Design Leadership at FPS
Farfetch Group
2022 - Present
I am currently heading the Growth vertical at Farfetch Platform Solutions (FPS), optimising digital experiences for our clients and aligning with their business objectives.
In 2023, my team delivered data-driven and user-centric designs leading to 11% YoY conversion uplift for top FPS clients, with a combined revenue of $650M transacted GTV.
Impact
- 100% team retention over 4 years
- Improved efficiency and increased synergies within the design, product and engineering teams
- Established user research and experimentation as essential components of the business strategy
- Overall 11% conversion rate increase across Farfetch Platform Solution clients in 2023
Team Leadership
My approach to design leadership is driven by a passion for coaching, mentoring and empowering individuals to reach their fullest potential, leveraging their strengths whilst also encouraging growth beyond their comfort zone.
TEAM STRUCTURE
I hired, led, coached and mentored a diverse team spread across various locations (London, Lisbon, Porto and São Paulo).
This included transitioning my previous team from Browns to FPS, integrating pre-existing team members from FPS, and onboarding new talent, spanning from junior to senior levels.
TEAM CULTURE
Managing a team dispersed across multiple locations, I strived to cultivate a unified team culture. In addition to weekly one-to-ones, I set up a weekly team meeting to streamline work priorities and create global project visibility across the team.
I also initiated a monthly 'UX Inspiration' session, where team members could share articles or experiences that inspired them.
As part of the team’s culture, I also ensure to celebrate successes, encourage team members to support one another, and to break down silos through cross-team collaboration.
TEAM PROGRESSION
To ensure continuous career development for my team, I conduct the usual weekly one-to-one sessions and bi-annual performance reviews.
Additionally, I implemented informal quarterly check-ins with each direct report: these include a retro (stop/start/continue) for them to reflect on achievements and future goals, discussions on wins and challenges to celebrate successes and address potential obstacles, and finally an opportunity for them to feedback upward. By fostering an environment of vulnerability and receptivity to feedback, I encouraged my team to freely express their aspirations and concerns, whilst facilitating a culture of growth-mindset.
This approach enabled me to offer personalised guidance and continuous feedback, encover team pain points, and effectively guide each individual towards their desired career trajectories.
Design Leadership
I my current role, I have implemented processes and tools to facilitate collaboration among design, product, and engineering teams, as well as sett high standards for design quality and deliverables.
WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT
Drawing from my experience at Browns, I implemented a streamlined design process using Jira tickets to organise and prioritise workloads. I assign projects based on their complexity and urgency, whilst leveraging individual strengths and considering career progression aspirations.
I always endeavour to provide opportunities for growth, so that I can ensure my team members remain challenged and engaged.
DESIGN PROCESS
Following the double diamond process, each designer in the team has ownership of the entire end-to-end process, from initial research to prototyping, testing, and delivering high-fidelity designs.
By securing early buy-in from both internal teams and clients, I ensured that every project is data-driven (qualitative and/or quantitative), with clear associated success metrics.
This approach has empowered my team to have a thorough understanding of the problems they are trying to solve and to have all the tools they need to address both the customers and business needs.
DESIGN STANDARDS
As my team represents FPS to external clients, it was crucial to maintain consistency not just in our design process but also in the quality of our deliverables. To achieve this, I established templates for Figma files and presentations, ensuring that each deliverable meets our design standards.
Additionally, I regularly oversee and provide feedback on ongoing projects, as well as host regular design critiques.
WAYS OF WORKING
Partnering with leadership peers in Product and Engineering, an important part of my role is to for opportunities to improve ways of working and increase team efficiency.
As an example, early on when joining FPS I identified inconsistencies in PM briefings whichh was a major pain point for my team. Collaborating with senior leadership in Product and Engineering, as well as team members, I developed and refined a briefing template format that included all the information my team needed. This allowed us to create consistency, increase alignment between product and design, and to increase the overall team satisfaction and efficiency.
"It's very clear and I like that it asks for all the context and reasoning behind the tickets. It makes me think more about the why” - Feedback from a PM
Business Leadership
As a design leader, my focus has always been on delivering impact for the business. I have achieved this by implementing strategic initiatives, nurturing relationships with stakeholders, and championing user experience principles both internally and externally.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Collaborating closely with product, data, and engineering teams, I played a pivotal role in shaping and delivering clients' roadmaps, ensuring continuous alignment between customer needs, business objectives, and FPS's OKRs.
By leveraging qualitative feedback from user research, insights from competitor analysis, and user testing, my team identified growth opportunities for FPS clients.
In 2023, our efforts led to a 11% YoY conversion uplift for top FPS clients, resulting in a combined revenue of $650 million in GTV.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
By fostering strong relationships with my Product and Engineering leadership peers, I have nurtured internal alignment for the Growth vertical.
Additionally, I have cultivated meaningful connections with stakeholders within our clients' organisations, ranging from senior leaders in Marketing, Product, Design, and Commercial teams to CEOs and CTOs. These relationships were pivotal in building trust and getting buy-in for our design strategies and solutions.
CHAMPIONNING UX
Finally, an essential part of my role has been raising awareness about UX and educating other teams about customer needs. I have done so by facilicating trainings, hosting workshops, and sharing user research insights both internally and externally.
Those initiatives have had a considerable impact on the business, with multiple team requesting user research to inform their own initiatives and asking for guidance from the Product Design teams.