This case study describes an ongoing experiment in adopting a hybrid embedded/centralized design team structure. I'll describe the background of our product org structure and process, some related problems that evolved over time, and an approach we are taking to try and address this.
As a company director in the Crowdhouse Product group, I oversee Product Design & UX. This includes defining and evolving processes and team structures. In collaboration with Product and Engineering directors, along with our cross-functional teams of product owners, engineers, designers, writers, and researchers, I initiated and directed this organizational change.
For the past 2.5 years, the product group at Crowdhouse has functioned under a matrix model. This model consists of multiple cross-functional product development teams, each responsible for different product areas. Our approach emphasizes specialization, with various User Experience roles present within our teams, such as Interaction Designers, UI Designers, Researchers, and UX Writers. Each team includes one UX/Interaction Designer and one UI/Visual Designer, accompanied by a Product Owner and several Frontend/Backend Engineers. Some teams also have embedded Researchers or UX Writers, who are shared as necessary. Although we did not directly emulate the "Spotify" model, we did incorporate a few of their concepts and terms, including Guilds.
In Crowdhouse terminology, Guilds are groups that span across team specializations. They are responsible for maintaining best practices in their areas of expertise. Guilds do not have managers. Instead, everyone in the guild is responsible for continuously improving their practices and addressing any inconsistencies as needed.
Each Guild oversees certain aspects of their practice or craft that affect the entire platform or organization. For instance, the UXD Guild manages our customer journey maps and service blueprint. The UI Guild handles the presentation layer and UI framework in our design system. The Research Guild plans and executes longer term foundational research projects and artifacts, such as our Personas. These Guild projects run concurrently with daily work supporting product team iterations.
While this model helped us achieve high-quality execution of the product roadmap and project initiatives, we also faced some efficiency and scaling challenges:
In early 2020, we contemplated altering our product team structure to resolve certain issues. Following a series of workshops, planning sessions, and preparations, we transitioned to a hybrid embedded/centralized team model for UX in October 2020, known as the UX Services Team. This model keeps one UX/interaction designer fully integrated into each Product Team, while centralizing all other UX specialties (UX Research, UX Writing, and UI Design) to handle iteration tasks and provide support and guidance across the product group.
