Moving design upstream
The expensive decisions get made before anyone opens Figma. That's where design needs to be.
Most design organizations get measured on what they deliver. The real leverage comes earlier: whether the need is real, who has it, what belongs in the offer, and whether it’s worth funding. Design doesn’t earn a seat in those conversations by having opinions about the customer. It earns one by bringing evidence nobody else in the room has.
A few times that has mattered most:
A promise customers didn’t need. A major small-business offer was built around getting customers connected unusually fast. Our research found that speed wasn’t what they valued most. They cared whether the connection stayed up, and whether anyone answered when it didn’t. Instead of polishing the promise, we pushed the team to work out the need underneath it.
What belongs in the box. Research and competitive work reshaped which pieces belonged in a bundle and which should be sold as an upgrade.
Evidence that got something funded. Research and iterative design validated demand, pricing, and fit for a new connectivity product, and helped it secure growth investment.
Working with what customers already have. Early research on a new security product showed that small businesses already relied on outside security partners and didn’t want another dashboard to watch. That pushed the product toward working alongside the tools customers already had, rather than replacing them.
None of these were design wins in the usual sense. Nothing got prettier. In each case, the business made a different and better-informed decision.