As Vice President of Product Design, I led a UX team of 12 professionals, including designers, researchers, content specialists. Contrast is a leader in the application security testing (AST), with multiple offering (SAST, DAST, IAST) addressing the full surface area of the software development lifecycle.
As VP of Product Design:
• Developed a product design strategy that advanced the company vision. Our UX strategy was captured in a detailed plan that was closely aligned with the company strategy and short-term tactics. Goals and metrics for team managers and individual contributors were all directly traceable to larger company goals.
• Promoted a Company-wide understanding of user needs. Under my leadership, assumptions about user needs were replaced with data-informed insights. We leveraged existing and new research assets to better articulate how our users think about the problem space. Key artifacts that drove company-wide alignment were updated: realigned personas, a list of jobs to be done, and a conceptual model of the problem space.
• Aligned the team to maximize effectiveness. When I joined Contrast, the team was distributed across multiple UX disciplines and multiple products. To gain better efficiency and consistency, we required stronger alignment on role clarity and processes. Based on my analysis and feedback from the team, we arrived at a new structure and processes that drove measurable improvement in quality and delivery time. I also developed an HR-approved career ladder outlining progression level criteria.• Developed processes and systems to reduce delivery time of designs and implementation. We had dual goals of reducing design time and implementation time. We knew that a design system with reusable components would help with both goals. Under my leadership, we removed impediments that slowed progress, finally delivering a new design system (code named 'Skeletor") coded in a new code base (React), that aligned with engineering goals.
KEY DESIGN ACHIEVEMENTS
Launched new product offerings focused on software developer persona. Led UX team to deliver new command line interface (CLI) user experience resulting in enabling developers to integrate CodeSec product into their workflows and expanding Contrast ecosystem.
Design Across Multiple Surfaces: CLI, Github, Contrast Web UI
Introduced new product UX conceptual model. I proposed and refined a high-level representation of the problem space our users face. The underlying goal was to improve cohesion and continuity across product touch points. Based on feedback from users and subject matter experts, the model introduced a novel way to examine the basic components of the problem space. This new approach formed the basis for updated strategy for UI/API/CLI experiences.
Increased product adoption with focus on key personas. Prioritized user experience for software developers as part of company strategy. UX strategy spanned entire customer engagement lifecycle. Persona development was a key part of strategy, including a novel approach integrating Jobs-to-be-Done framework.
Led and released new design system. Released new design system, codenamed “Skeletor”, including assets for UX designers (Figma UI kit) and developers (React components). The new design system enabled effective migration to React from Angular framework.
Skeletor Site with Code Snippets
Code Snippet Example for List Items
Code Snippet Example for Tabs
Live Code Examples for Inputs
Accessibility was Priority for Contributing new Components
