Timeline
Fall 2017
Company
Bringing an acquisition into the Zendesk family
Background
Zendesk Explore is a powerful reporting and analytics software designed to simplify understanding customer service and sales data. It helps businesses improve customer experience (CX) operations, boost agent productivity, and better comprehend customer interactions across all channels by providing instant access to valuable customer insights.
The Challenge
In 2015, Zendesk acquired BIME, a French startup. BIME had a robust reporting tool called v7, but its user experience and front end could have been better for integration into Zendesk's ecosystem. This was a challenging task for me as it required me to align a French team that was historically autonomous and engineering-led with Zendesk's design-driven approach. Also, I was responsible for ensuring Explore's product's quality upon launch and that Explore met the standards expected by Zendesk's enterprise customers.
My Scope
As the Lead Product Designer, I was responsible for leveling up the UI and improving product development for Explore. Together with four other colleagues in the US, we were tasked with reorienting the French team towards rapid iteration and customer-centricity. This was no small feat, given that the French team needed to gain experience working with a full-time designer or product manager. I had to redesign the product and ensure everyone on the team adopted customer-centric design practices. I facilitated cross-functional workshops and integrated design thinking into every aspect of the project while coaching the team along the way.
Coordinating Globally
I collaborated closely with my PM, PMM, and GM counterparts to onboard and interview early-access pilot customers. Over four months, I conducted more than 50 interviews in batches.
Workshop the present and future
Collaboration played a crucial role in our efforts to manage change. To lead the way, I organized workshops that brought together engineers, customer support, sales, and product management to brainstorm and sketch solutions. My approach was transparent and open, which helped foster a collaborative environment.
Design System Contribution
I strongly advocated for the use of Zendesk's design system, Garden, to ensure consistency and efficiency across our user interface. I led the design efforts for the Zendesk date picker pattern, which is used by multiple products and thousands of users worldwide. I introduced regular design critiques, unmoderated usability testing, and "bug bashes" to maintain high design and usability standards throughout the development cycle.
Feature Work
Under my guidance, the team shipped several critical features within Explore. These included a customizable dashboard allowing customer support heads, like those at Lyft, to manage and analyze support interactions efficiently. One of the key features was the ability to quickly create and share custom reports to meet immediate data analysis need
Vision casting
As part of my job, I showcased the potential and possibilities of customer support analytics at Zendesk. To achieve this, I created several prototype visions illustrating how teams can collaborate using data, how to enhance data storytelling, and how CX leaders can support their teams through Zendesk reporting.
Successful Launch
The project was a huge success. Explore achieved $10 million in annual recurring revenue by the end 2019, meeting all quarterly and monthly projections. The 10% attachment rate proved the product's value proposition and seamless integration into the Zendesk suite. During the engineering summit, our team's efforts in revamping our design and product development approach were recognized when the bug bash methodology we introduced became a workshop topic. One of my highlights was seeing Suzanne's promotion to Senior Product Designer, which represents a significant step forward in her personal and professional growth.
Outcomes and Impact
10%
Attachment rate, or paid customers trialing Explore
11k
Active domains. Customers were ecstatic about Explore
$10M
ARR by end of 2019, exceeding all projections
