In-home
Care Platform
Facilitating Product Strategy
Ensuring Design Quality
Guided Org Change
Cultivating Culture
Context
Title
Product Design Director
Duration
>2.5 years | Nov ‘21 - June ‘23
Outcomes
Mobile App | Web App | Design System | Product Strategy | Design Vision
When I joined the young startup Honor, we shifted from manual, human-led Care Operations to technology-driven Care Coordination. As the Product Design Director, I came on board to help with this transformation.
My job was to streamline product development and guarantee quality. I also focused on training the Product Design Department in Systems Thinking, AI, decision-making, and problem-framing.
I acted as a mentor and coach to senior design leaders, helping them grow their thought leadership. Together, we spearheaded a new Product Strategy and Design Vision. The fruits of their labor can be seen in our latest work.
Shout out to the key designers: Jessica, Kim, Doug
And the whole team: Evan, Spencer, Abby, Jessie, Jo-ann, Crystal, Olivia
Effort + Impact
The following buckets are my efforts in refining our procedures, developing our practices, and enhancing the design team's product development process. These buckets are the themes of impact.
As you read the work outcomes below, please know that everything was achieved due to the talent team’s dedication to the problem space.
Cultivating Culture
I kick-started personal chats and product demos with my team. We tracked our health through regular checks and surveys to tweak productivity and teamwork. Using Jira, we kept everyone up-to-date on projects and introduced helpful routines. We focused on high-priority projects, clarified roles, and boosted design skills with learning sessions. And when leadership shifted, we bounced back with workshops and remote "Strategy Spikes".
Facilitating Product Strategy
We hit the ground running by mapping out user journeys to pinpoint areas for improvement. This let our team zero in on the best fixes. Our Sr. Principal Design put research insights to work, crafting a strategy that showcased their efforts and centered our users. The buzz from our documentation kick-started excitement across departments, laying the groundwork for our unified Product Vision. This vision now lights the way for our long-term plans and big, bold moves. Plus, thanks to fun workshops and sessions, our Product Design team made a name for itself and built some great friendships, even while working remotely.
Ensuring Design Quality
I dove into reducing Care Delivery Costs by fine-tuning operations and speeding up care delivery. How? By launching our first UXR practice and bringing a top-notch UX researcher on board. Our team got creative with solutions to key issues, shaping our Product Roadmap and Design Direction. We tailored personalized client Care Plans using approachable Data Science Models and hosted 'Strategy Spikes' workshops for no-nonsense problem-solving. Together, we hatched a clever way to whip up a Care Plan with just a few questions. We even tossed in Care Pro Preparedness as a fresh Care Quality measure. And when our Data and Design teams joined forces, they discovered even more ways to optimize our work through fun 'Pair-Work' sessions.
Below is the Product Visions that, together, we crafted.
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Roles + Responsibilities
At Honor, I had two roles. First, as the Sr. Product Design Manager, my daily gig was fine-tuning design and research. Leveling up to Director of Product Design, I juggled boosting our organization's impact with managing the amazing team.
1
Reshape team culture for efficiency + user advocacy.
2
Drive org impact via user advocacy + design quality
3
Ensure design quality via sr. designers + XFN leaders
Product Design Strategy + Design Vision
Crafted Through XFN Workshops
My leadership style strongly influences how I work and approach problem-solving - Facilitating collaboration is my ‘secret sauce,’ so to speak.
As an experienced facilitator and Product Strategy + Design Leader, I can structure working sessions with optimal use of time. Over the years I’ve crafted my own product strategy workshop, ' Strategy Spikes,’ a play on ‘Design Sprints’. The goal is to
craft the problem statement
define the problem space (to ensure a common language)
ideate on business models and/or feasible solutions
outline 1-3 big ideas, which I call ‘Solution Shapes’
I led several of these cross-functional (XFN) workshops and activities. The outcome of the intentional, structured collaboration drove the output of Product Planning - Big Bets and Roadmaps.
Documentation + Communication
The work didn’t end there. We spent several weeks with Product Leadership refining the narrative, and crafting mockups and other assets to showcase the work.
Product Design Deep Dive
Together, we spearheaded a new Product Strategy and Design Vision. The fruits of their labor can be seen in our latest work.
“Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.”
- Pete Drucker
Overall Impact
After just over 2.5 years, Honor had a 15% headcount layoff. Unfortunately, there was no longer a need for 2 senior-level leaders no the 7-person (very senior) design team. …and well… The Head of Design wasn’t going to choose themselves. haha Totally reasonable 🤦🏻♀️
I loved my time at Honor. Below are key metrics of my impact on the organization + design team.
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Direct Reports Say