Design Culture

I pioneered initiatives to cultivate a design-driven culture within the organization, increasing awareness of design value among product managers and engineers, enhancing the product discovery process, and developing a company-wide design system.

Context

Bridge the gap between design, product, and engineering teams, fostering a more cohesive and collaborative environment.

To drive a more unified and proactive approach to product development, I introduced several initiatives, including an internal design newsletter, the establishment of design principles, the creation of a research repository, the initiation of a company design system, and regular meetings and workshops.

Category
Design Leadership
Product Strategy
Facilitation
Team
5 Product Designers
Numerous Product Managers, Engineers,
and Business Stakeholders
Year
2021 and still counting

Layer of challenges

  •     Awareness Problem: Product managers and engineers had limited awareness of the value of user experience to the business outcome.
  •     Cultural Problem: There was a lack of unified design principles and a fragmented approach to product discovery and design.
  •     Collaboration Problem: Teams were working in silos, leading to inconsistent processes and misalignment.
  •     Knowledge Sharing Problem: Valuable user insights from past research were not easily accessible, leading to redundant efforts and missed opportunities for leveraging existing knowledge.
  •     Consistency Problem: Ensuring a consistent look and feel across different platforms (desktop, mobile, payment terminals) required a unified design system and alignment among front-end developers.

key insights

  • Through discussions with stakeholders and team members, I identified key areas where design could add value and foster a more collaborative culture:
  •      Product managers and engineers needed better visibility into design processes and value.
  •      There was a need for unified design principles to guide consistent and effective design practices.
  •      Teams required structured opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing.
  •      A centralized repository for research insights was necessary to make user data more accessible and actionable.
  •      A company-wide design system was needed to ensure consistency across various platforms, products and technologies.

design initatives

  •    Internal Design Newsletter:    
    - Launched newsletters highlighting design successes, insights, and best practices.  
    - Featured case studies, design tips, and upcoming workshops to keep everyone informed and engaged.
  •    Design Principles:  
    - Developed and rolled out a set of design principles to guide all teams in their design practices.  
    - Conducted workshops and training sessions to ensure everyone understood and adopted these principles.
  •    Company Design System:  
    - Initiated the development of a company-wide design system to ensure a consistent look and feel across business entities.  
    - Organized bi-weekly guild meetings to align front-end developers from different squads and technologies, allowing them to share knowledge and collaborate on building and updating design components.
  •    Regular Meetings and Workshops:  
    - Organized regular design review meetings and cross-functional workshops to facilitate collaboration.  
    - Introduced proactive product discovery sessions where designers, product managers, and engineers could brainstorm and align on new ideas early in the process.
Design OpsDesign newsletter

Outcome

  •    The organization has seen a noticeable shift towards a more collaborative and innovative culture.
  •    The design system is in progress, with components being continuously developed and refined, contributing to a more consistent and efficient design and development process.
  •    Product managers and engineers are more engaged with the design process, leading to more thoughtful and user-centric product decisions.

See other projects too

Single sign on project

Single Sign-On

UX authentication; merging multiple platforms into one single credential
Payment Terminal project

Payment Terminal Replacement

End-to-end terminal replacement system for the Swiss market
merchant portal project

Merchant Portal

Create a complex data rich platform that user love