Pause and Reflect (Growth Design Monthly)

April 2020

Dear Readers,We’re writing this issue because we’ve had a decent amount of interest in the Growth Designers community these past few months!. It surprised us and it prompted us to think more deeply about the value, role and responsibility of product design for growth now more than ever before.Below you will find reflections on these themes from Chetana and Lex who facilitate and maintain the Growth Designers Community. And below that, links to a whole lot of resources if you are feeling inspired.This newsletter will likely change shape in the coming months so this edition is a taste of what's to come.

Reflections from LexDesigning for growth can be frustrating and lonely.I started this community because I wanted to meet other designers who focused on business growth. At the time, I had decided to focus my career helping companies who had reached product-market fit improve onboarding, retention and revenue. I found this work rewarding as I could clearly map design to measurable outcomes. I also found it quite challenging. As I worked on projects, I wanted to find a community of fellow growth designers I could learn from and share techniques with. Designers working in growth wrestle with different issues than their product, engineering, data or marketing counterparts. And they don’t usually work like the rest of the design team either. Designing for growth can be frustrating and lonely.Here we are about three and a half years later. We have a Slack group of about 350 growth practitioners. We see new job listings every week for Growth Product Designers and Directors of Design focused on growth. We’ve seen growth design events held around the world. It’s been incredible watching fellow designers share their work and approach. It’s been rewarding watching folks help each other, teach each other and hire each other. 

I do not want to work for a company that puts profits above people.

During this time, I have often reflected on my own growth practice. Early on, I was willing to work for any company that saw the value of a growth-focused designer. These days, that’s far from enough. The public has watched companies from Amazon to Facebook to Bird to Uber abuse growth techniques in the name of profits all while hurting people and our planet. I do not want to work for a company that puts profits above people. I try to find those so-called “good” companies. I find it harder every day. With so many people around the world struggling to survive, worried about their families and their futures, making Silicon Valley more money is dead last on my list of priorities. Companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon have been showing us their true selves for years and techworkers have generally failed to respond with any substantial action. Instacart shoppers went on a national strike for their safety and public health. Where was the Instacart tech team to join in solidarity?I have always believed in the measurable impact of design but I no longer believe that impact can be simply measured in profit. The true power of design is in delivering an improved human condition. Making corporations more money does not achieve this. As I watch our government bail out corporations and leave families without housing or food, I can no longer ignore this fact. I can no longer ignore my role in this inhumane system.I am continuing to re-evaluate what it means to be a growth designer in this context. I do not actually know if it is still possible to be one. I also know that there are much more important things in front of us.

Reflections from Chetana2020 started with celebratory cheers as every corner of the world welcomed the beginning of a new decade! Right now, more than ever before, it is evident that a lot is going to have to be new, with how we live, how we treat the earth and how we co-exist each other. Growth is an ubiquitous word spanning from personal growth to business growth to simply nature’s way of being; her way is one of constant change and, therefore, a relentless opportunity for nurturing growth!I embrace the power of community, diversity, and dialogue.As a co-facilitator for the growthdesigners.co online community, it has been a rewarding experience for me as I embrace the power of community, diversity, and dialogue. Recently a question was posed in our community “Growth work in a recession when, by definition, everything is shrinking. What strategies are people thinking about?”  Amid the current pandemic, given the loss, pain, and uncertainty, how does one define or redefine growth? This has been  topmost on many minds, including mine.

Our most significant strength as growth practitioners is in providing authentic VALUE to our customers.

Product Design for Growth is a relatively new area of focus within the design discipline. I have been fortunate to lead Growth Design at a few media & content-centric, subscription-based organizations like Scribd, Netflix, and now Coursera. The opportunity in leading design for growth lies in bringing meaning to metrics, in using science and art to solve business problems and in our ability to win hearts and minds. The growth practice often involves the evolution of product designers to think like a scientist, solve like a designer!No matter how tough the times are, how poorly or how well a business is doing, our most significant strength as growth practitioners is in providing authentic VALUE to our customers. During the current global, national, local economic, social, political times of unprecedented change and downturn, what value can a business provide to its customers? Who are the customers? What are their simplest needs?

Growth is about responding to change.

Growth is about responding to change. Business is not as usual right now. And the strategies for business growth certainly cannot be the usual, primarily focusing on numbers, revenue, subscribers, and graphs. Meaningful interactions with your customer matters. Meaning can move metrics and make money! What value can you provide right now that motivates your customers to invest in you? To build trust in you, your service, product or idea? 

Keep growth good.It is our hope that the growthdesigners.co community is a place for empowering dialogue, connecting diverse folks from worldwide for ongoing learning on ways in which to practice growth and bottom line being to keep growth good. Communities thrive by collaboration and participation of its members. We invite you to be an active member and expand your personal and professional potential for growth. 

So what does this all mean for our growth design community? Collaboration and participation amongst our community members is key to a thriving community. We’re thinking about how this community should evolve to meet the needs of growth practitioners in a sustainable way. Stay tuned for being able to continue the conversation in our Slack channel.In solidarity with all of you,Lex & Chetana

Read past issues of the Growth Design NewsletterService Design for Growth (January 2020)Thao Vu offers her insights on designing for businesses that operate beyond the screenRunning High-Value Experiments (November 2019)Janey Lee explains how to think more critically about the experiments your team prioritizesLeadership Buy In (October 2019)Dana Publicover shares how you can get a leadership team to shift directionValidating Design Decisions (September 2019)Beyond AB testing, here are a few methods for testing design directionCustomer Development (August 2019)The most valuable type of user research for growth focuses on real behavior, problems and situationsAnalytics for Everyone (July 2019)A quick rundown of the key concepts to understand about product analyticsSEO for Designers (June 2019)Moe Amaya shares how powerful SEO not only for growth but for creating high value content

Join the Growth Designers SlackConnect with growth designers in our Slack channel. Share ideas, discuss challenges and learn from each other. 

Looking for Work? Hiring?

Well have we got some resources for you! Check out our Jobs page and our BRAND NEW Growth Design Directory.