The Process
That Makes Designers Stronger

Context

As the Lead Product Designer at Yandex Logistics, I initiated and implemented a team-wide design process framework to increase designers’ autonomy, influence, and confidence in daily product work.

My Role

  • Sole author of the process and documentation

  • Facilitated team discussions and iteration

  • Got buy-in from PMs and engineers

  • Maintain and update the framework as team evolves

Problem

Here’s what I observed as a lead:

  • Designers often lacked a deep understanding of the problem and couldn’t clearly explain the why, for whom, or what value a task had during design reviews.

  • Product managers and developers didn’t see design expertise — designers rarely proposed solutions or challenged assumptions.

  • Some managers tended to treat designers as “execution machines” for their own superficial ideas, without involving them in actual problem-solving.

  • There was no shared understanding of what artifacts to bring and when.

  • No retrospectives were held for design tasks — we had no way of knowing what worked.

Solution

I created and introduced a three-part design process to standardize the workflow and set clear expectations.

  1. Sync Points: What to Bring and When

Stage

What to bring

After initial briefing

flows, diagrams, tables, scenarios + explanation of: core problem, users, business/user goals, success criteria

Draft stage

any number of rough drafts

Before hand-off to dev

any number of rough drafts

  1. Task Workflow: From Brief to Retrospective

  1. Task intake → define goals, value, metrics, constraints

  2. Research & immersion → understand user scenarios, build initial artifacts

  3. Questions & hypotheses → sketch early ideas

  4. Solution exploration → prototypes, alignment with goals

  5. Sync & feedback → internal review, comments, refinement

  6. Testing

  7. Developer hand-off → finalize mockups & specs, edge cases, support delivery

  8. Design review

  9. Retrospective → learnings, results, and metrics

  1. Principles & Mindset: What a Mature Designer Looks Like

  • Never show up empty-handed — even rough drafts are better than nothing

  • Understand the real context — what users do, why they come, and what they face

  • Be proactive — challenge ideas, ask questions, offer solutions

  • Focus on value — for both user and business

  • Be a partner, not an executor — speak up, contribute to strategy
    Think systematically — see beyond your feature, improve neighboring flows

Also includes

  • Take ownership as a UX writer — improve interface copy and clarity

  • Act as a researcher — participate in user interviews, validate hypotheses, analyze behavior

Results of the Reorganization

After rollout:

  • Fewer meetings where designers came unprepared

  • PMs said: “Now designers bring well-thought-out solutions — and they make sense.”

  • Clearer and more structured approach to solving tasks

  • The document became a foundation for onboarding new designers

Why it matters

This process isn’t about control — it’s about clarity and confidence.
It empowers designers to be the author of the solution, not just the executor of someone else’s idea.