ProductPlan initiatives
ProductPlan
Achieving a 27% Increase in User Engagement through Streamlined Product Development
ProductPlan's fragmented product development lifecycle was causing workflow inefficiencies that threatened user retention and limited platform adoption. Teams needed integrated tools for idea collection, prioritization, and strategic planning, but technical constraints around rich text support and existing architecture created significant design challenges.
My Role: As product designer, I led a comprehensive redesign that required balancing ambitious user needs with platform limitations. My engineering background proved crucial in collaborating with developers to find creative solutions within existing technical constraints while establishing systematic approaches to complex problems like prioritization methodology.
Key Approach:
Multi-phase user research across different user types and regions
Technical feasibility validation for rich text and customization features
Systematic analysis of prioritization models (KANO, bucket priority, stack ranking)
Cross-functional collaboration to align business goals with technical reality
Business Impact: $150k ARR secured through improved retention and new sales, with 27% engagement increase.
Timeline
Sep 2024 - Feb 2025
Role
Product Designer
Team
1x Product Designer
1x Product Manager
4x Full Stack Engineers
Impact
27% Increase in user engagement
$150 ARR secured in new sales in the first month
Constraints
Permission architecture constraints with the existing code base
No existing support for rich text in the platform
THE PROBLEM
Fragmented Workflows Threatening Platform Adoption
ProductPlan's disconnected product development tools were creating user frustration and churn risk. Teams couldn't efficiently move from idea collection to strategic roadmapping, forcing them to rely on external tools and reducing ProductPlan's value proposition.
Technical Constraints:
Legacy platform lacked rich text support for detailed business cases
Existing architecture limited customization options for feedback forms
Permission systems created complexity for cross-team collaboration features
Business Risk: Customer feedback indicated this fragmentation was a primary factor in renewal hesitation, with teams expressing frustration about having to supplement ProductPlan with other tools.
Limited Feedback Collection
Issue: Inability to customize idea collection forms resulted in less actionable feedback.
Impact: 70% of users were dissatisfied, leading to a 20% decrease in feature relevance.
Disconnected Strategy Development
Issue: No clear path to transform ideas into strategic initiatives and roadmap priorities.
Impact: 60% of product managers struggled with alignment, causing a 30% longer time-to-market.
Communication Gaps
Issue: Teams lacked tools to notify others of changes in priorities or strategic impacts.
Impact: 55% of team members experienced delays, reducing productivity by 25%.
Old ProductPlan Platform
Objectives
Ideation
Opportunities
Roadmaps
RESEARCH
Comprehensive User Research Across Multiple User Types
To understand the full scope of workflow challenges, I conducted research with product managers, project managers, and implementation specialists across different company sizes and industries. Working closely with our PM team, I designed research protocols that would validate both user needs and technical feasibility constraints.
Research Approach:
15+ user interviews across different roles and company types
Workflow mapping sessions to understand current vs. ideal processes
Collaboration with engineering to validate technical possibilities during research
Cross-functional analysis sessions to align findings with business strategy
Feedback Collection and Customization
The platform's initial feedback collection process was rigid, limiting its effectiveness and adoption.
Form Limitations: Idea intake forms lacked customization options, making it difficult for users to gather actionable feedback
Hesitancy in Adoption: Customers were reluctant to use the platform solely for idea capture or to import ideas from other tools due to concerns about data loss and formatting
Business Case Management Needs
The research highlighted critical gaps in managing business cases effectively, which impacted decision-making and strategic alignment.
Centralized Hub: Teams lacked a unified platform for managing business cases, with information scattered across tools like Confluence
Financial Tracking: There was a strong need to track and display the financial value or ROI of initiatives to support data-driven decisions
Critical Item Flagging: Teams wanted the ability to flag high-value features and contractual obligations to ensure they received appropriate attention
Prioritization Challenges
Teams across organizations faced significant difficulties in prioritizing tasks and aligning them with strategic goals. The lack of standardized prioritization methods and tools created inefficiencies and misalignment.
Ad-Hoc Methods: Teams relied on inconsistent approaches using tools like Excel leading to inefficiencies
Demand for Flexibility: Users expressed a strong preference for flexible prioritization models
Visual Tools: There was a high demand for visual prioritization tools
Capacity Visualization: Teams needed tools to visualize resource allocation to ensure feasibility
IDEATION
Collaborative Problem-Solving Within Technical Constraints
Working closely with engineering and PM teams, I facilitated ideation sessions that balanced user needs with platform realities. My engineering background helped identify which solutions were feasible within our existing architecture, particularly around the rich text limitation.
Cross-Functional Ideation Process:
Collaborative workshops with design, engineering, and product teams
Technical feasibility validation for each proposed solution
Systematic evaluation using the prioritization frameworks identified in research
Iterative refinement based on development complexity and user impact
Key Technical Challenge: The platform's lack of rich text support required creative solutions for business case documentation. Rather than a major architectural overhaul, we designed flexible template systems that worked within existing capabilities.
