167 - The Best Strategies for Merging UX and Product Management
Why Psychology-Driven UX Is a Competitive Advantage: Insights from Amélie Uriu of Voyage Consulting
In this episode of Product Led Growth Leaders, host Thomas Watkins sits down with Amélie Uriu, Innovation Strategist and Founder of Voyage Consulting, to explore why psychology—not tools or trends—is the foundation of effective user experience and product strategy. Amélie shares how human behavior, cognitive bias, and emotional design shape products that actually get adopted, trusted, and used. The conversation offers practical guidance for product leaders navigating increasing complexity, tighter budgets, and rising expectations for digital experiences.
Designing Products Around Human Behavior
Amélie explains that many product failures stem from a misunderstanding of human behavior rather than technical limitations. While teams often focus on features, speed, or visual polish, users make decisions based on trust, clarity, emotion, and cognitive ease. Psychology-driven UX applies behavioral science to reduce friction, guide decision-making, and help users feel confident as they move through a product. This approach becomes especially important as AI and automation make interfaces easier to build—but harder to differentiate.
A recurring theme in the conversation is the importance of grounding design decisions in research and real-world context. Amélie emphasizes that effective UX starts by understanding how users think, feel, and behave—not how internal teams assume they should behave. This includes identifying cognitive overload, unclear mental models, and emotional resistance that quietly block adoption. By prioritizing research and information architecture before visual design, product teams can avoid costly rework and align faster around evidence rather than opinion.
For product-led organizations, psychology-driven UX is also a strategic lever. Amélie highlights how leaders can communicate the value of UX in business terms—framing it as risk reduction, conversion improvement, and retention growth rather than aesthetics. In an era of constrained resources, teams that invest in understanding users early are better positioned to ship the right product, make smarter tradeoffs, and adapt quickly as customer needs evolve.
About Amélie Uriu
Amélie Uriu is an Innovation Strategist and Founder of Voyage Consulting. She works with organizations to apply behavioral science, UX strategy, and human-centered design to complex product and innovation challenges.
About Voyage Consulting
Voyage Consulting helps organizations design products, services, and strategies rooted in psychology and human behavior. The firm partners with leaders to translate research and insight into experiences that drive adoption, trust, and long-term value.
Links Mentioned in This Episode
Key Episode Highlights
Why psychology is the foundation of effective UX and product adoption
How behavioral science reduces friction and improves decision-making
The role of research and information architecture in scalable UX
How to communicate UX value in business and growth terms
Why human-centered design matters more as AI adoption accelerates
Conclusion
This episode reinforces a critical truth for modern product leaders: successful products are designed for humans, not just systems. Amélie Uriu’s insights show how psychology-driven UX helps teams cut through noise, build trust, and create experiences that users return to—not because they have to, but because they want to.
Explore how 3Leaf Consulting helps product-led organizations scale smarter by visiting https://3leaf.consulting/.
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