Frame the why
Start with the why.
A hypothesis, problem statement or goal, fixed before anything starts, so scope can’t creep and the target can’t shift.
Goal
The outcome. The why.
KPI
How we know we got there.
At altitude
The work behind the screens.
At FinanceScout24, a Scout24 vertical on a 3.2-million-user network, I was Head of Product Design. I built and led a team of six designers and a freelancer pool, hired and line-managed them, and helped set up a product-designer career track across Scout24. The design system and a relaunch were mine to run, not to draw: I steered both through the team.
The team
Six designers and a freelancer pool, hired, line-managed, and grown through a career track.
The operating model
An intake and triage so the team’s time went where it mattered. A hundred requests became one prioritised line.
The design system
A system and a relaunch steered through the team, the distinction between a Head of and a senior designer.
What outlived it
The intake, the testing pipeline and the review cadence outlived the engagement.
“A valuable leader, recognised by leadership, peers and customers alike.” Director of Product, Scout24 SchweizRead the full Scout24 story
The operating model
What the intake feeds into: how a request becomes a shipped, signed-off screen. The same model underneath every team I run.
Find the pain
Find where it hurts.
Talk to the business, read the data and the research, talk to users. Evaluate what the current approach really does, not what it claims to.
Scope with the team
Cut it to what’s needed.
Align with developers and POs on a manageable scope, research, a small refactor, or bringing a dated flow up to standard.
researchrefactorUX fixredesign
Put it on the board
Plan it, don’t react.
Tasks defined, scope estimated, work assigned. The roadmap and sprints stay predefined, so nothing new can torpedo them mid-flight.
Build, never in silos
Bring everyone along.
UX leads the alignment, but stakeholders, PO and developers stay updated. Findings are shared as they land, the team brought along for them.
UXPODev
Hand over
Hand it over clean.
Once the journey or screen is done, it goes to the developers with the context they need to build it exactly as intended.
designbuild
Design QA, sign off
Built equals intended.
After the technical QA, I check the build against intent. Does it behave, look and feel as designed? I sign off only when it does.
intended
built ✓
To the backlog
Nothing gets lost.
Out-of-scope findings and follow-ups go to the backlog. I triage them with the PO, so effort is spent when it’s needed, not when it’s wanted.