Enterprise SaaS · Design function 0→1
Modernising a decade-old interface
Establishing design as an executive function while rebuilding the product it was judged on.
+60%
ease of use in prototype testing
11
core personas from 60+ customer interviews
2×
headcount and budget secured for design
- Company
- Zuora
- Period
- 2018 — 2020
- Role
- Sr. Director, Product Design — reporting to the Chief Product Officer.
Situation
The subscription lifecycle platform — quoting through revenue recognition — carried a decade of accumulated interface complexity. The legacy product catalogue offered complexity without clear hierarchy.
Task
Define a persona-driven product design strategy across seven product lines, found the research and systems functions, and modernise the highest-priority customer tasks.
modernising the interface
Start where the pain is measurable: the highest-frequency, highest-stakes task.
- Redesigned Create Rate Plan — the highest-priority customer task
- Developed 11 core personas from 60+ customer interviews
- Founded the first Design Systems and UX Research teams
- Represented design in a cross-functional Agile transformation across 50+ scrum teams
making it stick
Shared success metrics and tooling made design impact measurable, and the Reinvent UI/UX Summit aligned 40+ senior stakeholders around one UX vision.
Result
Design moved from service function to executive partner.
- +60% ease of use in prototype testing with customers
- 2× headcount and budget secured through CPO and CTO alignment
- Career ladders and succession pathways formalised across the organisation
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