UX Design And Business Strategy

📣 Designing Voice and Tone In UX Writing (+ PDF Worksheets). How to communicate effectively when users fail and succeed ↓ ✅ Voice is your personality, and tone is your attitude. ✅ Voice never changes, but tone adapts to the situation. ✅ It changes depending on user’s emotional state. ✅ Unpack your brand voice and the tones it can take. ✅ E.g. passionate → enthusiastic, confident, playful. ✅ Arrange your user’s emotional states on a tone scale. ✅ E.g. pleased, satisfied, neutral, confused, angry. ✅ Set writing guidelines for each part of the scale. ✅ Then, find key points and spikes in your user journeys. ✅ You’ll need to find the right tone of voice for each. ✅ Choose dimensions that represent your tone map. ✅ E.g. motivational <-> supportive, concise <-> detailed. ✅ Plot key events of the user journey onto the map. When users feel neutral, be warm, relatable and get to the point. When users are satisfied, sound confident, enthusiastic, perhaps even playful. But when they are confused, stay helpful, concise, honest and direct. Always test your copy. Ask users to underline what’s been helpful for them and circle what hasn’t. Word length matters: the shortest version will usually work best. And never (ever!) include exclamation marks in your error messages. As Michael Metts noted, it’s not a question of whether your product has a voice or changes its tone. It’s a question of how intentional you are about it. And being intentional can make a world of a difference when things turn in unexpected ways. ✤ Voice and Tone in Design Systems Atlassian: https://lnkd.in/eYfXSAGW Amplitude: https://lnkd.in/euW96FxP Canada Post: https://lnkd.in/e24ngYdq DHL: https://lnkd.in/eUVTtp-G Duolingo: https://lnkd.in/eMvJCuS6 Girlguiding: https://lnkd.in/eEBiXX6d 👍 Goldman Sachs: https://lnkd.in/e5x7BuPt JSTOR: https://lnkd.in/eAnyrtcu 👍 MetLife: https://lnkd.in/evVE8sqf Monzo: https://lnkd.in/edVV8QWz NASA: https://lnkd.in/eM637kfD NHS: https://lnkd.in/eYK3QMa2 👍 Progressive’s: https://lnkd.in/evx_8bzY 👍 Schibsted: https://lnkd.in/et_BXg6R Skrill: https://lnkd.in/e2HGTq4q 👍 Slack: https://lnkd.in/ejZ2QtJa Zendesk: https://lnkd.in/ekAp2RCn 👍 Wise: https://lnkd.in/eWk-Mvf9 ✤ Useful resources Tone and Voice Workshop (Miro, PDF), by Antonia Horvath https://lnkd.in/epNJmp5B UX Writer’s Guide To Voice & Tone, by Slater Katz https://lnkd.in/e2wx8BVt Voice Principles And Tone Map, by Paavan Buddhdev https://lnkd.in/eQbDH5qG Four Dimensions of Tone of Voice, by Kate Moran https://lnkd.in/epMMXFTb Deliveroo Voice and Tone Case Study, by Rhiannon Jones https://lnkd.in/ejShWbmd Brand Voice vs. Tone Worksheet (PDF), by Oskar Duberg https://lnkd.in/eWpeEHSV ✤ Books – Content Design by Sarah Winters – Nicely Said, by Nicole Fenton, Kate Kiefer Lee – Everybody Writes, by Ann Handley – Conversational Design by Erika Hall – Writing Is Designing, by Michael Metts, Andy Welfle ✏️ [continues in comments]

