Scaling design through hypergrowth and expansion
Client: Taxfix is a B2C fintech platform based in Germany, helping users file their taxes easily
Role: Design Manager (UX & Research Teams)
Project: Global Expansion, 2022
Context: When I joined Taxfix as a freelance design manager, the company had recently closed a $220 million in Series D funding. Right after the funding round, both the business and the design team were going through hyper-growth. I supported business strategy on global expansion of Taxfix and the growth of the design team from 15 to 50 designers.
My Role & Contributions
Managing 10 designers under 3 teams: “User research,” “New markets,” and “Incubator” design teams.
Supporting the recruitment of designers and design managers
Leading global expansion projects across 3 continents and 4 countries (Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, and Switzerland)
Curating and facilitating design sprints
Increasing design maturity through building toolkits and playbooks, sharing know-how, and evangelizing design teams across the organization.
Setting up design team rituals: Design Summit (Show & Tell), Design Spikes (Design Critique), stand-up structures
1-1s with the team members
Supporting performance reviews
The Approach & Impact
To deliver tailored concepts for each market’s needs, we worked with local agencies. We also created a playbook on each step of the project after the first country, so that we could replicate the same structure for 3 more countries simultaneously.
4 high-fidelity and user-tested prototypes (one for each country) were delivered in only one quarter, with a separate value proposition matching the market needs. One market is currently in the launch process.
The team
The project was a cross-functional collaboration across multiple teams: strategy team, user research team, incubator design team, and local design agencies in each market.
“Pelin is a great design leader, and a fantastic person to work with. During our time at Taxfix, she contributed to building a solid design culture by proposing and leading design rituals across the organisation, managing multiple teams smoothly, and fostering effective collaboration between designers, engineers, and product managers.
Pelin leads with kindness - which is a precious and powerful gift. I’d love to work together again in the future!”
Happy to tell you more about my design management process at Taxfix and share artefacts.
Contact me for more details
Explore Taxfix online