Old detail screen and opportunities for improvement
01
Need for rich text
02
Additional metadata such as financials, impact, effort, etc
03
Strategic visuals and guides
PROTOTYPING
From Concept to Buildable Solutions
The prototyping phase required close partnership with engineering to ensure proposed solutions were both user-friendly and technically feasible. I created wireframes that respected platform constraints while maximizing user value, particularly around the rich text limitation.
Technical Validation Process:
Early engineering reviews of wireframe concepts for feasibility assessment
Rapid prototyping to test technical approaches before full design investment
Iterative refinement based on both user feedback and development complexity
Documentation of technical requirements alongside design specifications
Collaborative Impact: This validation-first approach prevented costly late-stage changes and ensured the final designs could be implemented within timeline and technical constraints.
Key Prototypes Developed
Custom Idea Forms
Enable users to tailor forms to their unique requirements, improving feedback quality.
Customizable fields for capturing detailed input
Dynamic templates for different use cases
Initiative Detail Screen
Centralize business case data and provide actionable insights.
Rich text descriptions and custom template sections
Progress tracking
Financial value and ROI
Flagging critical items for prioritization using custom fields
Prioritization
Simplify the process of ranking and aligning opportunities with strategic goals.
Drag-and-drop functionality for easy reordering.
Visual metadata to assist in the prioritization discussions
Scenario and Capacity Planning
To address user needs for better visualization and resource management, we extended the strategic portfolio by introducing a list view.
Drag-and-drop reordering of elements for scenario planning
Custom legends and groupings for strategic alignment
Visual metadata
ANALYSIS
Systematic Analysis of Prioritization Models
Drawing on my engineering background and product strategy experience, I conducted a comprehensive evaluation of prioritization frameworks to find the best fit for our users' needs and technical constraints. Working with the PM and engineering teams, I analyzed each model's effectiveness and implementation complexity.
Evaluation Approach:
User research validation for each prioritization method
Technical feasibility assessment with engineering team
Business impact analysis with product management
Systematic pros/cons documentation for stakeholder decision-making
KANO Model
PROS
The KANO model helps teams identify features that delight users and meet basic expectations
Provides a structured way to evaluate their importance
CONS
The current architecture does not allow for something of this complexity
Research indicated that not as many people used this model for prioritization
List View: Bucket Priority Model
PROS
Intuitive structure makes it easy for teams and stakeholders to understand and implement
Supports timeline-based organization and long-term planning visualization, making it adaptable to changing priorities
CONS
Users may require additional customization options for timeframes to better fit specific project needs
While effective for strategic planning, it lacks the granularity needed for detailed prioritization
Stack Ranking
PROS
Stack Ranking provides a straightforward way to rank initiatives numerically, making it easy to compare and prioritize tasks
Specifically requested by customers, indicating strong user demand for this method
CONS
The method can be rigid and may not account for nuanced priorities, potentially overlooking complex interdependencies
Often needs to be combined with other methods, such as Now/Next/Later, to address broader strategic planning requirements
TESTING
User Validation with Cross-Functional Insights
I conducted comprehensive usability testing with 9 participants (6 external customers, 3 internal team members) to validate both user experience and technical implementation decisions. Working closely with the PM team, I designed test protocols that would inform both design refinements and development priorities.
Testing Methodology:
Moderated sessions via Zoom with Dovetail for analysis
Task-based scenarios reflecting real-world workflows
Post-session technical feasibility discussions with engineering
Collaborative analysis with PM team to prioritize improvements
Key Tasks Tested:
Navigate the business case dashboard.
Prioritize opportunities using RICE and 2x2 matrices.
Create and manage scenarios in the capacity planning board.
Positive learning
Praised drag-and-drop tools and customizable views
Positive learning
Initiatives reduced workflow fragmentation
Negative learning
Filtering Options could be overwhelming for some users
Negative learning
Users requested clearer visuals for cross-team dependencies.
RETROSPECTIVE
Key Learnings in Cross-Functional Product Development
This project reinforced the value of my engineering background in product design. By understanding technical constraints from day one, I could design solutions that were both user-centered and realistic to implement, avoiding the costly redesigns that often occur when technical feasibility is considered too late.
What Worked Well
Early technical collaboration prevented late-stage feasibility issues and scope creep
Systematic prioritization analysis gave stakeholders confidence in our methodology
Cross-functional research approach ensured solutions addressed real user needs within platform capabilities
Key Takeaway
The most successful aspect was treating technical constraints as design opportunities rather than limitations. The rich text constraint led us to create more flexible template systems that users actually preferred over traditional rich text editors.
Business Impact
Strengthened ProductPlan's competitive position in enterprise PDLC management
> $150k
Secured ARR in sales and retention in 1 mo
27%
Increase in user engagement
20%
Decrease in time-to-first use
90%
Task completion
“This is exciting to see it iterating like this. [...] This is exciting that you guys are coming up to speed here in these areas.”
Ryan Riekel
Director of Product Management at Landmark Global
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