Many strategies today are business, growth, and profit-centered. This is a dead end. It is time for human-centered strategy. Why? Because the old approach to strategy and business has led to exhaustion: ❌ Lots of people with burnout and stress complaints, to the extent that they have to take a sick leave, quit their jobs, and need treatment ❌ Employee shortages across industries, high turnover rates, and people dissatisfied with their working environment ❌ New generations looking for a better work-life balance, more flexibility and freedom, and more sensegiving to their lives ❌ Geopolitical anxiety and polarization in and between countries across the globe—with war as its most extreme exponent ❌ A planet under severe pressure in terms of climate change, pollution and resource consumption People are exhausted and the planet is exhausted. And when there is exhaustion, there is a need for change. It’s a sign that things cannot go on as they have been going on. Human-centered strategy is strategy that puts human beings, with all their traits and characteristics, center-stage—and not the economy, financials, or business success. More specifically, it is strategy that embraces the following five aspects of being human: HUMAN SKILLS.  We are not just rational calculating machines or hands that execute. Human-centered strategy also taps our creativity, imagination, emotions, gut feeling, and judgment. HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS Work involves personal relationships. Human-centered strategy acknowledges these relationships and takes into account the profound impact it can have on them. HUMAN VALUES We share fundamental values such as integrity, empathy, and caring for each other and our environment. Human-centered strategy starts from these foundations. HUMAN NEEDS We all like to be seen and heard, contribute, grow, and be meaningful. Human-centered strategy takes these needs seriously as a basis for what an organization should do. HUMAN CONDITIONS To flourish, we need the right balance between challenge and support, pressure and safety, and direction and kindness. Human-centered strategy creates such conditions. At a higher level of abstraction, human-centered strategy changes the metaphor of organizations as machines to organizations as social networks. Instead of merely being efficient means of production, organizations are places where people join and collaborate. See the comment for how to join me in making human-centered strategy a reality! #humancentered #strategyplanning #humanity

You great ideas will die without executive support. Here’s how to get it. (even when you have zero authority) Here's your playbook to sell your vision when no one reports to you: 1. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 ↪ Translate your idea into revenue, efficiency, or risk Say, "This initiative can reduce costs by 15% in Q3" ↪ Frame it through their lens Say, "Here's how this aligns with your strategic priority of..." 2. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ↪ Pre-sell to influential stakeholders Say, "I'd love your perspective on this approach before the meeting" ↪ Create momentum before the pitch Say, "Several team leads have already expressed interest in..." 3. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 ↪ Start small, prove value Say, "Let's test this with one team for 30 days" ↪ De-risk the decision Say, "We can validate the concept with minimal resource investment" 4. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼 ↪ Give them ownership of the vision Say, "Your support could transform how we approach..." ↪ Create space for their input Say, "I'd value your guidance on how to strengthen this further" 5. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 ↪ Align with budget cycles Say, "This could impact next quarter's objectives" ↪ Match organisational momentum Say, "As we're focusing on digital transformation, this initiative..." Remember: Authority isn't given, it's earned through trust and results. Your idea's success depends less on your title and more on how you position it. What's your best tip for getting executive buy-in? ↳ Share in the comments below 🔔 Follow Mostyn Wilson for more like this. __ Want fortnightly deep dives to make you even more successful? Try the Atomic Ambition newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eE287NTG

How do you design an Event Notification System for a user base of 220 Million active users ? Netflix has more than 220 million active members who perform a variety of actions throughout each session, ranging from renaming a profile to watching a title. Reacting to these actions in near real-time to keep the experience consistent across devices is critical for ensuring an optimal member experience. This is not an easy task, considering the wide variety of supported devices and the sheer volume of actions our members perform. Netflix created a system called "RENO" (Rapid Event Notification System) System Requirements: Providing a seamless and consistent Netflix experience across various platforms (iOS, Android, smart TVs, Roku, Amazon FireStick, web browser) and various device types (mobile phones, tablets, televisions, computers, set top boxes) requires more than the traditional request-response model. Use cases 1. Viewing Activity When a member begins to watch a show, their “Continue Watching” list should be updated across all of their devices to reflect that viewing. 2. Personalized Experience Refresh Netflix Recommendation engine continuously refreshes recommendations for every member. The updated recommendations need to be delivered to the device timely for an optimal member experience. 3. Membership Plan Changes Members often change their plan types, leading to a change in their experience that must be immediately reflected across all of their devices. 4. Member “My List” Updates When members update their “My List” by adding or removing titles, the changes should be reflected across all of their devices. 5. Member Profile Changes When members update their account settings like add/delete/rename profiles or change their preferred maturity level for content, these updates must be reflected across all of their devices. 6. System Diagnostic Signals In special scenarios, we need to send diagnostic signals to the Netflix app on devices to help troubleshoot problems and enable tracing capabilities. Design Decisions : 1. Single Events Source(all events coming to one place) 2. Event Prioritization(Some events are important than the other) 3. Hybrid Communication Model(some devices may be offline when we push notifications so they need to fetch their notifications when they come online) 4. Targeted Delivery(Distribute sending notifications based on devices to different systems like ios, android, smart tv etc.) 5. Managing High RPS(requests per second) More on the official blog here : https://lnkd.in/ghBUnSNS PS: This is an awesome read ! I like the push and pull model being combined here :)

