9 takeaways from my journey of infusing design into the company’s DNA

Grab a coffee and settle in—I'm about to take you on a ride through our quest to sprinkle some design magic into Zenoti's product culture, which was all about engineering and product management 😊 

Where?

This week I had the privilege of participating in a leadership development offsite where we were each tasked with giving a presentation about a passion project.

Who?

As I mulled over choosing between a personal or work-related passion, (I felt) the latter might resonate more with the audience that comprised peers from within the company. 

What?

Since I was addressing non-designers from other departments, I decided to share my journey of instilling design into a product culture HEAVILY skewed towards engineering (and product) :)

How?

Given just 9 minutes from the trainers, I distilled our path to a bold design future into 9 key takeaways. 

Revisiting these pivotal moments was incredibly gratifying as each represented an important lesson learned. 😍 😍

For those navigating similar paths, I thought it might make for a valuable read here, so, here we go: 

9 takeaways in 9 slides!

#1 Coming from a startup 1/10th the size,  I knew that building personal credibility quickly was crucial, so I decided to hit the ground running. There was a key product launch that was on hold due to underwhelming progress in design. I paused my onboarding, rolled up my sleeves, paired with another designer, and over the next few weeks, crafted a bold new vision for the project that got the leadership on board.  So this approach not only jump-started a key project stuck for a while, but also helped me build trust with key stakeholders.

#2 When I joined, there were only a handful of designers in a vast product and engineering group.  Design was seen as a resource, rather than as a strategic partner. This led to minimal impact on business outcomes on one hand, and a total lack of motivation within the team on the other. By gaining a deep understanding of their strengths I realigned roles and responsibilities, setting clearer expectation amongst stakeholders that design is not a one-size-fits-all discipline and started building a more multi-faceted team over time.

#3 I noticed a common trend among my team: their work often ended with handing over designs to developers, without much consideration of the final outcome. We embarked on a journey to redefine what it means to be a designer here. I instilled a sense of ownership—where each designer not only crafted beautiful designs but also took responsibility for how those designs translated into the final user experience. This paradigm shift required the designers to move beyond their comfort zones. They started spending more time collaborating with developers, reviewing code, and advocating for the integrity of our designs throughout the development process. 

#4 As our team accumulated more wins over time, I realised it wasn't enough to quietly deliver exceptional work; we needed to showcase our impact and build awareness across the company. One effective strategy we adopted was creating a newsletter through which we packaged our work as compelling stories. This approach, not typically associated with core UX skills, allowed us to highlight the thought process, challenges overcome, and the impact of our designs. This advocacy played a crucial role in enhancing the visibility and appreciation of UX!

#5 With increased advocacy, our team began to emerge as a formidable force and I was invited I leadership discussion on new ideas that were bold yet initially pretty vague! Typically they would have gone through a PM leading the strategy and writing up a spec, but this time on we took the lead and transformed these abstract visions into tangible, impactful experiences that brought the idea to life without much involvement from anyone in the product team. The highlight was our role in bringing to life some of the largest new product ideas in recent history, showcased with much fanfare to over 600 customers at the largest industry conference! 

#6 Beyond giving life to these innovative ideas, I also set out to reshape the perception that design only focuses on aesthetics and user experience without understanding or appreciating business goals. We embarked on a journey to quantify the profound impact of our work on both the business and our users. We started tracking how our designs enhanced productivity within the organization, boosted efficiency and user satisfaction metrics. 

#7 However, we never rest on our laurels and are satisfied by simply solving for usability issues. In fact we keep pushing the bar higher and take pride in creating delightful experiences, that started to garner heartfelt appreciation from our customers! Our eventual goal is to link productivity enhancements and customer delight to broader business outcomes such as improved Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

#8 The biggest validation of our efforts till date came at the start of the year, when our CEO identified investing in design and usability as one of the top three strategic goals for the company. This clarion call was the most significant milestone, highlighting design as a critical driver for Zenoti's success. This strategic commitment has empowered our team to innovate boldly, knowing that our efforts are integral to the company's long-term success. 

#9 And finally as we look to the future, we have the leadership support to invest and grow the design practice significantly in the next 6 months. This transformation will take us from a group of disparate individuals to a robust, multi-faceted, and diverse team at the forefront of shaping Zenoti's future innovations!

This journey has been a rollercoaster of challenges and triumphs, but each step has brought us closer to establishing design as a critical pillar of our company's success :)