As the Director of Product Design at Veracode, I embarked on a mission to transform an outdated, inconsistent, and clunky legacy platform into a cohesive, modern, and user-centric product suite. Over the past three years, I led a team that elevated the product design function to new heights, drove organizational alignment, and delivered intuitive solutions that positively impacted user engagement, customer satisfaction, and business outcomes.
Veracode Website
When I joined Veracode, the product design function was nearly nonexistent. The organization lacked design leadership for a year, leaving the platform in disarray:
Design Process and Strategy: Developed a comprehensive product design process and strategy, including 10 Veracode Design Principles to guide all design efforts. Presented these to the organization, which became the standard framework for design at Veracode.
UX/UI Audit: Conducted a full platform audit, uncovering pain points and inconsistencies. Documented findings and presented them to the PM organization as a foundation for future work.
Team Growth: Scaled the design team from 2 to 7 designers, each dedicated to a specific Veracode product area, including a dedicated lead designer in charge of evolving and maintaining our new Design System. (It is also worth noting that I also oversee the User Assistance function consisting of 10 additional team members, 17 total).
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnered closely with PM, engineering, and data science teams to integrate design into the SDLC, sprints, and product roadmaps. Organized workshops and collaborative sessions for new product ideation and R&D efforts.
Modern Design System: Conceptualized and built a modern design system, starting with a lite version including buttons, typography, input fields, and navigation. Presented a future vision for the platform to the entire company, generating excitement and buy-in.
Design System Implementation: Collaborated with the newly formed UI Enablement Team to develop components in Storybook. These were integrated into a platform recoded in React, ensuring scalability and consistency.
CORE PLATFORM REVAMP
Redesigned legacy applications with new components, informed by extensive user research, to deliver a cohesive and intuitive experience. Improved onboarding workflows, although technical constraints remain for a full-scale overhaul. (See before and after comparisons below)
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES AND INTEGRATIONS
Repo Scanning: Conducted workshops and extensive competitor research to ideate and launch this new product offering.
CrashTest Integration: Seamlessly integrated the acquired DAST product into Veracode’s platform using new design system components.
Security Labs: Reimagined and redesigned the security training application to enhance user education on security best practices.
Veracode FIX: Crafted an AI-driven solution for developers to fix vulnerabilities quickly and effectively.
IDE and CLI Enhancements: Expanded IDE plugins and revamped the CLI for a modern, intuitive experience that aligns with industry best practices and developer workflows.
SCA Unification: Created a unified results view for users to search, filter, and fix vulnerabilities faster in a single interface.
Partnered with internal teams (SAs, Sales, Customer Service) and external stakeholders, including non-Veracode users, for fresh perspectives.Conducted user interviews, usability testing, and workshops to gather actionable insights.Collaborated with the data science team to analyze metrics like time-to-first-value and benchmark against competitors.
Delivered company-wide presentations to share the vision for Veracode’s new design direction.Fostered a culture of continuous learning and collaboration through workshops, feedback sessions, and iterative design reviews.
Improved User Retention: Enhanced platform usability and design consistency resulted in improved user retention rates, reducing churn across key product areas.
Quicker Onboarding: Simplified workflows and intuitive navigation significantly reduced the time-to-first-value, enabling users to onboard faster and achieve their goals with fewer obstacles.
Reduced Drop-Off Rates: Addressed key pain points in user workflows through redesign and user research, reducing drop-off rates during activation and early engagement stages.
Increased User Engagement: Delivered modern, user-friendly designs and new features like unified results and AI-driven tools, driving higher user engagement and adoption across the platform.
Streamlined Development Efforts: Implemented a scalable design system, improving collaboration between design and engineering, reducing development time, and enabling faster feature rollouts.
Improved Customer Satisfaction: Conducted extensive user research and usability testing, leading to UX enhancements that aligned with user needs and resulted in higher customer satisfaction scores.
Increased Feature AdoptionRedesigned core product features (e.g., CLI, IDE, and SCA tools) to better align with user workflows, driving increased adoption of newly launched and existing features.
Revenue Growth Through New Products: Launched innovative offerings such as Repo Scanning and Veracode FIX, opening new revenue streams and enhancing product-market fit in competitive areas.
Consistent and Scalable Design: Established a modern design system that streamlined product development, ensured visual consistency, and provided scalability across Veracode’s growing platform.
Enhanced Collaboration Across Teams: Embedded design into the SDLC and product development processes, fostering stronger cross-functional alignment and accelerating decision-making.
Increased Developer Productivity: Revamped CLI and IDE plugins to align with developer workflows, reducing friction and improving efficiency for engineering teams and end users alike.
Seamless Product Integration: Successfully integrated acquired technologies (e.g., CrashTest, Longbow Security) into the Veracode platform, providing a unified user experience and accelerating time-to-market.
Boosted Brand Perception: Delivered a fresh design direction with a modernized UI, reinforcing Veracode’s reputation as an industry leader in cybersecurity solutions.
Continuous UX Improvements: Established a culture of iterative design through regular user research, usability testing, and customer feedback loops, driving ongoing product enhancements.
