Building a High-Impact Design Practice from the Ground Up at LINQ
When I joined LINQ, there was no design practice, no research function, and no design systems. Within two years, I had established a thriving design and research team, created governance frameworks that reduced redundant builds by 40%, and scaled operations across 80+ user interfaces serving K-12 education.
Role
Design Manager & Practice Builder
Company
LINQ (K-12 Education Technology)
Team Built
Design & Research Practice (0 → 8 members)
Impact
Establishing design as a core discipline and strategic partner
I elevated design and research to become a peer discipline to engineering and product. This included building a team, establishing processes, and implementing design systems and governance that transformed delivery for K-12 platforms nationwide.
Reduction in redundant builds
Design system governance
Fewer handoff errors
Design → Engineering workflow
Less development rework
Early validation and testing
User interfaces governed
Design systems & patterns
Design system themes
Light, dark, state-specific, and more
Design system adoption
Across product teams in 18 months
Through critique rituals, design sprints, governance, validation workflows, and career development, our contributions improved user satisfaction, reduced support tickets, and accelerated feature delivery.
The Challenge
Starting from zero in a product-first culture
LINQ was scaling rapidly to support K-12 districts and state agencies. Design was not yet a partner in strategy or product development—there were no systems, no workflows, and no user research.
No Design Practice
There was no established design function, no defined processes, and no shared understanding of design’s strategic value. Most decisions were engineer-driven and visual polish was an afterthought.
No Research Function
Product direction was based on opinions and feature requests—not user needs. There was no systematic way to validate problems or evaluate usability.
Inconsistent Experiences
With 80+ interfaces built independently across acquisitions, users experienced fragmented UX, duplicated effort, and high cognitive load moving between systems.
No Design–Engineering Workflow
Handoffs lacked standards or documentation. Specifications varied widely, causing rework and delays that frustrated both engineering and product teams.
My Approach
Building a design practice around four foundational pillars
Foundation
Establish design as a strategic discipline with clear values, processes, and ways of working. Integrate design into product development from the start—not as a final layer.
Growth
Build a diverse, high-performing team with complementary skills. Hire for systems thinking, collaboration, and curiosity as much as craft.
Systems
Create design systems and governance frameworks that enable consistency and efficiency at scale, making it easy to do the right thing across 80+ interfaces.
Culture
Foster a culture of critique, collaboration, and continuous learning so that design becomes a shared responsibility, not a siloed function.
Pillar 1: Foundation
Establishing design as a strategic discipline
Defining Our Value Proposition
I positioned design as the connective tissue between user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. Our role was to ensure we were solving the right problems, not just polishing the wrong ones.
Creating Design Principles
I collaborated with stakeholders to define design principles that would guide decisions across products and teams:
Every decision prioritizes the learning experience.
Education is complex enough—our tools should not be.
Accessibility is a foundation, not an add-on.
Use research and data to guide decisions, empathy to shape them.
Shared patterns reduce cognitive load for educators and administrators.
Establishing a Design–Engineering Workflow
To reduce rework and improve collaboration, I defined a shared lifecycle that aligned design, product, and engineering:
User research, stakeholder interviews, and problem exploration.
Problem framing, KPIs, and alignment on success metrics.
Design sprints, whiteboarding sessions, and rapid prototyping.
Usability testing, stakeholder review, and technical feasibility checks.
High-fidelity designs, specifications, and design QA.
Analytics, feedback collection, and iteration planning.
Implementing Design Critique
Weekly critique sessions became the backbone of our practice—creating psychological safety, elevating craft, and building a culture where feedback was expected, valued, and reciprocal.
Pillar 2: Growth
Building a diverse, high-performing team
Strategic Hiring
I grew the team from zero to eight members over two years, hiring intentionally to cover the full spectrum of product needs while maintaining a strong culture of collaboration.
Product Designers (4)
Owned student, teacher, administrator, and parent-facing experiences across product lines.
UX Researchers (2)
Built research operations, ran studies, and synthesized insights that shaped product strategy.
