design leader mindset

I advise early-stage startups on establishing, steering and scaling design organizations that Deliver exceptional products and avoid all-too-common early mistakes.
Make the right first hire
Not all designers are the same

Typically, early-stage startups need their foundational designer to deliver the following:

  • End-to-end concept designs that solve real problems

  • Product workflows that deliver real business value for their target users

  • Engineering-ready designs that can be implemented and scaled without major refactoring

Hiring a Product/UX designer who has experience in all three of these areas is key to delivering on your company goals.  

build a team
Engineering plans how to grow - design is no different

Building a design team should be done with the following three factors in mind: identifying and filling skills gaps, company growth planning, product roadmap and the engineering hiring plan. Keeping these factors in mind allows startups to build a design organization with different specialties and levels of seniority required to achieve company and product goals.

hire fractional leadership
Retain design leadership early

An experienced leader brings specialized expertise, fresh perspectives, and best practices to level up the design function. In early stages, a fractional design leader can quickly scale the design team, implement processes, hire designers, and provide strategic direction until a permanent design leader is hired.

what people are saying

Bill Palombi

VP of Product @ Prefect.io

As a product leader without a strong design background, I had a couple of false starts in establishing the design function at our growth stage startup. Julie's coaching was instrumental in re-establishing our design organization. She helped me define the core competencies we needed, establish a robust hiring process, and identify key signals of talent in portfolios and interviews. Her guidance was crucial in setting me and my initial design hires up for success as we drove our product's next phase of growth.

Ready to kick your company's design function into high gear?

Contact Me

design leader mindset

I advise early-stage startups on establishing, steering and scaling design organizations that Deliver exceptional products and avoid all-too-common early mistakes.
Make the right first hire
Not all designers are the same

Typically, early-stage startups need their foundational designer to deliver the following:

  • End-to-end concept designs that solve real problems

  • Product workflows that deliver real business value for their target users

  • Engineering-ready designs that can be implemented and scaled without major refactoring

Hiring a Product/UX designer who has experience in all three of these areas is key to delivering on your company goals.  

build a design team
Engineering plans how to grow - design is no different

Building a design team should be done with the following three factors in mind: company growth planning, product roadmap and the engineering growth plan. Keeping these factors in mind allows startups to build a design organization with different specialties and levels of seniority required to achieve company and product goals.

hire fractional leadership
Retain design leadership early

An experienced leader brings specialized expertise, fresh perspectives, and best practices to level up the design function. In early stages, a fractional design leader can quickly scale the design team, implement processes, hire designers, and provide strategic direction until a permanent design leader is hired.

Ready to kick your company's design function into high gear?

Contact Me

Ready to kick your company's design function into high gear?

Contact Me

©️ 2024, Julie Lynn Lemieux

©️ 2024, Julie Lynn Lemieux