EMERGE - UX Agency

Why is planning ahead crucial for business growth? ?? Join Jonathon Hensley, CEO & Chief Product Officer at EMERGE - Digital Product Agency, as he shares product development expertise on the 'Agencies That Build' Podcast! ??? Explore insights on failing fast, team motivation, and the future of agency work with hosts Varun B. and Jessie Coan. Tune in now to learn valuable strategies! ?? Watch here: https://lnkd.in/dCf8jpKa ?? Listen here: https://lnkd.in/d4BSEyCN #businessgrowth #strategicplanning #productdevelopment #teammotivation #agencywork #podcastepisode #learningfromfailure #innovationinsights #digitalstrategy #buildpodcast

Alignment is the one thing you’ll find at the heart of every successful relationship, team, and organization in the world. When developed and leveraged, alignment can create the foundation for unparalleled success and unlock incredible advantages. Jonathon Hensley, CEO of EMERGE - UX Agency, will discuss the following framework in-depth and illustrate how top-performing product leaders and organizations are unlocking their full potential to deliver great products and services that meet the needs of their customers and drive growth. Without alignment, it takes more effort and longer to get things done. With alignment, you work smarter and faster. ?? Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gb6FuBGG #TAOLearning

As product leaders, we strive to foster a culture of continuous learning and growth on our teams. However, simply providing learning resources is not enough. To truly motivate skill development, we must build in mechanisms that reinforce the learning process. Two impactful strategies are feedback loops and recognition. Feedback loops create visibility into progress, which motivates teams to apply their new knowledge. Schedule check-ins after training to discuss learnings and set goals for application. Recognition reinforces growth and gives a sense of progress. Consider badging programs that celebrate new skill achievements.? When these mechanisms are structured into the learning journey, teams feel inspired to push themselves rather than disengaged. As leaders, we shape an environment where people feed off progress. Curiosity becomes organic rather than forced. Skill development is not a one-and-done training to check off. It's an iterative process that requires nurturing. Thoughtful feedback loops and recognition help us encourage that process long-term. How do you motivate continuous growth on your teams? I'd love to hear what works for you.

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be leading a virtual lunch and learn session with the Technology Association of Oregon on April 24th. We'll be diving into one of my favorite topics: The Power of Alignment. Alignment is the secret sauce that separates good product teams from great ones. When people, systems, and business objectives all work in harmony, magic happens. Teams can focus on what truly matters, make better decisions, and deliver products that customers can't resist. In my work with countless organizations, I've seen the transformative effects of alignment firsthand. When teams are aligned, they work with a sense of clarity and purpose that's infectious. They move faster, collaborate better, and achieve more with less. It's like unlocking a hidden superpower. But alignment doesn't happen by accident. It takes a deliberate, strategic approach to get everyone rowing in the same direction. That's why I'm so excited to share the framework that I've used to help product teams reach peak performance. We'll explore how alignment can: ? Boost efficiency and effectiveness ?? Empower leaders and teams ?? Reduce costs and drive growth I'll be sharing real-world examples, practical tips, and actionable insights that you can start using right away. Whether you're a product manager, designer, developer, or executive, you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on how to align your team for success. This is a topic that I'm truly passionate about, and I can't wait to share my experience with you. I believe that every product team has the potential to achieve great things, and alignment is the key to unlocking that potential. So mark your calendars for April 24th and join me for an engaging, interactive session that will change the way you think about building products. I promise you won't want to miss it!

You've perfected your product, but can your customers extract value quickly? ?? Streamline the onboarding process. Make the initial experience as simple as possible. Remove all obstacles on the path to value. Remember, your customers don't care about the complexity of your tech. They care about reaching their desired outcome swiftly. Focus on value realization first. Map out the quickest route to initial value. Ensure subsequent value is clearly communicated and easily achieved. This value-centric approach leads to stickier products and happier customers. Don't get caught in the over-engineering trap. Prioritize accelerating time to value above everything else. What are your go-to strategies for speeding up time to value? Share them below!

