In this ProductTank London talk, Lisa Mo Wagner, Product Coach at codecentric AG, dives into the JEDI approach to discovery and delivery. Watch the video to see the talk in full, or read on for an overview of the key points:
- Breaking down the JEDI acronym
- Design justice
- Tools for unlearning
Breaking down the JEDI acronym
JEDI stands for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Diversity describes all the differences between us based on which we then experience advantages or encounter barriers to opportunities. Inclusion means fostering a sense of belonging by centering, valuing and amplifying the voices, perspectives and styles of those who experienced more barriers based on their identities.
Equity means allocating resources to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunity. Justice means going another step further and dismantling those barriers to resources and opportunities in society so that everyone can live a full and dignified life.
Design justice
When product managers think of diversity, oftentimes, the first thing that comes to mind is gender. However, there are many different dimensions that aren’t visible. This is important when building products, as product managers might assume what the customer wants. To counteract this, it’s essential to incorporate design justice where products are designed with customers and not for them.
Tools for unlearning
Another focus area for diversity and inclusion is typically hiring. However, product managers aren’t necessarily in a position to control hiring. Instead, a cultural shift is required, but that can take some time to implement. Lisa mentions one tool to help the process: the privilege canvas. It helps point out what privilege the people of the team have, who is already represented and what is not represented.
In an ideal world, building products looks like discovering, ideating, prototyping and validating, building and shipping then learning. However, to start making this process more diverse and inclusive, product managers need to ask:
- What is the impact
- Who am I leaving behind
- What is the worst that could happen?
- Who am I talking to?
- Who am I excluding?
- Am I being fair?
- Do I fall back on stereotypes
- Is what I am doing accessible on several dimensions?
The key takeaways from this talk are that product managers need to make fewer assumptions so that they can design with their customers and not just for them. They need to check where they are and what is missing within their teams to create a culture of inclusion. Product managers should also train their empathy and ensure that the questions asked about diversity and inclusion are part of the process and not just an afterthought.
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