<aside> 💭 This doc is for 1) candidates looking to understand Hex’s product design role, 2) product designers at Hex looking to understand their expectations, and 3) engineers and product managers looking to understand what a generalist designer means and how they can work with and provide feedback to designers.
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A Designer at Hex is someone who can bring creativity, create clarity, and contribute to a beautiful product.
They need to partner with the PMs in understanding users’ workflows, and help set a vision and direction for how our product can solve the problems for them. Their work needs to inspire the team, and create a better understanding of where we need to go. Our end designs should be loved by users not only for looking amazing (which they must) but because they’re highly functional and intuitive.
At Hex, every product designer is currently a generalist, meaning they are able to autonomously span the spectrum from research to execution (breakdown in the skills matrix below). They are the only designer on their respective EPD team and are responsible for the 30,000 foot view (What are we doing this quarter/sprint?) to the 1 foot view (What should this tooltip say? How many pixels should this be?).
They are not expected to be amazing at everything, but should be at “good for now but improving” — augmented by their spikes (strengths) — and know when to ask for assistance from their team in areas still being developed. That said, while designers may be shaped differently, we expect their output on their EPD team to consistently be at or above our bar for design and delight. This requires a team effort!
Our goal is to build the best well-rounded design team. In our industry, product designers have different strengths and weaknesses across this spectrum. These are dictated and formed by their past experiences and (possibly) education. Designers at Hex are excellent at one or many things that others may not be, so it is expected that they share their talents, mentor others, and level up the team as a whole.
We ask a lot of our designers, more than most companies. We need our designers to be the owner of the quality bar for their team, to be the ones pounding on the desk when we’re not shipping at our best.
There are two qualities of a designer that are most important: Engagement and Craft.
Beyond engagement and craft, designers are also accountable for the cohesion and polish of the overall Hex experience. This means taking ownership of how features come together into a unified, intuitive product — ensuring the details, interactions, and visuals all feel intentional.
In practice: designers are accountable for experience quality and design system best practices, and they collaborate with PMs and engineering on polish during releases. While engagement and craft define how we work and what we create, this third lens ensures the product always feels cohesive, polished, and worthy of the quality bar we set as a team.
<aside> 💭 What do all of these mean? Breakdown: Product Design Skills Matrix definition
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https://www.figma.com/file/JOJVFi19UBI21wkPGg1CXo/Design-Skills-Matrix?node-id=78%3A120&t=wlbJglGyr3VC9Umy-1
Every designer is on their own journey! Some want to manage their weaknesses, some want to convert weaknesses to strengths, and some want to make their strengths even stronger. If you’re looking to provide feedback to a designer, be sure to check in on what they’re working on. That said, there is a set of “minimum” requirements expected of them 👇
The below mapping is the “good for now but improving” expectations we have for designers on their team, excluding the strengths they bring to the table.
Listed out (full breakdown Product Design Skills Matrix definition :