Design Systems Designer (1)
Owned the design system, documentation, and governance processes for reusable patterns.
Content Designer (1)
Ensured clear, consistent language, instructional copy, and messaging across flows.
Interviewing & Onboarding
I created a structured hiring process that evaluated not just craft, but collaboration and systems thinking.
- Portfolio Review: Focused on reasoning, constraints, and outcomes—not just visuals.
- Live Design Exercise: Assessed collaboration, communication, and problem framing.
- Team Fit Interview: Ensured alignment on values, feedback, and working styles.
- Stakeholder Interview: Confirmed candidates could partner effectively with product and engineering.
Onboarding was structured into a four-week journey so new hires could contribute confidently and quickly.
Company context, product overviews, and immersion in existing research.
Design systems training, tools setup, and process walkthroughs.
Shadowing experienced designers and participating in critiques.
First project assignment with close mentorship and feedback.
Career Development
I introduced clear career ladders, quarterly growth conversations, and mentorship programs so designers and researchers understood how to grow in both scope and influence inside the organization.
Pillar 3: Systems
Creating design systems and governance at scale
Building the Design System
I led the creation of LINQ’s design system, which governed 80+ interfaces across the platform. It included foundations, components, patterns, and documentation that product teams could rely on.
Foundations
- Accessible color palettes
- Typography scale
- 8px spacing system
- Iconography standards
- Elevation and shadow guidelines
Components
- Buttons, forms, inputs
- Navigation patterns
- Tables and data lists
- Cards and containers
- Modals and overlays
Patterns
- Page layouts
- Dashboard templates
- Form flows
- Empty states
- Error and alert handling
Documentation
- Usage guidelines
- Accessibility standards
- Design tokens
- Code snippets
- Contribution workflow
Design System Governance
To keep the system healthy, adopted, and useful, I implemented governance practices:
- Design System Council: A cross-functional group that reviewed proposals and made decisions.
- Contribution Workflow: A clear process for proposing new components or updates.
- Version Control: Semantic versioning and release notes for all changes.
- Adoption Metrics: Tracked usage across teams to identify gaps and opportunities.
- Office Hours: Weekly support sessions to help teams implement patterns correctly.
Impact of the Design System
Teams reused components instead of recreating them from scratch.
Shared patterns and language improved design–engineering collaboration.
Clear specifications and reusable code reduced iteration churn.
New designers and engineers ramped up quickly using established patterns.
Pillar 4: Culture
Fostering collaboration, critique, and continuous improvement
Design Critique Sessions
I established weekly critique sessions that became the heartbeat of our design culture. These were not just feedback reviews—they were spaces for learning, building confidence, and developing a shared standard of quality.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Through shared planning, regular syncs, and co-creation workshops, I strengthened relationships between design, product, and engineering—breaking down silos and aligning teams on outcomes instead of output.
Continuous Learning
I encouraged continuous development via lunch-and-learns, conference opportunities, online courses, and mentoring. This kept the team engaged, inspired, and evolving alongside the needs of our users and the organization.
Key Learnings
What building a design practice taught me about leadership
Start with why, not what
Before introducing processes or hiring, I had to articulate why design mattered and what value it would bring. That clarity made it easier to earn buy-in, secure investment, and attract the right talent.
Systems thinking enables scale
The design system was more than a component library—it became the infrastructure that allowed the team to scale quality and consistency without slowing down delivery.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
The best tools and frameworks fail without a supportive culture. Investing in psychological safety, collaboration, and critique was just as critical as investing in systems and process.
Leadership is about enabling others
My role was not to be the strongest individual contributor, but to create conditions where designers and researchers could do the best work of their careers—removing blockers, amplifying their strengths, and trusting their expertise.
Building a design organization is a long-term investment
Building a high-impact design practice at LINQ showed me how powerful design can be when vision, systems, culture, and people are aligned around a shared mission.
Design becomes a true strategic partner when it is intentionally built, nurtured, and integrated into the core of the business. The outcomes—better experiences, stronger collaboration, and measurable operational impact—are the result of that long-term investment.