My job is changing.

I can already feel it.

It started last year when I began getting interested in analytics, but it’s really transforming. now. I’m not a web  analyst, nowhere near. But more and more clients are hiring me to help with product roadmapping. More and more, I’m looking at product design  and marketing strategy  from a chicken and the egg perspective.

Recently, for several projects, I’ve started with the analytics, the traffic, the market research, search volume, then work backwards to define the solution, the return on investment. So I have the egg, I have to figure what kind of chicken lays that egg.

Usually, clients will build a solution, then develop campaigns to drive traffic to it, but lately, I’ve been getting projects that are reverse. It’s not, “If you build it, they will come.” It’s more like, “They’re here. Now build something that they need.” I’m not just designing some test feature. I’m designing actual  new sites with little more than a domain name as a requirement.

My role initially, is  to conduct excersises with my client  to  clearly define the following:

1. Market sector
2. Value proposition
3. Business Objectives
4. Strategy and brand for the user experience
5. Marketing Strategy

After this excersise, my goal is to have a mission for the user experience, because a deep user experience will brand the solution. At heart, I’m still an interactive designer. It’s what I love to do. But building a sound business foundation for your design is critical to its success. If you don’t do this, then if you build it, they will not come.