Transforming UX at an Enterprise SaaS Company
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Transforming UX at an Enterprise SaaS Company 〰️
TL;DR
In less than a year, I transformed the UX organization from a fragmented, under-resourced team into a strategic, scalable, and future-ready function.
Scaled UX headcount 2x and restructured around product suites for ownership and alignment.
Introduced formal Design Thinking practices company-wide, embedding UX into the Product Development Lifecycle.
Built the UX Agent, an internal AI tool to automate research synthesis and accelerate strategic design.
Strengthened UX–PM–ENG collaboration through capacity-based planning, improving delivery quality and predictability.
Positioned UX as a strategic driver of product innovation, growth, and customer impact.
Recognized by the CPO as "the steady hand through change" and a visionary leader in modern UX practice.
Setting the Stage: The State of UX at Arrival
When I joined the company, the User Experience (UX) organization was in a state of transition. The team was just 12 designers—spread thin across a large and growing product portfolio. Reporting structures were fragmented, capacity was stretched, and there was limited strategic influence from UX in product planning cycles. Processes varied wildly between teams, creating inconsistency and reactive workflows. My executive mandate was clear: transform UX into a strategic, scalable, high-impact function that would power the company’s next stage of growth.
Diagnosing the Gaps: First 30 Days
In my first month, I conducted a comprehensive audit of the UX organization—analyzing staffing ratios, workflows, leadership structures, and team health. I documented findings in a strategic memo, "Transforming UX Excellence," which outlined critical challenges:
Lack of centralized project management and visibility.
PM/UX/Engineering ratios severely imbalanced, creating bottlenecks.
No consistent design process across teams.
Insufficient leadership bandwidth and strategic presence.
It was clear that the company needed not just more designers, but a complete redesign of how UX worked, collaborated, and influenced outcomes.
Executive Buy-In: Advocating for Change
Armed with data and a clear vision, I presented the findings to the CEO and executive team. I emphasized that UX was positioned to drive major improvements in product quality, customer satisfaction, and delivery velocity—but only if properly resourced and strategically structured.
With executive backing, I secured approval to aggressively grow the team, refine processes, and elevate UX to a central role in the product development lifecycle.
Building the New UX Organization
The first step was to restructure. I aligned the UX team directly to the company’s 6 primary product suites. Each suite gained dedicated UX coverage, including the introduction of Design Leads to ensure leadership at the product-line level. Over the next few months, the UX team grew from 12 to 22 designers, balancing strategic leadership and tactical execution, and creating clear career paths within the team.
Embedding Process and Culture
Scaling talent wasn't enough—we needed a shared language for design.
I formalized a new design process based on Design Thinking principles and integrated it into the company’s Product Governance framework. I presented "Design Process 2.oh yeah" at company-wide and R&D all-hands meetings and embedded it into every new hire onboarding session.
This cultural evangelism reframed UX across the organization—from "designing screens" to "solving problems collaboratively." Designers began working earlier in the lifecycle, participating deeply in discovery, ideation, and strategic planning.
Future-Proofing UX: AI Enablement and the UX Agent
Recognizing that AI would soon redefine how design work was conducted, I led the development of the "UX Agent"—an internal AI-powered tool that automated user research synthesis and generated scoped design guidance.
Built with Aha!, Python, and OpenAI integrations, the UX Agent:
Reduced manual research synthesis time by 50-75%.
Delivered faster, more actionable insights for product discovery.
Maintained high standards of craft while freeing designers for more strategic work.
By integrating AI thoughtfully into our workflows, we future-proofed OpenGov's UX practice and positioned the team ahead of industry trends.
See case study of the UX Agent here
Outcomes and Reflections
By the time I transitioned out of the company, the UX organization had transformed:
Fully aligned to product strategy with dedicated suite coverage.
A high-performing team culture centered on collaboration, creativity, and continuous improvement.
Structured design processes embedded into company operations.
An innovation-driven mindset, ready for the next generation of AI-enabled design.
This transformation was reflected in executive feedback, including from the CPO:
“Jason was the steady hand through change that OpenGov needed. He rebuilt the UX team, unified our strategy, implemented best-in-class processes, and laid a strong, scalable foundation for future growth.”
I'm proud of what we achieved—not just in building a better UX team, but in showing how design can elevate an entire company.