1. Building Teams for Better
Process, Retention and Delivery
Mike Brown
UXDX 2022

2. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
About Me
• Over 20 years working in design, and leading in-house design organisations

3. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Interaction Design
User Research
Wireframes
Prototypes
Information
Architecture
User Journeys
Content / Copy
Service Design
Visual Design
Typography
Layouts
Colour
Icon design
Illustration
Accessibility
Tech delivery
What is Product Design?
PRODUCT
DESIGN

4. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Product Design Pillars
PRODUCT DESIGN
EFFICIENT
• Design Systems
• Lean UX, Agile Practices
FOCUSED
• User Outcomes
• Business Outcomes
ENABLED
• Product Teams first
• Empowering leadership

5. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Today’s Talk
BETTER
PRODUCT
TEAMS
• Planning – Efficient and Focused Teams
• Structure – Enabled Teams
• Hiring - Tips for Recruitment

6. Efficient and Focused Teams
Planning

7. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Establishing a strong culture, and ways of
working first is vital
• Initial hires at Senior Level are key
• Contractors are useful during growth,
but replace with committed, full-timers
Plan for growth
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

8. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Every product team wants seniors,
but… not all work is senior level
• Plan for seniority via internal growth:
-It’s Cheaper 🙂
-Happier Teams!
Plan for progression
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

9. Cost of living means job satisfaction and security are highly valued
Why aren’t you looking for a job right now?
57%
are planning to stay
in their jobs over the
next 12 months
I value the job
security I have
I’m nervous
about starting
a new job
I don’t believe I’ll
be able to get
the salary I want
I’m happy in my
current role
Source: Reed anonymous survey of 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, June 2022.
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

10. Employees value their colleagues above all
What do you most enjoy about your current or most recent job or workplace?
Source: Reed anonymous survey of 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, June 2022.
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

11. Low pay and toxic culture are the top reasons employees leave
25%
of employees
are planning
to leave
Are you considering leaving your
job in the next 12 months?
Toxic
culture
Poor
management
Not feeling
valued
Low salaries
What would make you most likely to want to
leave a job/employer?
Source: Reed anonymous survey of 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, June 2022.
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

12. INCREASE IN MKTG
DESIGN OUTCOMES
5x
Efficient at
• Careful planning, with roles based on
requirements across entire business
• Achieving fast growth within team
• Clear Processes and ways of working, constantly
evaluated and iterated upon
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE
CASE STUDY:
1 DEDICATED DESIGNER
DELIVERS 5X THE OUTCOMES
FROM PREVIOUS YEAR

13. Clear processes and ways of working
USER VALUE +
BUSINESS VALUE DEFINED
USER NEED+
BUSINESS GOAL
CONFIDENCE IN
DESIGN APPROACH
DELIVERED FOR
DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

14. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Deep user knowledge, constant research
• Dedicated User Research Team,
supporting all product teams
• Enables teams with less UX experience
User Outcomes
PLANNING HIRING
ENABLED

15. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Company Mission, Purpose, Goals,
Strategy, all understood
• Agreed Product outcomes
measured for success
Business Outcomes
Photo 205474676 © Stepan Popov | Dreamstime.co
m
PLANNING HIRING
ENABLED

16. MINIMUM LABOUR
SAVINGS:
10x
CASE STUDY:
1 DAY OF TESTING
PREVENTED 2 WEEKS
OF WASTED DEVELOPMENT
Focused at
• User Research study completed each week,
increase of 1300%, year on year
• Research value constantly measured
• OKRs track and measure success,
ensure alignment with business strategy
PLANNING HIRING
STRUCTURE

17. Enabled Teams
Structure

18. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Product Team First
• Designer embedded
within product team
• One team backlog • Continuous Product Discovery
PLANNING STRUCTURE HIRING

19. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Do teams have all the resources they need?
Empowerment
• Are teams empowered, owning and
accountable for their outcomes?
• Supportive, not proscriptive leadership
PLANNING STRUCTURE HIRING

