Reshaping the Design Org for Impact
Role / Director of Design | Responsibilities / Strategy, leadership, coaching
By 2019, Blinkist had grown from an early-stage learning app into a global consumer product with rising complexity — new competitors, increasing acquisition costs, and bigger strategic bets.
The Design team had expanded into three disciplines (Product Design, Research, and Visual Communications), but our ways of working hadn't kept pace. The gap was becoming clear: we needed a stronger design practice to meet the company's next chapter.
I led an initiative to define how Design should evolve. Not just in process, but in focus, standards, and strategic contribution to the business.
The Design team had expanded into three disciplines (Product Design, Research, and Visual Communications), but our ways of working hadn't kept pace. The gap was becoming clear: we needed a stronger design practice to meet the company's next chapter.
I led an initiative to define how Design should evolve. Not just in process, but in focus, standards, and strategic contribution to the business.
Context & Challenge
Blinkist was entering a new phase. The product was more complex, expectations were higher, and the business needed design to contribute in sharper, more strategic ways. But:
- We were still optimised for speed over scale
- Teams tackled ambiguous work without shared principles
- The team lacked clear direction and alignment with company priorities
The challenge was to elevate design from a high-perfoming yet functional team to a strategic partner.
Approach
1. Aligning with the Founders
I began with 1:1 interviews with Blinkist's co-founders (CEO, CPO, CTO) to understand their expectations for design and where they saw new opportunities for impact. I paired this with my own perspective on what design needed to deliver at this stage of the company's growth.These conversations surfaced seven opportunity themes—from elevating craft to expanding evidence-based decision-making—and established shared expectations for how design would evolve.
2. Defining a Unified Vision for Design
I ran a series of workshops with the leads of Product Design, Research, and Visual Communications to translate the founder themes into a clear, multi-year vision. We:
I began with 1:1 interviews with Blinkist's co-founders (CEO, CPO, CTO) to understand their expectations for design and where they saw new opportunities for impact. I paired this with my own perspective on what design needed to deliver at this stage of the company's growth.These conversations surfaced seven opportunity themes—from elevating craft to expanding evidence-based decision-making—and established shared expectations for how design would evolve.
2. Defining a Unified Vision for Design
I ran a series of workshops with the leads of Product Design, Research, and Visual Communications to translate the founder themes into a clear, multi-year vision. We:
- Mapped current strengths and gaps
- Defined "desired states" for each theme
- Connected each aspiration to business levers (retention, organic growth, product clarity)
- Identified structural blockers (team size, rituals, process gaps)
This produced a set of vision statements that articulated where we were going, why it mattered, and how design would support Blinkist's strategic direction.
Here's an example of one of those themes:
Here's an example of one of those themes:
Theme: Exceptional user experience
What: Levelling up the user experience to create a great experience for customers that really differentiates the business
Why: There's more opportunity to create an exceptional user experience, leading to higher retention and customer satisfaction...
3. Turning Vision into Team Strategies
Some themes applied across the org; others sat within specific disciplines. I partnered with each lead to turn the vision into actionable strategies:
Some themes applied across the org; others sat within specific disciplines. I partnered with each lead to turn the vision into actionable strategies:
- Guiding principles for their discipline
- Prioritised focus areas
- Key initiatives to drive change
- Measurable signals of progress
For example:
- Product Design established UX principles and identified key moments to delight
- Research defined a clearer approach to evidence-led decision-making
- Visual Comms developed more rigorous approaches to performance-marketing experiments
Here's an example of the theme on Exceptional User Experience taking shape as a 'desired state' vision. Outlining these 'desired states' gave us a basis from which to uncover key initiatives.
"Our product is 'best-in-class'; it's delightful to use, low in friction and beautiful...From the fundamental core tasks being expertly designed to unexpected touches of care and thoughtfulness. The Blinkist product is differentiated and lacks the pain points of our competitors. We're able to deliver this exceptional experience because designers have the support and confidence to advocate for design-driven topics"
Outcomes
A clear, multi-year design vision
The team gained a shared understanding of what "great" looked like and how design would help the company win—aligned with founder expectations and business priorities.
Sharper focus and stronger collaboration
The vision created a common language across disciplines, improved cross-team coordination, and helped teams prioritise work with more confidence.
Elevated craft and renewed advocacy
Designers were equipped to connect their work to business impact, advocate for quality, and maintain higher standards in a fast-moving environment.
Strategic follow-on initiatives
The work unlocked new projects across the team, from improved UX principles to more effective performance-marketing experiments.
Org-wide ripple effect
Other teams in the company adopted similar processes to define their own strategic direction. A signal that the approach resonated beyond Design.
The team gained a shared understanding of what "great" looked like and how design would help the company win—aligned with founder expectations and business priorities.
Sharper focus and stronger collaboration
The vision created a common language across disciplines, improved cross-team coordination, and helped teams prioritise work with more confidence.
Elevated craft and renewed advocacy
Designers were equipped to connect their work to business impact, advocate for quality, and maintain higher standards in a fast-moving environment.
Strategic follow-on initiatives
The work unlocked new projects across the team, from improved UX principles to more effective performance-marketing experiments.
Org-wide ripple effect
Other teams in the company adopted similar processes to define their own strategic direction. A signal that the approach resonated beyond Design.
Through strategy sessions, we identified blockers and shaped principles that helped translate vision into action.
Why it mattered
This initiative repositioned Design as a strategic partner during a critical period of growth. It clarified expectations, strengthened design’s influence, and created the focus and structure needed to tackle increasingly complex product and business challenges.
It also re-energised the team by giving designers a clearer line of sight between their work and Blinkist’s strategic priorities — sharpening their sense of ownership and momentum as the company moved through a period of significant strategic change.
It also re-energised the team by giving designers a clearer line of sight between their work and Blinkist’s strategic priorities — sharpening their sense of ownership and momentum as the company moved through a period of significant strategic change.