Meet Lindsay Derby, Design Lead at HubSpot. As a Product Designer, Lindsay helps transform ideas into solutions. Lindsay is also a member of our 2024 Leadership Council for our employee resource group, Families@HubSpot. Read on to learn more about what it’s like working in a Product Design role at HubSpot.
Tell us about your role and what you do at HubSpot?
As a Product Designer at HubSpot, my job is to be a creative problem solver within my product area. I’m responsible for turning ideas into tangible, user-friendly solutions. This means understanding user needs, observing trends and behaviors, and designing solutions that look great and work well.
I work closely with a cross-functional team of engineers and product experts to ensure we achieve our customer and company goals. I define the product vision, establish design principles, design prototypes, conduct user research to gather feedback, and iterate on the design.
As a design lead, I also act as a mentor and coach to other designers, helping develop my team’s skills and supporting them in delivering projects and achieving their career goals.
What is collaboration like on your team?
We have a cross-functional product team consisting of design, product management, and engineering. We meet weekly to align on project goals, discuss progress, and share ideas. I am responsible for making design decisions and presenting the results to stakeholders. I also frequently collaborate with other UXers on the team by sharing our work and giving and receiving feedback.
What is your favorite part of your job?
What I like most about my job is seeing customers’ first impressions of new features and products. After spending so much time crafting the first solution, seeing customers interacting with the actual software is always the best learning experience. The trick is to not get too attached to the first draft. What’s exciting for me is seeing where users can easily complete their tasks and, more importantly, where they can’t. I always come away from these discovery sessions overflowing with ideas on how to iterate and improve the design. %20-%20Lindsay%20Derby.jpg?width=300&height=400&name=IMG_2849%20(1)%20-%20Lindsay%20Derby.jpg)
What do you find most challenging about your job?
The most challenging part of the job is balancing the various stakeholders. It’s important to take into account leadership and company goals, market needs, user desires, visual design best practices and preferences. All of these are very important, and it’s easy to lose sight of one here and there throughout a long product development cycle.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to become a HubSpotter?
I believe adaptability is key. HubSpot, like any technology company, moves quickly and is constantly shifting priorities to support emerging trends, technologies, competitive developments, long-term and short-term product visions, and innovation. It’s important to demonstrate a willingness and enthusiasm to grow and flow with change.
What are some ways you balance work and life? How does HubSpot’s flexibility and hybrid workstyle help with this?
This is one of my favorite things about HubSpot. As an employee, I’m trusted to work where and how I need to, as long as I can do my best work. As a parent, this helps me balance the demands of my personal life and work. In my case, that means leaving work at 5pm to prioritize dinner with my family, blocking out events on my calendar like school drop-off and pick-up and lunch, and most importantly, being empowered to help my colleagues do the same. These things are respected, and we’re encouraged to prioritize our mental health.
What are the top three things you like about your role and team?
- I love the willingness to try new things. My team is not afraid to try things, test them, scrap them, and build them again. For me, this keeps things interesting and makes it fun to come to work with new ideas.
- I also love the empathy and support I’ve received on a human level from my fellow HubSpotters. Work is only a part of who we are, and I’ve seen so much genuine compassion extended to others.
- What I love most about my job is being able to be involved from conceptualization to production. Product design at HubSpot is about more than just aesthetics. We’re trusted partners who have a seat at the table from day one.
Tell us about the HubSpot community you’re a part of.
I serve on the Leadership Council for the Families@HubSpot Employee Resource Group, which is very rewarding and I love being involved.
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