Summary
When I joined Spectrum's Digital Sales organization, I became the first UX designer supporting a newly formed team responsible for customer acquisition and e-commerce experiences across Internet, Mobile, TV, and bundled services.
Beyond designing customer experiences, I was tasked with helping establish how UX would operate within the organization. Working across Product, Engineering, Analytics, Marketing, and business stakeholders, I helped build scalable design practices, improve cross-functional collaboration, and increase UX influence during a period of rapid organizational growth and merger-related transformation.
The Business Challenge
The Digital Sales organization was growing quickly and supporting multiple product lines, initiatives, and stakeholder groups. While teams were aligned around business goals, UX processes, collaboration models, and design engagement practices were still evolving.
As the first UX designer on the team, there was an opportunity to define how design could contribute beyond execution and become a strategic partner within the organization.
Challenges
Multiple product pods operating independently
Inconsistent design engagement across teams
Varying levels of UX maturity
Limited design representation in planning conversations
Competing business priorities and timelines
Understanding the Organization
Before introducing solutions, I focused on understanding how teams worked, where communication gaps existed, and how UX could create the most value.
Key Observations
Product teams often approached UX late in the process
Design requests varied significantly between pods
Prioritization frameworks were inconsistent
Teams lacked a shared understanding of UX capabilities
Opportunities existed to improve collaboration and alignment
Strategic Pillars
Establish Clarity
Create shared understanding around design goals, processes, and expectations.
Increase Visibility
Ensure UX was represented in planning, prioritization, and decision-making conversations.
Improve Collaboration
Build stronger relationships across Product, Engineering, Analytics, and business teams.
Scale Impact
Develop repeatable practices that could support multiple teams and initiatives.
Key Initiatives
Creating Alignment Through Workshops
Facilitated discovery sessions, design reviews, and cross-functional workshops to align stakeholders around customer needs, business objectives, and experience opportunities.
Impact
Improved stakeholder engagement
Increased design visibility
Faster alignment on priorities
Establishing UX Operating Practices with Partners
Introduced frameworks for:
Project intake
Prioritization
Design reviews
Cross-pod collaboration
Impact
More consistent engagement across teams
Clearer design expectations
Improved project efficiency
Expanding Design Influence
Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, Analytics, and leadership teams to ensure customer experience considerations were represented in roadmap and planning discussions.
Impact
Earlier UX involvement
Stronger customer-centered decision making
Increased trust in UX recommendations
Supporting Team Growth
As the organization expanded, I helped onboard designers, share knowledge across teams, and promote reusable design patterns that improved consistency across experiences.
Impact
Stronger collaboration across pods
Faster onboarding
Increased design scalability
Organizational Impact
This work extended beyond designing individual features.
Key outcomes included:
Increased UX visibility across the organization
Stronger stakeholder relationships
More consistent design engagement models
Improved cross-functional collaboration
Scalable frameworks supporting multiple product teams