20. Nurture an empathetic workplace culture
What type of manager or leader would you prefer to work for?
Uninvolved
Approachable
& empathetic
Engaged
& collaborative
Authoritative
& respected
Visionary
& inspiring
Leaders who are focused on
supporting and developing the
workforce. They are more focused on
people than the projects at hand.
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.
PLANNING STRUCTURE HIRING

21. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
• Avenues for communication are vital,
in a largely remote workplace
• Cross-functional meetings
• Continuous workshops, showcases,
discipline and guild meetings
Expect, and break the silos
PLANNING STRUCTURE HIRING

22. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Enabled at
• Each team self-sufficient, with all
members focus on one product
• Collaboration across the business,
with planned capacity
• Career Progression Framework across
Product, Design and Research
STRUCTURE HIRING
PLANNING

23. Tips for recruitment
Hiring Teams

24. Salary is most important to jobseekers
0
8.27
Salary
Location
Commute time
Company benefits
Career development
Company values
Company culture
Hybrid working options
Commission / Bonuses
Diversity of employees
highest mean =
most important
How would you rank the following influencing factors in importance when applying for a job?
10
5
SALARY TRANSPARENCY
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

25. Employers aren’t always transparent
44%
of hiring managers
don’t always display
salaries
Why don’t you choose to advertise salaries?
41%
Salary is
dependent on
experience
33%
Do not want to
display new hire
salaries
30%
To avoid people
seeing colleague’s
salaries
SALARY TRANSPARENCY
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

26. Attitudes are out of sync
78%
of candidates are less likely
to apply for jobs without
a salary displayed
62%
of hiring managers
think a lack of salary
has no negative impact
on applications
How does the absence of salary on a job advert impact application intention?
SALARY TRANSPARENCY
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

27. Boosting applications
more applications for
job ads that display a
salary on Reed.co.uk
37%
SALARY TRANSPARENCY
Source: Jobs posted on Reed.co.uk, from 1 January 2022 - 24 August 2022

28. Transparency enables greater diversity
Total combined LGBTQ+
Women 18-34 Black
% less likely to apply for a job ad without salary
Men White Asian Mixed Ethnicity Disabled
SALARY TRANSPARENCY
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

29. Women feel most uncomfortable
How comfortable are you with discussing salary with an employer during an interview process?
COMFORTABLE UNCOMFORTABLE
27%
Women
47%
Women
13%
Men
67%
Men
GENDER PAY GAP
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

30. Transparency and the Gender Pay Gap
Do you research a company’s Gender Pay Gap
before applying for a job?
Has discovering a company’s pay gap
influenced your decision to apply?
76%
No 95%
wouldn’t apply
If the pay gap wasn’t fair or there no details on
how it would be improved
24%
Yes
GENDER PAY GAP

31. Pay is key, but flexibility and perks are still important
What can your employer do
to persuade you to stay? 50%
Salary increase
24%
Flexible hours
24%
More perks and
benefits
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Source: Reed anonymous survey of over 2,000 active and passive jobseekers, and over 250 UK hiring managers, February 2022.

32. Consider introducing a 4-day working week
What words in a job ad will make you want to apply
for the role?
89%
of jobseekers would
welcome a 4-day working
week
How would you feel about having a 4-day
working week?
4-day working
week
Work from home Opportunity
to progress
Flexible working
options
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

33. Building Better Teams Mike Brown UXDX 2022
Hiring at
• We look for self-starters
• Ambition and passion, over
extensive experience
• Empathy, curiosity, and collaboration
• Diversity is absolutely key,
for both teams and wider business
HIRING
PLANNING STRUCTURE

34. Thanks!
Vacancies at Reed.co.uk
• Multiple roles across
Product and Engineering
www.careers.reed.com
Mike Brown 2022 www.linkedin.com/in/mikeabrown1