After mentoring over 800 UX researchers over the past decade, I’ve noticed one clear pattern: The best researchers don’t just gather data, they drive action. They have habits that help them uncover insights, inspire teams, and de-risk decisions. Here are 8 of the most effective habits I’ve seen (and how you can start practicing them): 1. Comfort in ambiguity ↳ Great researchers don’t rush to conclusions. ↳ They embrace the grey areas and let insights emerge. Next time you’re synthesizing data, resist the urge to clean it up. Explore contradictions, which often lead to breakthroughs. 2. Ask the unasked questions ↳ They challenge assumptions and dig deeper. ↳ When everyone’s aligned, they ask, “What if we’re missing something?” Start every project with this question: “What don’t we know that could derail us?” 3. Endlessly curious ↳ Great researchers don’t just ask why, they ask what if? ↳ Curiosity fuels their creativity and problem-solving. Pick one unexpected user behavior from your data this week and explore why it’s happening. 4. Know when to stop ↳ They understand that more data doesn’t always mean better decisions. ↳ They recognize when diminishing returns set in and shift from research to action. Before starting a new study, ask, “What decision are we trying to inform?” If you already have enough data, stop and act. 5. Playful with insights ↳ They treat insights like puzzles, not checkboxes. ↳ The best researchers experiment with how findings are framed and presented. In your next synthesis, frame one insight in three different ways to spark new perspectives. 6. Thrive in collaboration ↳ Effective researchers know insights gain power when shared. ↳ They work closely with designers, PMs, and engineers to co-create solutions. Bring stakeholders's needs into research studies directly, help them make tough decisions and mitigate risk, watch how buy-in skyrockets. 7. Bring discomfort ↳ They don’t settle for validating assumptions—they challenge them. ↳ Insights that spark discomfort often lead to the biggest breakthroughs. If your findings aren’t sparking hard conversations, dig deeper. Research that challenges assumptions often drives transformation. 8. Unafraid to be ignored ↳ Effective researchers understand that not every insight will lead to action—and that’s okay. ↳ They focus on building a culture of evidence-based decision-making over time. Track the outcomes of your research. Revisit findings at the right moment, like a project pivot, a problem resurfaces, or priorities shift. Timing can turn a no into a valuable yes. What habits have made you a better researcher? Share them in the comments // Sick of begging people to listen to your research only to be met with a thumbs up emoji? I share strategies to deliver UXR impact on my Substack: https://lnkd.in/eR5M2geZ

