.
• Messages Sent were going up, and people
seemed to be sending more messages than
ever.
• But we noticed that sentiment and public
posts were trending negative.

18. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
Learning #3
Create channels for feedback, both
deliberate and organic, and know how
to utilize feedback

19. Feedback process
Making space for
organic feedback -
ramp emails, ‘shake for
feedback’
Organic Feedback
Making deliberate
space for feedback - eg.
Design Crit.
Deliberate Space for
Feedback
Knowing how to act on
and prioritize feedback.
Prioritize Feedback

20. Design Crit
- Standing Design-focused meeting with key, immediate stakeholders.
- Sharing Product Designs at various stages of fidelity.
- Designer sets context, and clarifies what feedback is desired
- All attendees are expected to give feedback, but consensus is not the goal.
- Solicit sign ups day before; Send out agenda morning-of; Take and share notes!

21. Giving and Prioritizing Feedback
- Types of feedback:
- one person opinion
- strong suggestion
- requirement
- Categorization helps the team interpret how to proceed
- Biases can arise when convincing voices or important stakeholders give feedback

22. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
Learning #4
Make talking about member value a part
of your company’s lexicon

23. Member value communication
Product Specs, Ramp
Emails, Member Value
Meetings
Create checkpoints
Ensure all communication
starts with member value
/ pain points
Consistent Communication

25. FOR OUR MEMBERS
ADVANCE MY CAREER
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
WORK SMARTER
Learning #5
Managing conflict

26. Conflict is to be expected!
Use Design Crit to understand opinions and identify misalignment
Some tools we use:
● RAPID Framework
● Clean Escalation
● 5 Day Alignment
Managing Conflict

27. Establish a RAPID if needed
From The RAPID framework Decide Make How LinkedIn Execs Run Meetings

28. Clean Escalate the issue if you reach an
impasse
● Invite your colleague who is unaligned
to develop a shared overview of the
situation and agree to commit to the
outcome of escalation
Clean Escalation

29. Clean Escalate the issue if you reach an
impasse (continued)
● Document both perspectives objectively
● Capture where alignment is had, and where
misalignment exists
● Capture both positions on the ideal course of
action, and the trade offs
● Enroll both managers or equivalent decision
makers to help reach conclusion
Clean Escalation

30. Time box the alignment to 5 days
● Get your colleague’s commitment to resolve
● Set meetings on the calendar to discuss
● Arrange a meeting with key decision makers (from your RAPID) for the 5th
day
5-day Alignment

32. Thank You
linkedin.com/in/arpitdhariwal
linkedin.com/in/chrisarrowood

33. RAPID Framework (Link)
5 Day Alignment (Link)
Avoiding the Unintended Consequences of Casual Feedback (Link)
How to Run a Design Critiques - Scott Berkun (Link)
Nielsen Norman Group on Design Critique (Link)
Appendix: Useful links

34. Appendix: Event Description
What is a PM's Guide to Making Design Decisions by LinkedIn PM
The most highly engaging, and successful products are built with a growth mindset and obsession with driving
engagement, but how do you avoid the inevitable friction between optimizing metrics and building the right user
experience. In this talk, Arpit will talk about how Product Managers should make design decisions that help create
value for both users and the business. Embracing design thinking, effective storytelling and setting the right
expectations help avoid conflict. He will also discuss how his team at LinkedIn runs Design Crits to review designs and
uses a framework to avoid the unintended consequences of casual feedback.
Main takeaways:
- Re-frame your success criteria from metric-driven to value-driven
- Build an MVP but with a clear vision of the product
- Frame your feedback as "one person's feedback" or "strong suggestion" to ensure clarity in your communication
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-is-a-pms-guide-to-making-design-decisions-by-linkedin-pm-tickets-53048134398

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