A design culture people could feel, not just read about.
As lead, my job wasn’t only shipping screens; it was helping the design team work better together and show up clearly to the rest of Sage. That meant rituals, skills, file hygiene, and trust; the human side of how design actually runs.
A shared set of values to work as a cohesive unit.
We needed a shared “why,” not another slide deck. The manifesto captured what we stand for, how we want to collaborate, and how our process should reflect reality. It became the anchor for later work on wellbeing, training, and how we staff projects.
A monthly moment to reflect, realign, and improve together.
Once a month we paused to talk about how the team was doing: energy, ways of working, growth. Topics followed what people needed that month. Mostly design, but we pulled in architects, devs, or PMs when the theme called for it.
The right person, on the right project, at the right time.
An internal skill-mapping exercise to gain a comprehensive understanding of the hard and soft skills within our team. Objectives: obtain a detailed view of all skills present; identify skill gaps and areas needing improvement to organize training or knowledge-sharing sessions; assign team members to projects by pairing complementary profiles for mutual learning and growth; clarify skillsets and interests during project kick-offs.
Reliable design files, every time.
Implementing a structured branching ensures reliable versions of our designs, enabling developers to work confidently with a strong file and component management system. I developed a comprehensive guide on version control and file management, including internal articles with detailed instructions and a recorded video tutorial to ensure everyone can easily understand and follow the process.
46 pain points. 6 areas of opportunity.
A comprehensive project to map our current design process. The objective is to identify key pain points and opportunities, ultimately redesigning a tailored, flexible, and scalable process that enhances design efficiency and overall team satisfaction. This involved mapping out every step, including the processes, software, people (owners), and policies involved.
Engaging stakeholders to solve what matters most.
We took the pain points from the map and co-designed fixes with stakeholders at different levels. The output was a concrete set of changes to how we work, each with a way to check if it was actually helping over time.