Your content might be great. But if it’s not complete, it’s invisible. I see this mistake all the time: → Teams push out solid content. → It’s optimized for keywords. → It reads well. → Yet it fails to rank or convert. Why? Because they’re not solving for content gaps, the silent killers of SEO performance. Content gaps are what your audience expects, but your content misses. It could be: → An unanswered question → A missing perspective → A pain point buried in your site search → Or a comparison your competitors already covered And here’s the hard truth: If you're not identifying and filling these gaps regularly, your competitors will… and they’ll rank better for your own topics. In this carousel, I break down: → What content gaps are → How to find them (with and without tools) → Real techniques beyond SEO tools—like internal data and customer insights → And a 5-step action plan to close those gaps strategically This isn’t a fluff checklist, it’s what I use in live audits to increase visibility and ranking stability. If you’re in SEO, content, or growth marketing, this framework belongs in your toolkit. Swipe the carousel → apply what fits → and track the lift. Follow Sushil Dahiya for more SEO and marketing tips! #SEO #ContentMarketing #ContentStrategy #DigitalMarketing #SearchIntent #MarketingLeadership #ContentAudits #OrganicGrowth #MarketingTips

As a UX Designer, you're the bridge between three worlds: - Developers, who care about feasibility - Managers, who want ROI - Users, who need benefits Here's how to make sure you're speaking each of their languages. 👨💻 Developers - Use their technical lingo - Show, don't tell; use prototypes and diagrams - Explain the impact of design decisions on development - Make sure they understand the user needs 💼 Managers - Focus on the return on investment (ROI) - Explain why a design decision will benefit the company - Use data to back up your claims - Understand the company goals and strategy 👥 Users - Focus on benefits, not features - Address user pain points and frustrations - Use user research data to back up your claims - Show how your design solution will make their lives easier Understanding each stakeholder's perspective helps you tailor your communication and design solutions. Speak their language, use their terms, and watch your designs hit the mark every time.

Ever presented rock-solid research only to hear "Thanks, but we're going with our gut on this one"? Securing stakeholder buy-in is rarely about the quality of your work. It's about something deeper. When you’re dealing with a research trust gap, ask yourself 5 questions. 👽 Are you speaking alien to earthlings? When you say jargon like "double diamond" or "information architecture," your stakeholders hear gibberish. Business leaders didn't learn UX in business school—and most never will. Translate everything into business outcomes they understand. Revenue growth. Customer retention. Cost savings. Competitive advantage.  Speak their native language, not yours. ⏰ What keeps them awake at 3am? Behind every skeptical question is a personal fear. That product manager who keeps shooting down your findings? They're terrified of missing their KPIs and losing their bonus. Have honest conversations about what they're personally on the hook for delivering. Then show how your research helps them achieve exactly that. ❓Are you treating assumptions as facts? You might think you know what questions matter to your stakeholders. You're probably wrong. Before starting research, explicitly ask: "What questions do you need answered to make this decision?" Then design your research to answer exactly those questions. ⚒️ Are you dying on the hill of methodological purity? Sometimes you have 8 hours for research instead of 8 weeks. Being dogmatic about "proper" research methods doesn’t always pay off. Focus on outcomes over process. If quick-and-dirty gets reliable insights that drive decisions, embrace it. 🍽️ Are you force-feeding them a seven-course meal when they wanted a snack? Executives need 30-second summaries. Product managers need actionable findings. Junior team members need hands-on learning. Tailor your approach to each one. You can also use my stakeholder persona mapping template here: https://bit.ly/43R7wom What’s the best advice you’ve heard about dealing with skeptical stakeholders?

