Building and Scaling the Team 

One of my primary duties was to expand and structure the product design team to meet growing demands. In 2023, we  onboarded new team members in Pakistan, ensuring they were fully trained in both the technical aspects (such as Figma Variables, Prototyping Tools, and transactional flow processes) and our company’s internal workflow.

Cross Functiuonal Collaboration 

Collaboration across departments was critical to the success of the design team. As a design leader, I regularly interacted with key stakeholders (such as business leads, engineering teams, and project managers) to gather requirements and ensure smooth execution of all design projects.

Design Strategy for 2024 

As Head of Design, I led the development of a comprehensive design strategy for 2024. The strategy aimed to bridge gaps between digital and offline experiences, ensuring a consistent and omni-channel approach to user engagement. My team and I worked on aligning production timelines with strategic goals, enabling sustainable growth by balancing project workloads with internal development efforts.

Key to this strategy was the establishment of clear design pillars that informed all team activities:  

Key Projects and Innovations

In my role, I implemented a detailed UX & UI process map that standardized how we approached both small and mid-sized design projects. This process included steps from initial stakeholder meetings to prototyping, testing, and final deployment. These streamlined processes helped the team maintain consistency and improve delivery times, especially when working on fast-paced marketing campaigns or introducing new functionalities on digital platforms.

One of the key processes I developed was the Design Sprint framework, which allowed the team to prototype and validate ideas in a short time frame. This process was critical in launching several high-impact features across our digital platforms, such as the new digital functionalities and iterative improvements in the user flows.

One of the biggest challenges was managing the rapid growth of the design team while maintaining high design standards. As the team expanded, ensuring that everyone was aligned with the strategic vision and design system was crucial. Regular reviews, documentation, and training helped mitigate these challenges.

There were also challenges in coordinating with other departments, particularly when managing dependencies between the design and engineering teams. Ensuring that designs were technically feasible while meeting business requirements required ongoing communication and iterative feedback loops.

My experience leading the product design team at Small World Financial Services was transformative for my personal growth as a leader. By fostering collaboration, instilling a strong design strategy, and leading key projects, I was able to contribute to meaningful improvements in both user experience and internal workflows. These lessons in strategic leadership, process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration will surely be key to my approach in future roles.

Here are some numbers to illustrate our growth as a Team during this time.