From Solo Designer to Thriving Team
Building a Design Organisation from 1 to 10 People
By Jue Feng I 2024
Photo by Rodion Kutsaievon Unsplash
Growing a design team is an exciting, challenging, and deeply rewarding journey. Whether you’re starting as a solo designer or scaling an established team, building a design organization requires more than just hiring talented people – it’s about cultivating a culture, defining processes, and fostering collaboration.
In this post, I’ll share my experience of growing a design team from one person to ten, focusing on three crucial areas: onboarding, work assignment, and recruiting. Let’s dive into the phases of this growth and explore what it takes to build a thriving design team.
Starting as a Solo Designer
As the first designer in an organization, you’re both the strategist and the executor. You’re tasked with defining the design vision, communicate its importance, and delivering results – all at once.
The Challenges:
- Wearing multiple hats: UX, visual design, research, and even project management.
- Gaining stakeholder trust and making design a respected function.
What I learned:
- Establishing Processes Early: Even as a solo designer, I set up basic tools and workflows (e.g., design systems, feedback loops) to make future scaling easier.
- Design Show&Tell : I shared wins, however small, with stakeholders to highlight the value of design.
Hiring the First Few Team Members (2-4 People)
The leap from one to a few designers transforms the dynamic. Suddenly, you’re not just a designer—you’re also a mentor and collaborator.
Recruiting:
- Look for Versatility: Early hires should be generalists who can adapt to different tasks.
- Prioritize Collaboration Skills: A small team thrives on open communication and mutual support.
Onboarding:
With a tiny team, onboarding can feel informal, but that doesn’t mean it should lack structure.
- Introduce them to your processes and design tools. This sometime challenges the designer who has their favoriat tools that miss match the expectations.
- Share your vision for the design team and the organization’s goals. This could asking sales director for a sale presentation.
- Pair them with stakeholders early to build relationships.
Work Assignment:
At this stage, it’s about balancing workloads and tapping into each person’s strengths.
- Assign clear ownership for projects but encourage cross-functional collaboration.
- Use weekly check-ins to realign priorities and address roadblocks. In the weekly design meet up, what their product manager has mapped out the release plan and how the designer think of it. These questions can you to dive in deep.
Scaling to 5-7 Designers
At this point, your team becomes more dynamic, with room for specialization and richer collaboration. However, scaling brings new challenges, especially in ensuring consistency and communication.
Recruiting:
- Begin hiring specialists to fill skill gaps, such as researchers, UI designers, or UX copywriter.
- Focus on candidates who align with the team culture you’ve built so far.
Onboarding:
- Introduce structured onboarding programs that include shadowing senior designers and detailed guides to tools and processes.
- Assign onboarding buddies to help new hires acclimate faster.
Work Assignment:
With a mid-sized team, it’s time to introduce lightweight frameworks for managing work.
- Implement tools like kanban boards or design sprints to streamline projects.
- Rotate roles occasionally to encourage skill-sharing and prevent silos.
Establishing a 10-Person Team
With 10 people, your design team is no longer small—it’s a mini-organization within the company. This is when you transition from team-building to culture-sustaining.
Recruiting:
- Focus on diversity to bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas.
- Involve existing team members in interviews to foster a sense of ownership and inclusion.
Onboarding:
- Create robust documentation for your team’s processes, style guides, and design philosophy.
- Use mentorship programs to ensure new hires receive guidance and feedback.
Work Assignment:
- Introduce formalized processes like agile workflows to manage growing complexity.
- Build project teams around specific goals or strengths to maximize impact.
Key Learnings and Advice
Reflecting on this journey, here are a few lessons I’ve learned:
- Start with Clarity: Define your team’s mission and principles from the start. It’ll guide every decision as you grow.
- Invest in Relationships: Design thrives on collaboration. Building trust with stakeholders early makes everything smoother.
- Be Adaptable: As the team grows, what worked for one or two designers may not work for ten. Embrace change and iterate on your processes.
Photo by Jue Feng 2019
Conclusion
Scaling a design team from 1 to 10 is as much about people as it is about processes. By focusing on thoughtful onboarding, intentional work assignment, and strategic recruiting, you can build a team that not only delivers great designs but also cultives a culture of creativity and collaboration.
Whether you’re starting this journey or already in the middle of it, remember: every team has its unique challenges, but the principles of clarity, trust, and adaptability remain constant.
How are you scaling your design team? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!