When I joined TPT, the design team was at a turning point.
The previous leader was beloved—a figure whose leadership had left a strong, positive legacy inside the team. But by the time I arrived, almost everyone was new. That internal culture we’d heard stories about had faded, and we were building again from the ground up.
At the same time, I was actively hiring and scaling the team alongside my peers:
- The Head of UX Research, who was growing a small but mighty research team
- The Head of Brand Design, who was also rebuilding after major organizational changes
It wasn’t just about onboarding new designers into pods—it was about creating a new shared identity, a culture that matched where TPT was heading.
My first move was encouraging designers to form strong relationships inside their cross-functional pods. Product, engineering, and UXR needed to see design as a trusted, embedded partner—not a siloed team.
But I knew the risk: if you only focus on pod relationships, the design team itself can start to feel fragmented. Designers can feel isolated from each other, losing the shared craft, camaraderie, and growth that make design teams special.
We had to rebuild both.
What We Did
1. Cross-Functional First
Designers were empowered to treat their PMs and engineers as their primary day-to-day partners. This helped establish credibility, trust, and impact quickly.
2. Rebuilding Internal Culture
In collaboration with UXR and Brand Design, we created small rituals to reconnect the team across pods:
- Guilds mixed product, brand, and research together to work on craft and growth projects.
- Peer-Led Workshops like UX writing, visual storytelling, and presentation skills built internal expertise—and gave everyone a chance to teach.
- Weekly Miro Jams provided space to connect socially, experiment, and remember that we were one team, even if our projects differed.
3. Monthly Design All-Hands
We introduced monthly design all-hands where each area of the business—usually led by a lead or principal designer overseeing 1–3 product pods—would present updates on what they accomplished, challenges they faced, and upcoming milestones.
- Presentations were business-focused and design-detailed, helping everyone stay aligned on impact and craft.
- The shared context made peer collaboration easier—designers knew what others were building and could more naturally connect across pods.
- Senior designers gained invaluable experience presenting to leadership and honing their storytelling skills.
- We captured highlights and slides from these sessions to present at the company-wide all-hands, with different designers taking turns sharing the work across the entire org.
4. Hiring With Culture in Mind
Every new designer wasn’t just a headcount—they were a culture builder. We prioritized collaboration, growth mindset, and excitement for working across products, not just skill fit.
5. Keeping Track of Connections
I made it a leadership priority to ensure designers knew and collaborated with each other. If a designer didn’t know another teammate, that was a signal to create visibility, pairing, or shared initiatives.
Why It Mattered
Strong cross-functional relationships drive great product work.
Strong internal culture sustains a great design team.
By intentionally building both at once—while actively growing the team with my partners in UXR and Brand—we reestablished a design team that was trusted by cross-functional peers, proud of its craft, and connected to each other’s success.
Building (or rebuilding) a team culture?
I’ve been through it—scaling teams, strengthening cross-functional trust, and reestablishing culture after leadership transitions. If you’re growing a design org and want a thought partner on team development, structure, or rituals that actually stick, I’d love to connect.
Justin Dickinson 