Boagworld: UX, Design Leadership, Marketing & Conversion Optimization

By: Paul Boag Marcus Lillington
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  • Summary

  • Boagworld: The podcast where digital best practices meets a terrible sense of humor! Join us for a relaxed chat about all things digital design. We dish out practical advice and industry insights, all wrapped up in friendly conversation. Whether you're looking to improve your user experience, boost your conversion or be a better design lead, we've got something for you. With over 400 episodes, we're like the cool grandads of web design podcasts – experienced, slightly inappropriate, but always entertaining. So grab a drink, get comfy, and join us for an entertaining journey through the life of a digital professional.
    Boagworks Ltd
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Economics
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Episodes
  • The Job Title Train Wreck

    The Job Title Train Wreck
    Apr 22 2025
    This week, we catch up on Paul’s latest adventures—from a memorable dinner with Todd “the accessibility guru” where we talked WCAG 3, to a deep dive into the shifting landscape of design job titles. We’ll share an app that brings real form fields into your Figma prototypes, unpack why “product designer” is suddenly on everyone’s profile, and wrap up with a classic Marcus joke to send you on your way.App of the WeekWe’ve been wrestling with Figma’s built‑in prototyping limitations—particularly the lack of real form fields—and this week we discovered Bolt. Bolt lets you import a Figma frame URL and instantly spin up an interactive prototype complete with working inputs and text fields. That means you can run realistic usability tests without hand‑coding forms or cobbling together workarounds.Topic of the Week: Bringing Clarity to the Chaos of Design Job TitlesIn an era when “UX designer,” “UI designer,” “product designer,” and “service designer” all coexist, you might feel like you need an advanced diploma just to understand your own role. We certainly do. Let’s unpack what each title really implies, why the trend toward “product design” worries us, and how you can bring crystal‑clear definitions into your next job posting or team conversation.Why Job Titles MatterEven if you’re happy wearing multiple hats, inconsistent naming can cause real headaches:Employer confusion: Hiring managers may post for a “product designer” but expect the traditional UX responsibilities you’ve mastered.Scope creep: Without clear boundaries, you’ll end up doing support tickets one week and sales decks the next—often without the title or compensation to match.Perception gaps: Outside the design bubble, “designer” still conjures images of pretty pictures, not strategic problem‑solvers.Getting titles straight not only sets expectations for you, it helps stakeholders understand the value you bring.The Rise of Product DesignLately, many companies are retiring “UX designer” in favor of “product designer.” On the surface, this feels like career progression: a broader focus that spans UI, analytics, and even marketing. Yet we see two risks here:Internal focus: “Product designer” can imply you’re optimizing existing features and metrics, rather than uncovering latent user needs.Ambiguous boundaries: When design expands outward, it often steps on the toes of customer success, support, and even engineering roles.If your title leans toward “product,” make sure you and your team agree on whether that includes user research, email flows, or post‑launch monitoring.Breaking Down the RolesHere’s how we interpret the four most common titles—and how they overlap:UI DesignerUI designers focus on the look and feel of your screens. Their goal is to reduce friction and make interactions intuitive. Think pixel perfection, animation timing, and responsive layouts. They might not set research objectives, but they’ll ensure that every button state feels just right.UX DesignerUX designers own the end‑to‑end experience. From SEO‑driven landing pages to post‑purchase emails, they obsess over every touchpoint. If you care about conversion funnels, user flows, or cross‑channel consistency, you’re in the UX camp.Product DesignerProduct designers straddle the middle: they build interfaces and track success metrics, but they’re also tasked with aligning features to business goals. In healthy organizations, they champion user advocacy and roadmap prioritization, but that balance can tip too far toward internal KPIs.Service DesignerService designers operate backstage. They optimize the processes and systems—think support scripts, training materials, or fulfillment pipelines—that empower on‑stage teams to deliver seamless experiences. Their scoreboard? Operational efficiency and scalability.How to Bring Clarity to Your TeamLabels alone won’t solve confusion. Here’s how we recommend making roles crystal clear:Define scopes explicitlyIn every job description or team charter, list the deliverables you own—and those you don’t. For example, “Responsible for wireframes and prototypes, not email automation.”Align on success metricsAgree on the KPIs or user outcomes tied to each role. If you’re a UX designer, maybe it’s task completion rates; if you’re a service designer, it might be first‑response times.Foster cross‑role collaborationSchedule regular syncs between UI, UX, product, and service designers so everyone sees the handoffs and dependencies. That shared visibility prevents silos.Revisit titles periodicallyAs your organization evolves, carve out time every six months to discuss whether roles—and their titles—still reflect who does what.By naming responsibilities clearly and encouraging open dialogue, you’ll reduce friction, align expectations, and help everyone—from junior hires to C‑suite—understand what “...
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    48 mins
  • Beyond Usability: Why Emotion and Delight Matter in UX

