Table of Contents
- What Makes a High-Performing Product Design Team? Insights from Slack’s VP of Product Design
- Recommendation
- Take-Aways
- Summary
- Effective product development requires collaboration, mutual respect, and transparency across design, product, and engineering teams.
- Focus on what the user wants and design accordingly.
- Designers must bring diverse skills to their jobs, even if they choose to specialize.
- About the Podcast
What Makes a High-Performing Product Design Team? Insights from Slack’s VP of Product Design
Discover proven strategies for building effective product design teams and creating user-focused products. Learn from Slack’s VP of Product Design, Miguel Fernandez, as he shares actionable tips on collaboration, transparency, and continuous learning to elevate your product development process.
Ready to transform your approach to product design and teamwork? Continue reading for expert strategies and real-world examples that will help you build high-performing, user-centric teams and deliver outstanding products.
Recommendation
How can teams foster seamless collaboration and build exceptional products? In this episode of the Product Experience Podcast, hosts Lily Smith and Randy Silver talk with Slack’s VP of product design, Miguel Fernandez, about the art of creating user-focused designs — drawing examples from Slack’s recent redesign — and building high-performing, cross-functional teams. Fernandez’s valuable insights on fostering transparency, iterative design processes, and balancing broad skill sets in modern design teams make this episode a must-listen for those striving to elevate their approach to product development.
Take-Aways
- Effective product development requires collaboration, mutual respect, and transparency across design, product, and engineering teams.
- Focus on what the user wants and design accordingly.
- Designers must bring diverse skills to their jobs, even if they choose to specialize.
Summary
Effective product development requires collaboration, mutual respect, and transparency across design, product, and engineering teams.
Collaboration lies at the heart of product development, playing a critical role in cross-functional teams. When designers, product managers, and engineers work together in a trust-filled, give-and-take manner, they can leverage their unique strengths to build the best possible product. Building alignment up front and fostering transparency helps create an environment of mutual respect. For example, Slack’s design team uses Slack themselves to share ideas and feedback with colleagues during design critiques. This process ensures everyone involved in a given project hears all perspectives, and the team is working toward common goals.
“We need to understand that we cannot build anything without each other.” (Miguel Fernandez)
High-performing teams are those where people are open about how they work and why they make their decisions. In these teams, people engage in healthy debates without pointing fingers — and have fun. Slack’s collaboration in design extends to its users. The company tests changes internally and then with pilot customers before a full rollout.
Focus on what the user wants and design accordingly.
Good designers care about their work but stay detached enough to remember that the user comes first. While the details may vary from company to company, having a set of user-centric principles guiding your product design process ensures those involved are asking the right questions and staying aligned with the business’s overarching values. At Slack, for example, designers seek a deep understanding of users’ goals — what they want to do with your product. They also share a commitment to iterative improvement, since even small interface changes in Slack can disrupt user workflows.
“At the end, everybody contributing in the design process is a designer, and that’s something that, as designers, we have to acknowledge and embrace.” (Miguel Fernandez)
Prototyping alterations in a product’s features or functions can help avoid problems. However, even with robust testing, some issues only become apparent after launch. Slack initially stumbled in its 2023 redesign, which simplified navigation by consolidating workspaces. Users who needed quick access to numerous organizations complained, and the company responded quickly to offer a version that gave those individuals the option they required. As Slack’s experience demonstrates, flexibility and responsiveness are vital to delivering user-centered solutions.
Designers must bring diverse skills to their jobs, even if they choose to specialize.
The skill expectations for designers have evolved significantly in recent years. For example, it’s helpful for today’s designers to have basic coding and video editing skills. Even specialists — such as experts in visual design, typography, or filmography — need to understand other aspects of the field. Leaders should assemble teams with complementary strengths — generalists who can tackle diverse challenges and specialists who bring specific expertise.
“People need to continue to be curious and learn everything that is out there. The more that you know, the more conversations you can have.” (Miguel Fernandez)
Prioritize continuous learning. By staying curious and cultivating a willingness to learn, designers can better engage with product managers, engineers, and users, ultimately creating more impactful products.
About the Podcast
Miguel Fernandez is a vice president for product design at Slack. Product Experience Podcast host Lily Smith is a chief product and technology officer at BBC Maestro, and co-host Randy Silver is a product management and leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in the field.