Building UX at Finvi from zero
Role: [Your title], Feb 2022–present Scope: Founded and lead the UX department supporting 8 engineering teams Team: Hired 6 designers and 2 researchers
The starting point
When I joined Finvi in 2022, there was no UX function. Product managers sketched screens, engineers filled in the gaps, and research happened informally, if at all. Eight development teams needed designs, and no one owned the experience.
Building the team
I started with few designers and a UX researcher. We did not have enough designers to have dedicated coverage, so I ran meetings with PM's and built an integrated design/research roadmap. That roadmap is how designers got assigned and how we managed expectations.
A small team supplying eight dev teams only works if no one gets stuck. We met every day to unblock each other, work through hard design problems, and make sure everyone understood the user, the story and the business need behind each piece of work. My job was to clear obstacles, hold the bar on consistency, and keep the team close to the people who use the product.
I built the foundation of our design system, and the team grew it into the shared standard it is today. Together we've delivered hundreds of stories and thousands of screens.
Building a research engine
Research at Finvi had been occasional. I wanted it to be routine. We partnered with Sales and Customer Success to reach customers, and now run field studies, 1-on-1 interviews and focus groups as a normal part of the work.
That effort created a group of customers who give regular feedback and look forward to doing it. We formalized it as a Client Advisory Board that meets every two weeks to work through the biggest issues and upcoming features. Over time, UX became the company's main product discovery function. When product needs to figure something new out, they come to us.
The outcome
Velsoidy launched with 5 early-adopter customers, and the results were clear:
- Training dropped from two weeks to half a day compared with legacy applications
- Agent performance rose by up to 40%
- UX now owns the design system, the Client Advisory Board and usability standards for new features
How I lead
I aim to be a servant leader. My job is to clear the path, set a high bar and help each person become a UX and product leader in their own right. I expect the team to understand the user better than anyone, the product nearly as well as the PMs, and the technology nearly as well as the developers.
I don't think you can be a good product person without not be a leader. It is my job to help bring that potential out of my team.