CHAMPIONING LOVABLE PRODUCTS @ 23ANDME
23andMe is the quintessential mission-driven company – grounded in genetic science and challenged to present information that could have a profound impact on people’s lives. As the Director of Product Design, I led the UX team that launched all user-facing features and experiences to millions of customers. Creating lovable and valuable products was at the core of our values.
With a charter to build up the UX practice and develop design culture, I defined my responsibilities by 3 pillars: product leadership, design operations, and people management.
Product Leadership: I directed to my team in framing and solving problems to deliver the best customer experience with strong alignment to business goals. This involved executing design-led projects that kicked off initiatives to increase revenue, engagement, and customer satisfaction. Projects included cross-functional design sprints, interaction prototypes, and user research. I challenged and partnered with product and engineering peers on overall strategy and prioritization across Ancestry, Health, Engagement, and Growth roadmaps.
Design Operations: I maximized velocity and accountability by implementing industry best practices and processes for my team. Our tools included accessibility and design playbooks, design system and content style guides, and customer research templates. These empowered us to efficiently collaborate, build, and launch faster with our partners.
PLAYBOOKS
Accessibility and design process, sprint, and workshop playbooks
STYLE GUIDES
Design system and content guides for long-form writing and microcopy
UX RESEARCH
Research study and analysis templates, customer insights library
People Management: I recruited talent to grow my team 4x and nurtured individual growth by setting challenging goals for three disciplines: product design, content strategy, and UX research. I fostered a culture of design across the company by measuring and actively improving upon the maturity of my team and our collaboration.