Ensuring collaboration is central to a product's success during the UX strategy phase begins with uncertainty about where to start. ➡️ It's important to start by integrating resources and knowledge from various areas of expertise. Here's a combined approach on my experience to get a successful results and great user satisfaction rate 1️⃣ Get Smart Early in the Process: Involvement: Bring in PMs, Engineers, Designers, Researchers, and key stakeholders early to gain insights. Understanding: Focus on the "4W's" (Who, What, When, Where), technical impact, and project scope.
 2️⃣ Learn and Explore: Understanding Customer Needs: Identify customer pain points and their actual needs. Analysis and Metrics: Make assumptions, conduct competitive analysis, and define success metrics and current statistics.
 3️⃣ Define Problem: Validation and Conceptualization: Validate the problem, draft high-level concepts, and define hypotheses for testing.
 4️⃣ Design: Concept Creation: Develop low-fidelity (low-fi) concepts and involve researchers for testing. Collaboration: Show concepts to Tech and PMs, and address technical challenges.
 5️⃣ Re-iterate: Feedback and Refinement: Fix the main journey (happy path), take internal and external feedback, and implement changes. Testing: Conduct another round of testing.
 6️⃣ Hand off to Development: Finalization and QA: Design the final prototype, perform QA testing, and ensure all workflows are correct. Cross-Platform Check: Ensure designs are optimized for all viewports. Approval: Get sign-off from all parties before handing over to development.
 7️⃣ Launch and Monitor: Post-Launch Feedback: After launching, gather feedback through success metrics and third-party tools. Client and User Feedback: Seek feedback from real clients and conduct user interviews. Refinement: Address major feedback issues, prioritize, and monitor. Useful Resources ✅ Ux Vision — A vision is an aspirational view of the experience users will have with your product, service, or organization in the future. https://lnkd.in/gPPY-zPJ https://lnkd.in/g8Rc9pzp ✅ Outcome over Outputs — Work towards purposeful outcomes (problems solved, needs addressed, and real benefits) leads to better results. https://lnkd.in/gAFX_Wxw ✅ OKR in UX — Define objectives and measurable key results to guide and track UX work. https://lnkd.in/gDYvreN2 ✅ UX Goal Analytics — Focus on UX goals to drive analytics measurement plans, rather than tracking superficial metrics. https://lnkd.in/g3QmZqBd #UxStrategy #TransitionToUx #UxCoach #BeAvailable

AI Search audits are all the buzz now, at least in my inbox. Here is how the three-leg approach and tools I use look like. Prerequisite (what you need before you start): • top priority queries, key topics, and industry-relevant use cases; • personas - 2-3 tops; • up to 5 competitors • access to GA4, Search Console, Bing Webmasters, and the tools you are going to use (see below) 1. AI Platform Visibility Analysis Peec AI, Mangools, Ahrefs, Semrush, Brand24, Screaming Frog • Current AI chatbot rankings - I do ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok 2, and Gemini; if you need to cut down, go with ChatGPT only (the highest market share); • Content inventory analysis - a regular content audit, just focused on the technical docs, blog posts, case studies, FAQs, etc (or the lack thereof); • External citation analysis - do citation analysis for the top digital watercoolers in your niche (in my case these are G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, StackOverflow, Reddit, Github, etc.); + add competitor citation gap to it, if you want to expand; 2. Technical SEO for AI Readiness Screaming Frog, Lumar (formerly Deepcrawl) • Semantic markup audit - audit your current schema implementation, again - focus on the technical docs, blog posts, case studies, FAQs, use cases; review meta descriptions and title optimization, OG tags and Twitter cards. Tools • AI training accessibility - review the XML sitemaps, robots.txt configuration + allowance of the AI crawlers; • Site architecture analysis - check content accessibility depth (usually not a impactful for the B2B websites, but just to be on the safe side). 3. Content analysis Ahrefs, Semrush, Bing Webmasters • Conversational content mapping - map the existing content to funnel stages; make a quick cross-check with existing content of competitors to identify gaps and opportunities • SERP analysis for key topics - analyze top 20 results for the primary topics; consider citations from 1.; pay attention to the competing content types - these are golden for hints what is considered top content for this query • Bing-specific analysis (for ChatGPT) - dust off the Bing Webmasters, take the technical status and backlinks for big fall outs; the content assessment from above is applicable for Bing too. Recommendations: • Content strategy recommendations - priority content creation list based on the gap analysis; might consider UGC strategy and/or launching a new content type (like product-specific Glossary) • Technical optimization plan - list the recommendations you have from all tech findings - schema improvements, robots.txt and schema updates, internal linking etc. • External presence enhancement - acquisition plan for all citation opportunities, build/update your community engagement strategy; The cherry on top is the ability to give the client a final AI Search readiness score, simple enough to help them understand their position. There are tools out there like Mangools that provides just that.