    Beyond Usability: Why Emotion and Delight Matter in UX
    Apr 10 2025
    This week’s episode takes a deeper look at how we define good user experience—and argues it’s time we move beyond the narrow focus of usability. We explore how friction can sometimes enhance an experience, and why emotional design is essential if we want to create interfaces that stick in users’ minds.We also review a new batch of AI-powered design tools and uncover where they currently fall short. Plus, we look at how AI can still be incredibly useful for user research—when used the right way.Finally, we answer a question from our Agency Academy about giving feedback in a way that doesn't crush your colleagues, and Marcus closes out with one of his typically pun-tastic jokes.App Of The WeekWe explored two sides of AI in this episode—one disappointing, one surprisingly powerful.AI Website Builders: Not Quite There YetWhile on the road (and supposedly on holiday), Paul trialed four AI-powered tools that promise to design and code entire websites based on your prompts. The tools included:UXPilotV0PolymetLoveableAll four are generating excitement among many, but from a UX perspective, we found them underwhelming. Results were inconsistent at best—white text on white backgrounds, bland copy, missing CSS, and difficult-to-edit layouts. Even with carefully crafted prompts, they failed to deliver production-ready (or even prototype-ready) experiences.If you’re curious, they’re cheap enough to try—but don’t expect them to replace designers or developers anytime soon.A New Way to Use AI: Deep Research for User InsightsOn the flip side, we’ve found AI incredibly useful for online user research, especially when time or resources make traditional methods tough.Paul used Perplexity to perform sentiment analysis across:Social media mentionsReview sites like TrustpilotOnline forums like MoneySavingExpertHe asked it to uncover what users liked, disliked, questioned, or hesitated over when it came to purchasing insurance. The results? Incredibly insightful—and backed up with linked sources to verify accuracy.You can also ask it to find testimonials that support key selling points, making it great for conversion optimization.If you're short on research time, tools like Perplexity offer a fast and surprisingly effective way to better understand your audience.Topic Of The Week: Why Usability Alone Isn’t EnoughIt all started in a casino. Well, sort of.While walking through a bank of overly-themed slot machines in Vegas, Paul had a realization: if a UX designer created a slot machine, it would probably be terrible. We’d remove all the friction. Strip away the flashing lights. Replace the reels with a simple “Win or Lose” button. It would be technically better, but emotionally dead.And that’s the problem.Too often in UX, we treat usability as the holy grail. We remove friction, optimize flows, and tidy up interfaces. But we sometimes forget the _emotional layer_—the personality, surprise, or joy that makes a product memorable.The Risk of Sterile DesignWhen we fixate only on usability, we risk creating something that is forgettable. Efficient, yes. Effective, perhaps. But emotionally flat. That’s not what builds brand loyalty. That’s not what users remember.It’s like eating a plain rice cake. Technically food. But not something you'd write home about.We need to learn from other industries. Slot machine designers understand user psychology on a visceral level. They’ve mastered the art of creating anticipation, excitement, even obsession. Not that we should copy their manipulative tactics—but we can learn from how they invoke emotion.Same goes for print designers, who often embrace bold creative expression. Or the restaurant industry, where service, ambiance, and delight matter as much as the food.Emotional States Affect UsabilityIt’s not just about delight for delight’s sake. Emotional state directly affects cognitive load. When someone is stressed, even the simplest interaction feels hard. When they’re relaxed or entertained, they glide through even complex tasks.We need to design for these emotional states. A well-designed interface doesn’t just help users complete a task. It shapes how they feel about doing it.Consider the Mailchimp example. Back in the day, their UI was full of little delightful moments—from their chimp mascot Freddy to playful animations. None of it was strictly necessary. But it made the product feel human, friendly, and approachable. And it mattered.What Can We Do?We should be testing and measuring more than just usability.Some suggestions:Use semantic differential surveys. Give users a list of emotional adjectives and ask which ones best describe the experience.Monitor sentiment through social listening. Tools like Perplexity can help uncover how people feel about your product online.Track qualitative feedback. Those smiley-face buttons at airport security? They can work for digital experiences too.Use metrics beyond task completion. Net ...
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    46 mins
  • Redefine Your Role

