As an accomplished product designer for many different niches, Ziyun Liang has become an expert in understanding how users interact with various mediums and turning those interactions into unique experiences. Early on, her roles focused largely on craftsmanship and making sure that she was creating the delivering the best experience possible, piquing the interest of audiences and end users across different platforms. However, as her career progressed, her roles became larger and more strategic. She was no longer focused on just the product or just the user experience; instead, she had to weave together the overall business goals of the organization she was supporting and drive those goals to completion through innovative product design. In much more dynamic and challenging spaces that encompassed more volume, Ziyun thrived. She quickly learned how to balance user experience with the business goals of an organization, but it’s not a skill that comes easily to most. Signs of Alignment After 10 years as a product designer, Ziyun Liang has played a role in some of the most innovative projects in the digital world. She has supported household names such as Apple, Masterclass, Discover, and more.  Supporting a range of projects and designing a multitude of products for her clients, Ziyun knows first-hand what it looks like when she has successfully merged business goals with the design of the user experience. In the advertisement world, user experience can be a hurdle, but Ziyun’s ability to coordinate multiple goals and bring them to alignment is impressive. Currently, her skills are utilized at The New York Times where she focuses on bringing premium ad experiences to life. Her vision is to “have the ad enrich the user experience, instead of being this annoying distraction that people traditionally think of." As NYT as an organization bolsters its presence in the digital space and begins to curate digital experiences for its users, Ziyun is the expert that can pull it all together. She understands what her organization is aiming for and she builds the strategic roadmap to bring customers along on the journey as well. Designing in new, innovative spaces is a long-time passion, and recently, Ziyun has found herself curious about the world of NFTs. She sees the potential NFTs have in creating unique user experiences, and though the technology is new to her, she is motivated to learn more about the community, its needs, and the direction it is headed. Then, she plans on making even more of an impact. As a product designer, it is Ziyun’s job to ensure consistent alignment with a thoughtful approach. She continues to lean on creating easy-to-follow narratives that boost engagement, connect with a broad range of people, and allow for a memorable absorption of the organization’s message. Challenges of Misalignment It’s no surprise that Ziyun has seen both sides of the coin. Though she commends many of her teams for maintaining an aligned approach throughout each project, she has also experienced the very opposite. Perhaps the most noticeable instance of misalignment happened in the ad business. Advertising and user experience have always had a complex relationship; advertisers need to get their messages out there, but users are more adamant than ever to avoid ads. In fact, find marketing ads annoying, even if they are targeted specifically for that user. 90% of users Ziyun’s career has highlighted ways that advertisers can find that balance even in their business: Integrate advertisers into the product development process early on so that the ad experience becomes part of the user journey right from the start. Make every ad contextual; the advertisements on your platform should align with the reasons that users visit your platform in the first place. For instance, if you share recipes and food content, don’t allow advertisements for shoes and clothes to interrupt your user’s experience. Emphasize qualities over metrics. Your business goals and advertisements should center on the same thing: a great experience for your users. Nonintrusive ads that are easy to interact with are important for keeping users engaged and retaining their business. Data-driven insights will allow you to balance ad performance and user experience conflicts that may exist – use them. Understanding How to Move Forward Product designers and non-product designers must look at how the user experience impacts the business as well as how the business impacts the user experience. Both must be in alignment at all times to achieve the best results on the customer’s side and the organization’s side. If product designers are constantly working on understanding business needs and organizational challenges, they will be able to design and create innovative solutions that put business needs and customers together at the center of those solutions. This approach ensures that products will be more likely to be seen as valuable in a real market. On the flip side, the business needs to be successful in order for design teams to deliver the best experiences. These relationships do not happen in a vacuum; they are complex and multifaceted, and the sooner product designers realize that the better off everyone will be.

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