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Today’s newsletter:

• Q&A with Mitchell on being the first Designer at a company now valued at $1.2bn

• Why being a Design Manager is so tough

• Things we need more of in the design world

Being the first Designer at a company now valued at $1.2bn valuation

Mitchell Clements is a Senior Product Design Manager at SimpleNexus, where he has helped the company grow from a 17-person basement startup to a $1.2 billion tech company by demonstrating the business value of design. During his career, he has worked in many roles including developer, product manager, and designer. He also volunteers his time in the design community as the vice-chair of the Product Hive mentorship program.

1 - What was the state of the product when you joined SimpleNexus?

When I joined SimpleNexus six years ago as the 17th employee, we were a small, scrappy, self-funded startup operating from a basement. Our product was rudimentary, consisting of a digital business card and a basic mortgage calculator for lenders to share with homebuyers.

We were a fast-growing startup, though we lacked a clear product vision and strategy. This quickly resulted in a haphazard product experience with significant friction for customers and users.

My goal when I joined was to make a meaningful impact. I wanted to shape the company's future trajectory and be part of a passionate, hardworking team.

2 - Did they understand the true value design could bring?

I don’t believe so. Most people view product design as a role that focuses on aesthetics and usability. It took a lot of effort to break that stereotype and show the business value that design teams can deliver when they are empowered to do so.

3 - How has the product evolved?

The transformation has been extraordinary. From serving 10,000 users initially, we now touch 10 million users, representing 1 in 4 loans within the U.S. mortgage industry.

Furthermore, in January of 2022, we were acquired at a $1.2 billion valuation. What made our product worth that amount? In the definitive agreement statement from the acquiring company, they stated that we had, “streamlined the many stages of the homeownership process into a single, seamless journey…” They also mentioned how our “innovative solution and deep subject matter expertise in consumer front-end technology” would extend their capabilities. That is the impact design can have on the business value of a product.

Today, we now span 1,700 employees.

(I answer the “how” in question 7)

4 - How do you set up design for success?

We have experienced significant growth since our basement startup days. Presently, our design team comprises a director, four managers, and approximately 20 designers. Additionally, we have designated DesignOps roles overseeing our design system and user research operations.

We have adopted a hybrid approach that combines centralised and decentralised structures. Each designer belongs to two teams: a centralised design team and a cross-functional experience team, working closely with product managers and developers.

This setup enables designers to immerse themselves in product domains, shaping strategies and directions while fostering strong collaboration. Furthermore, we maintain cohesion as a unified design team through regular design critiques, trainings, mentorship, career development, workshops, whiteboard sessions, and offsite retreats.

5 - How has design helped shape the product and business strategy?

Early on, I took charge of our product vision and strategy for our homebuyer experience. This required gaining a deep understanding of the pain points our customers and users were going through. Once we understood their pain points and the market opportunities, we started showing the rest of the company what our homebuyer experience could be like in the 3-5 years if we positioned streamlined experiences and customer journeys as a core value proposition of our product offering. When leaders saw the vision of what we could become vs. what we are today, it generated a lot of excitement and transformed our product and business strategy.

This was a new paradigm for the company. Our mindset before had been about asking customers what they wanted, and then building features. But with our product vision and strategy in place, we were instead anticipating what our customers needed before they told us. This allowed us to innovate and stay ahead of the competition, and deliver streamlined experiences for our customers and users.

6 - From the people who were at the company when you joined, has their opinion on design and the value it can bring change?

When I first joined, the perception of design was primarily limited to aesthetics and usability. However, over time, several leaders have come to recognize design as a strategic partner capable of driving the product vision, solving meaningful problems, and delivering streamlined, customer-centric experiences that add substantial value to the business.

7 - What would your advice be for a company pre-revenue, looking for product-market fit, on the importance of hiring a designer?

The number one mistake I see in product organisations (both startups and enterprises) is they ask customers what they want, build it, and then the customers end up not paying or using the product/feature.

Experienced Designers know how to solve this. They use generative and evaluative research techniques to help you identify meaningful customer problems, identify innovative solutions to those problems, and then validate those solutions before building the real thing – achieving product market fit in the fastest and least expensive method possible.

If you're still trying to achieve product-market fit, then you should invest in a high-performing designer who has experience with research, and business strategy, and can help guide you to building impactful solutions.

It can be tempting to hire a junior designer to make your product look pretty, but they likely won't have experience achieving product-market fit or navigating business strategy. In addition, they will lack needed mentorship from a design leader. If you feel like you can't afford a senior designer, then I would recommend hiring a part-time contractor or agency. Let them show you the business value they can bring to your company.

8 - Bonus question! What are your top 5 favourite interview questions to seek out top performers?

1. What's your design story? How did you get to where you are today?

   Seeking to understand their unique perspective, motivation, and passion.

2. What are your next career goals?

   Identifying alignment between the candidate's aspirations and our business and design team's objectives.

3. What's the most interesting insight you've gained about your users recently? How did you learn that?

   Assessing their commitment to deeply understanding their users and their ability to derive valuable insights.

4. Based on your understanding of this role, what would be your 90-day plan for tackling these challenges?

   Evaluating their ability to strategise and align with our expectations for the role.

5. What questions do you have for me?

   Top performers are always assessing the company's vision, understanding of the organisation's maturity, and potential for growth and change.

Things we need more of in Design

I’ve observed a lot of people in 2023, and I think it’s time we as a design community stop talking and start taking action. Together. To do that we need to be speaking to NON-design executives.

→ IC career rubrics
→ Founding designers
→ Business literacy + IQ
→ Designers into → Product
→ Big focus on visual/UI craft
→ Great mentoring + coaching
→ Less of “seat at the table” talk
→ Better utilisation of design leaders
→ Proper "senior" UX(R) practitioners
→ Talk with non-designers about design
→ Update outdated ways of hiring designers
→ People focusing on the "work" less managing
→ Content Design has equal pay to Product Design

As much as designers do not get the room and protection they need to contribute to customer value, we must also stop playing victims of execs. IMO it increases the distance between design and business execs.

We need fewer design communities talking between ourselves, and more of a focus outwards on speaking to non-design about design.

Why being a Design Manager is so tough

Design managers are underrated IMO.

It's a tough role to hold in design.

You're not leading the whole team

• You're not executing the "work"

• You're in back-to-back meetings

• You need a mature org to understand the value you bring.

Benefits of design managers:

• They translate the vision of a CDO/VP to the wider team.

• They unblock situations, so ICs can get on with work.

• They can attract and develop high-performing ICs.

• They influence the day-to-day work of the team

Design managers burn out because they're forced into "player-coach" roles and expected to lead the work, lead teams, org design etc.

If your design managers are burnt out, it will affect how engaged your team is, which affects output, which affects the quality of the product, which affects the bottom line. Voila.

They're crucial for the health of your design organisation.

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Until next time!

Tom