Design Team Lead for a Global Data Quality Company

2020-2021

Overview

Embedded in the Global Product Management Team of the Data Quality Practice, the UX Team was lacking of a practice lead since a few months. Managed directly by the VP Global Product Management Director, I’ve been hire as UX Practice lead to empower the team and boost collaboration with product managers.

What I’ve done

1. Team organisation: aligning products and teams

Upon my arrival, the UX Team consisted of two Senior UX/UI Designers (UXD) and two Content Designer (UXC), to write and design the technical documentation. They were collectively working across three product groups, yet none were assigned to a particular product management team, which led to ambiguity regarding individual responsibilities.

To initiate the process, I have established a UX micro team, consisting of one UX/UI Designer and one Content Designer, within each product team: one team dedicated to overseeing the largest product, while the other team focuses on the two smaller products. This development has unified designers in their approach to product design and enhancements, while simultaneously enhancing collaboration with product managers, who now have a clear point of contact for design-related inquiries.

To enhance the integration of user experience within product development, I’ve worked with the team to defined and establish a workflow designed to foster collaboration with the development team, ensuring that user experience principles are embedded in every stage of the process.

2. Improving the experience: introducing evidence-based approach to product design

The team frequently encountered prolonged discussions regarding design choices, which were predominantly driven by managerial hierarchy instead of focusing on business objectives and user requirements. To enhance the team’s effectiveness and elevate the product’s user experience, it became evident that engaging with our users and customers was essential to gather the critical insights and feedback needed.

In my role as UX Practice Lead, I have organized and developed User Research Panels consisting of actual users and customers, conducting both qualitative and quantitative research studies through these panels. By collaborating closely with senior management, I established a systematic approach and a platform for data creation and collection, ultimately facilitating the dissemination of research findings and analyses to the broader team.

We successfully involved the panel through a combination of quantitative and qualitative user research studies, along with usability testing, all of which have been organized and made accessible on a shared internal website that I developed on the company’s Intranet.

As a result, I’ve contributed to engage customers, users and internal teams to gather feedback and insights useful to create better products. The Users Panels have been left as a legacy to update and reuse according to needs.

3. Mentoring the team: boosting the UX Practice

In my role within the user experience team, I have conducted several workshops aimed at uncovering knowledge and experience gaps among team members. This initiative has led to the recognition of the necessity to establish a comprehensive design process framework, which includes various activities tailored to address the specific needs for knowledge and experience development within the team.

Specifically, in the context of enhancing our evidence-based practices, I have guided the team on the methodologies and metrics associated with usability testing.