The Problem
As in many large organizations that have been around for as long as College Board has, the organization has had to make large pivots from an old pen-and-paper world to a new digital one. For CB, this has meant a large investment in technology, engineering, and modern user-centric design. First as Director of User Experience, and then as Senior Director of Design, one of my principal tasks has been growing the team - both in personnel and also scalable design best practices.
The Process
I see many of the challenges of design leadership as UX challenges writ large. I have my team, who have tasks they need to accomplish and blockers interfering with their ideal user flows. So I work with them, side by side in some cases, observing in others, and giving advice and feedback in others. I learn their problems and find their superpowers, as well as learning what I can about their products, projects, and what those needs are as well. I work very closely with my peers in other disciplines, including developers and product owners. But lest this sound too robotic - I also get to know them as people. I care about my team and their work, and always believe that a happy, confident design team can do amazing things.
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The Product
In the past couple of years, my team has grown from 6 to over 30. Many of those I hired and onboarded personally. I now lead not only UX and UI design, but also Design Research and Content Engineering. In the time I’ve been here, design has risen to be a true third pillar of product planning and decision making (alongside engineering and product ownership). I have also helped implement and coach practices like Lean UX, established documentation and collaboration best practices, and overseen the growth of our Design System and its accompanying processes and training.
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