🛑 How to Stop Being Seen as "Just a Doer"

Practical steps to position yourself as a strategic UX thinker

Dec 21, 2024

👋 Happy Saturday, my dear UX friends, Marina here! Welcome to this week’s ✨ Saturday edition ✨ of UX Mentor Diaries where I tackle readers’ (and my students’) questions about building strategic influence as a UXer and accelerating UX careers. If you read it and value it, please consider sharing, liking this post and/or becoming a premium subscriber (here’s why)

Become a Premium Subscriber

A question landed in my inbox that I bet resonates with many of you:

"I've spent most of my career executing detailed UX work—wireframes, prototypes, user flows. Now I want to be seen as more strategic, but I'm struggling to make that transition. How do I showcase my strategic thinking abilities when most of my portfolio is tactical work?"

This is such a common challenge, especially for experienced UXers who've proven themselves as strong executors.

You've mastered the craft, but now you're ready to shape the vision.

The good news? You're probably more strategic than you realize.

Let's break down how to uncover and showcase the strategic thinking that's already embedded in your work.

The Strategic-Tactical Reframe

Here's something most UXers don't realize:

Every tactical decision you've made has strategic implications.

The key is learning to frame your work through a strategic lens.

1. The Reverse Engineering Method

Start by dissecting your past projects:

Map Your Decisions:

For each major design choice you made
Document the reasoning behind it
Connect it to larger business objectives

Example: A UX designer I mentored realized that her decision to simplify a checkout flow wasn't just about reducing friction—it was a strategic move that aligned with the company's goal of increasing mobile conversion rates by 25%.

2. The Impact Story Framework

Transform tactical outcomes into strategic narratives:

❌ Before: "I redesigned the dashboard interface"

✅ After: "I identified an opportunity to increase user engagement by 40% through strategic dashboard restructuring"

Components of a Strategic Impact Story:

Business context and challenges
User insights that guided decisions
Long-term implications of your solution
Measurable business outcomes

3. The Strategic Documentation Shift

Start documenting your work differently as—

Strategy One-Pagers for your projects:

Business objective
Market context
User insights
Solution rationale
Expected impact
Success metrics

This isn't just about presentation, it's about training yourself to think and communicate strategically.

4. The Strategic Language Transition

Shift your vocabulary from execution to impact:

❌ Instead of: "Here are the wireframes for the new feature"

✅ Say: "Here is a translation of business requirements into scalable design solutions that supported our market expansion goals"

Creating Your Strategic Portfolio

Now, let's transform your existing work into a strategic showcase:

1. Project Reframing Exercise

For each major project:

Start with the business problem, not the design solution
Highlight the research and thinking that informed your decisions
Show how your work influenced larger business outcomes
Document the strategic alternatives you considered

2. Strategic Proof Points

Identify moments where your work influenced:

Product strategy
Business decisions
Team direction
Market positioning

3. Decision Documentation

Create a "Strategic Decisions Log":

What major choices did you face?
What factors influenced your decisions?
How did you evaluate different options?
What were the long-term implications?

Practical Steps to Build Strategic Credibility

1. The Strategy Shadow Exercise

Identify strategic discussions in your organization
Ask to observe key planning meetings
Document and analyze the decision-making process
Connect tactical work to strategic objectives

2. The Proactive Strategy Proposal

Pick one area of your product
Research market trends and user needs
Create a strategic proposal for improvement
Present it to stakeholders, even informally

3. The Strategic Mentor Connection

Find someone in a strategic role
Share your approach to problem-solving
Ask for feedback on your strategic thinking
Learn how they frame tactical decisions strategically

Your Strategic Evolution Challenge

This week:

Select your most successful tactical project
Rewrite it as a strategic case study using the Impact Story Framework
Share it with a trusted colleague for feedback
Identify one upcoming project where you can document your strategic thinking from day one

Strategic thinking isn't about abandoning your execution skills, but elevating them.

Every pixel you've pushed, every user flow you've optimized, every prototype you've created was in service of larger goals.

Now it's time to bring those connections to the forefront.

Quick tip: Start a "Strategy Journal" where you document not just what you're working on, but why it matters to the bigger picture. This simple habit will transform how you think about and present your work.

Till next Saturday,

-Marina

P.S. The best strategic thinkers I know started exactly where you are. They didn't suddenly become strategic - they learned to articulate the strategic thinking that was already guiding their work.

UX Mentor Diaries helps UXers become (and remain) successful and influential through quick tips, in-depth guidance and personal experience stories. Become a Premium Subscriber for just $9.99 a month or $99 for the whole year and unlock every article and resource in the archive (+ more benefits)