Every user starts as a new user. Your onboarding process is their first impression. Make it count. Onboarding is about introducing new users to your product and guiding them on how to use it. It's crucial for user engagement, satisfaction, and retention. Here are 5 steps to improve your users' onboarding: 1?? Personalize Their Experience Address your users by name or use other data points to make them feel at home. 2?? Create a Clear Action for Your User Help them understand what they need to do right from the start. 3?? Refine Onboarding with User Feedback Listen to your users. They have valuable insights. 4?? Create Moments of Delight Make your onboarding engaging and interesting. 5?? Consider the Time to User Value Respect your users' time. Make the onboarding valuable and efficient. Remember, the best onboarding experiences are simple, intuitive, and considerate of users' needs. Want to learn more? Check out our on-boarding guide: ?? https://lnkd.in/eFaSmAX3

Over the years, I've discovered the truth: Game-changing products won't succeed unless they have a unified vision across sales, marketing, and product teams. When these key functions pull in different directions, it's a death knell for go-to-market execution. Without alignment on positioning and buyer messaging, we fail to communicate value and create disjointed experiences. So, how do I foster collaboration across these functions? 1) Set shared goals and incentivize unity towards that North Star metric, be it revenue, activations, or retention. 2) Encourage team members to work closely together, building empathy rather than skepticism of other groups' intentions and contributions. 3) Regularly conduct cross-functional roadmapping sessions to cascade priorities across departments and highlight dependencies. 4) Create an environment where teams can constructively debate assumptions and strategies without politics or blame. 5) Provide clarity for sales on target personas and value propositions to equip them for deal conversations. 6) Involve all functions early in establishing positioning and messaging frameworks. Co-create when possible. By rallying together around customers’ needs, we block and tackle as one team towards product-market fit. The magic truly happens when teams unite towards a shared mission to delight users!

Product leaders - we all know that constrained resources are a reality. Missed deadlines, budget overruns, and team fatigue are just some of the issues that can emerge. I've learned that the best way to get ahead of these problems is by promoting transparency and having hard conversations early and often. This allows teams to surface potential roadblocks before they restrict progress. Some tips: - Clearly define what "done" looks like upfront so everyone shares the same end goal - Continuously revisit constraints around timelines, budgets, capabilities etc. Don't assume things haven't changed - Foster an environment where people feel safe surfacing issues without fear of blame or judgment? - Prioritize listening and empathy when obstacles arise so they can be addressed collaboratively?? Following this advice prevents us from operating blindly and positions our teams for success. Delaying hard talks until something goes wrong almost always compounds the problem. What has your experience been? I welcome your perspectives on how to surface issues early while maintaining trust and morale. If you need any product help, check out EMERGE - UX Agency. We've helped companies scale to $450M

Government is usually the last place we look to for customer experience inspiration. But imagine a world where renewing your passport is as easy as ordering from Amazon, and visiting a national park is as seamless as hailing an Uber. The Biden Administration just threw down the gauntlet on CX, and as someone who's been preaching the gospel of human-centered design for years, I'm here for it. Their statement reads like a playbook for the type of human-centered, technology-enabled transformation that's long overdue in government. A few initiatives jumped out to me as game-changers: ? Enabling online passport renewal is a prime example of meeting people where they are. No more taking off work to wait in line at the post office. I've seen firsthand how these types of digital services can dramatically reduce friction. ? Investing in the Social Security Administration's customer experience team shows a commitment to weaving CX into the fabric of the agency, not just tacking it on as an afterthought. When I work with clients, establishing a dedicated CX function is often the first step in driving real change. ? Bringing our national parks and public lands online through modern apps and websites will open up access and engagement in powerful ways. I'm especially excited about the potential for digital passes and permits to streamline visits. It's a great case study in using technology to enhance, not replace, in-person experiences. Beyond specific projects, I was heartened to see significant investments in building CX and digital service capacity across government. The plan calls for hiring over 170 CX and digital specialists, as well as providing USDS with $55 million to embed experts in agencies. In my experience, this type of talent infusion is catalytic. A small team of skilled practitioners can inspire new ways of working that ripple across an entire organization. They bring fresh perspectives grounded in human-centered principles. At its core, this plan recognizes that to rebuild trust and legitimacy, government must radically improve how it interacts with the people it serves. It's not just about digitizing forms, but fundamentally rethinking service delivery through a human lens. As someone passionate about the power of design and technology to improve lives, I'm excited to see this vision being backed up with real resources and leadership mandate. There's hard work ahead to translate these plans into action, but it's the kind of important work that will define our generation.

Founders - Don't Over-Index on Perfection Many product teams wait too long to start user testing. They worry about looking incompetent if their product isn't perfect. But you need to embrace continuous testing and feedback from the start. Perfection shouldn't block progress. The insights you'll gain are invaluable. You'll learn not just what users are doing, but why. Their motivations can shift over time. Testing early prevents wasted effort later. You can iterate faster if you start sooner. The feedback will make your product better fit user needs. So get over the ego issues of seeming unprepared. Put your imperfect product in front of users. Co-create with users instead. Their input will make it better. Don't wait! What lessons have you learned from early user testing? How do you balance perfection and progress?