Designing a team that delivers: Evolving a creative team into a Product Design powerhouse

When I joined, there was a Design Team.

Talented. Creative. Full of potential. But they weren’t yet a Product Design Team.

They came from graphic and brand backgrounds, smart, visually driven thinkers working hard across a range of digital products. But they weren’t equipped with the right tools, processes, or exposure to user research and data. Their work was reactive, not strategic. They weren’t involved early in product development, and they weren’t always clear on how their design decisions translated to business or user outcomes.

The challenge wasn’t capability, it was alignment.

This is the story of how we evolved that team into a high-performing product design function: one embedded in product squads, collaborating deeply with engineering and product, and delivering measurable impact across the business.

Where we started: A team with talent, but no playbook

The company was growing quickly. Demand for our digital platforms, especially in the automotive telematics and insurance space, was rising. But design was struggling to keep up.

Here’s what we were up against:

• No clear team structure: Designers were working solo, scattered across teams with little cohesion.

• Reactive workflows: Most work came in as requests, rather than being shaped by strategy.

• Process and tooling gaps: Limited use of collaborative tools like Figma, no standardised design system or documentation.

• Skills mismatched to product needs: Strong visual output, but little user research, systems thinking, or iterative prototyping.

• Low organisational visibility: Design was viewed as a service, not a strategic contributor.

One of the designer’s said to me (in my introduction meetings):

“We are constantly firefighting - it feels like we were always catching up instead of driving change.”

We had to shift the narrative. But more importantly, we had to shift the way we worked.

Step 1: Evolving the team, not replacing it

We didn’t scrap what we had, we built on it.

• Strategic hiring: We added product designers, researchers, and interaction specialists to round out capabilities and create a more balanced team.

• Upskilling existing team members: Through mentoring, peer learning, and training sessions, we helped graphic designers grow into product design roles, learning UX principles, research methods, and collaborative frameworks.

• Onboarding with context: We developed a deep-dive onboarding program that didn’t just teach tools, but gave designers an understanding of the domain, customer needs, and strategic goals.

• Clear career pathways: We introduced individual development plans to support personal growth and professional progression.

This created a team that was not just capable, but confident. And that made all the difference.

Step 2: Building the foundation for scale

With the team evolving, we needed to support them with better systems and processes.

• Tooling overhaul: We moved to Figma for design collaboration, integrated with dev tools, and introduced Zeroheight for documentation and guidelines.

• Design system creation: We built a centralised, scalable design system that brought consistency and clarity to our work, across products, teams, and platforms.

• Agile design workflows: We aligned our work with engineering sprints and adopted lean UX practices that allowed us to iterate quickly and validate early.

• Regular design critiques: These became the heartbeat of our craft, safe, structured spaces to share, learn, and grow.

The impact? A 200% increase in design output, a 25% improvement in delivery timelines, and far fewer fires to fight.

Step 3: Changing the way design was seen

To truly thrive, the team needed more than just internal improvements, we needed external trust and visibility.

• Relationship-building with stakeholders: I spent time with senior product and engineering leaders, listening, aligning, and finding shared goals.

• Cross-functional squad embedding: Designers became embedded in product teams, contributing to discovery, shaping roadmaps, and influencing direction from day one.

• OKR alignment: We tied design goals to business objectives, showing exactly how our work moved the needle.

• Celebrating wins: We made space to showcase our successes, internally and externally. Not as a brag, but as a way of demonstrating value.

Over time, the perception shifted. Design was no longer the final polish, it became a strategic voice in shaping the product.

The impact: A transformed function, ready for scale

What we built together wasn’t just a team, it was a culture.

• Product design output increased by 200%
  The team delivered more, at higher quality, and with more strategic input.

• 25% reduction in delivery timelines
  Agile workflows and cross-functional alignment reduced friction and sped up releases.

• +15% customer satisfaction
  Consistent, user-centred design made experiences smoother and more intuitive.

• 40% drop in team turnover
  People stayed because they were supported, challenged, and growing.

• Design became a strategic partner
  Our voice was heard at the roadmap level, not just at the final handoff.

Our CEO now says:

“The transformation has been incredible. The design team is now one of our strongest strategic partners.”

Reflections: What I’ll take with me

Every growth journey comes with hard lessons and bright moments. Here’s what stood out most:

• Start with people. Hiring is important, but investing in the team you already have can unlock the biggest growth.

• Structure enables creativity. Systems and tools don’t kill design, they free it up to thrive.

• Advocate constantly. The work doesn’t always speak for itself. You have to tell the story of design’s impact, and tell it well.

• Culture is everything. Trust, feedback, clarity, and shared purpose, that’s what turns a team into a force.

What’s next?

With the right foundation in place, we’re now exploring how to take our work even further. That means:

• Integrating AI-powered insights to make user feedback more actionable.

• Evolving our design system into a full-service platform for product teams.

• Strengthening cross-functional rituals that keep us aligned and adaptable.

And always, keeping our focus on the people we’re designing for, and the people we’re designing with.

If you're building a team, scaling one, or transforming how design shows up in your org, I’d love to trade ideas.

Every team has its journey.

This was ours.