What should be considered when designing effective B2B SaaS products? In this podcast hosted by Cassio Sampaio, Okta VP of Design Michael Lopez will be speaking on the key attributes and best practices for designing effective B2B SaaS products. Michael shares insights on the fundamental differences between B2B and B2C design, the importance of cross-functional collaboration, and how AI is transforming the design workflow.
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Show Notes
- Key attributes of a great B2B SaaS designer include user-centricity, data-driven approach, and technical efficiency.
- B2B design requires deep understanding of complex workflows and features that impact businesses.
- Security and compliance are critical considerations in B2B product design.
- Designers should be proactive in uncovering opportunities and acting as a proxy for customers.
- Designers should engage with product requirements and cross-functional discussions.
- Involving designers early in the planning process prevents rework and ensures a cohesive experience.
- Effective user research models leverage mature operations, enablement, and thematic alignment.
- Integrating branding and UX design is crucial for a consistent end-to-end customer experience.
- AI tools can optimize design workflows and accelerate results, but require careful vetting.
- Designers should focus on work that matters to the business and has measurable impact.
- Designers should tackle complex problems strategically and efficiently.
- Designers should be self-motivated to uncover and bring forward important opportunities.
- Designers can leverage AI-powered tools like Dovetail and Replay to streamline their processes.
- Designers should develop the ability to engage with product requirements and provide suggestions.
- Bringing designers into early planning discussions builds trust and a sense of ownership.
- Disjointed experiences can erode customer trust and brand equity.
- Developers value a consistent message across all touchpoints, from website to community.
- AI can help make design decisions and automate processes.
- Designers should embrace AI tools as a way to bring ideas to life more efficiently.
- Aspiring design leaders should focus on work that matters, measure impact, and be proactive.
About the speaker
I am a design leader with over 20 years of experience in goal driven and competitive environments across B2C and B2B tech industries. I have hands-on knowledge of creating digital experiences for web, mobile, content, social media and demand generation. I am a highly skilled designer and art director with the ability to merge cross-functional teams and principles to develop cohesive end-to-end customer experiences across marketing and product environments. I have experience Interfacing with key management partners across organizations to ensure alignment and initiatives are in place to build a more successful creative environment. Most recently, I’ve established design teams where I grew and led the team to evolve to include product, brand, and research functions that encapsulate all brand creative, visual, and product design including both internal and external creative efforts.
About the host
I am a product person with 20+ years of experience most recently with DigitalOcean, Apple, Auth0 and now running Customer Identity at Okta. I love technical products and my sweet spot is B2B SaaS / IaaS. I have done a bit of everything including running engineering teams, corporate development and marketing and lived and worked in Canada, US and Brazil.