    Redefine Your Role
    Mar 27 2025
    On this week's Boagworld Show, we're exploring how UX design leaders can take control of their roles within organizations, why UX agencies might feel doomed (but probably aren't), and how AI is reshaping the way we code and collaborate. We'll dig into practical strategies for UX leaders, share insights on the changing landscape for UX agencies, and provide guidance for navigating AI in your workflows.App of the WeekThis week's recommendation is UXPressia, a powerful yet easy-to-use visualization tool. UXPressia helps teams collaboratively create customer journey maps, personas, and impact maps. Although the visual output isn't necessarily designer-quality, it excels at engaging stakeholders and team members in user research activities. It's particularly useful for empowering non-designers to contribute meaningfully to UX strategies.Topic of the Week: Defining Your Role as a UX Design LeaderAs UX professionals, many of us often find ourselves caught in cycles of endless implementation, working on tasks dictated by others rather than strategically influencing user experience. If you're feeling overworked, understaffed, and under-appreciated, it's time to redefine your role. Here’s how you can proactively take control and transform your position from pixel-pusher to strategic UX leader.Clarify Your GoalsSenior management frequently sets high-level organizational objectives that, while seemingly vague, offer essential clues to aligning your UX efforts strategically. Start by identifying those broader goals—whether increasing efficiency, targeting new demographics, or enhancing sustainability—and ask yourself how UX can meaningfully contribute. Present these alignment opportunities to your manager, framing your UX role around supporting company-wide goals. This shifts your focus from reactive tasks to proactive strategic initiatives.Leverage Your Resources WiselyRather than dwelling on resource limitations, carefully evaluate what’s already at your disposal:Budgets and Software: Identify any discretionary funds or tools available.Internal Staff and External Support: Consider tapping into colleagues from other departments or engaging reliable external agencies. Establishing preferred supplier lists helps manage quality and ensures that external agencies align with your UX standards.Autonomy and Training: Use your authority to delegate smaller UX tasks, freeing yourself to focus on strategic planning and education.This perspective allows you to create impactful strategies within existing constraints. For instance, shifting your role to training internal teams on basic UX practices like user research and testing can extend your influence without increasing headcount.Expand Your InfluenceTrue UX leadership isn’t just about completing projects; it’s about cultivating a user-centered culture throughout your organization. Here's how:Education and Empowerment: Provide training materials and workshops to build UX capabilities within other departments.Policies and Standards: Establish clear UX standards and guidelines, creating a framework everyone in your organization can follow.Metrics and Accountability: Introduce meaningful UX metrics that encourage internal competition and drive continuous improvement. For instance, turning analytics into league tables among departments can spark healthy competition and motivate better user experiences.Transforming your role into that of an internal UX consultant positions you to make a broader impact, aligning user-centric design with the overarching organizational strategy.By following these steps—clarifying your objectives, leveraging your resources, and expanding your influence—you can redefine your role as a UX design leader, shifting from mere execution to strategic empowerment.Read of the WeekJacob Nielsen recently wrote an intriguing article titled "Future is Lean, Mean and Scary for UX Agencies". Nielsen predicts challenging times ahead for UX agencies, primarily driven by a shift towards more robust internal UX teams and the rapid rise of AI. However, we believe the narrative is somewhat skewed toward Nielsen's experience with larger organizations. While internal teams are expanding, they often remain overstretched, and the role of specialized UX agencies is still crucial. AI will indeed reshape the industry but likely as an enhancement rather than a replacement, empowering both in-house and external UX teams to deliver more sophisticated solutions rather than merely cutting costs.Listener Question of the WeekQuestion: How should agencies handle clients who approach them with projects partially completed using AI-generated code, expecting it to be quick and cheap to finalize?This is a growing challenge as clients become increasingly confident in AI capabilities, sometimes overestimating what AI can deliver without professional oversight. Here's our approach to handling this:Clients may assume AI-generated code is nearly complete, but the reality is ...
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    49 mins
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