My name is Lily, currently a Senior Manager of Product Design at JustAnswer. I am a design leader with over a decade of experience working with and growing some of the best design talents creating exceptional consumer-facing products. I have a collaborative style that promotes clear and open communication that inspires trust and confidence from not only my team, but our partners and stakeholders. What I want to do next is work with a team where we can grow and thrive together. A strong design team takes on whatever challenges that come their way and take them as an opportunity to shine and grow. I believe promoting a culture where maintaining a healthy work-life balance is key to a successful team. Creativity and productivity is at its highest when one is at their best mentally and physically.
Q&A
(ok yes, it's me asking myself these questions, but you get the idea)
(ok yes, it's me asking myself these questions, but you get the idea)
What are you doing now?
I am a design manager at JustAnswer, the world's leading expert marketplace, connecting more than 16 million people worldwide with doctors, lawyers, and more. JustAnswer is revolutionizing professional services by making fast, affordable expert help accessible to people everywhere. I manage a team of super talented designers to work in a fast paced environment where we continuously improve our designs informed by data. We work closely with teams of product managers, engineers, and analysts to find ways to test quickly and learn fast in order to improve our business metrics in a steady pace. This is also a company that embraces new technology and the team must learn to adapt quickly to new technologies that can help us be more productive and effective. Currently we have been working a lot with AI technology including image generation, conversation design, and LLM integrations.
As design manager, what are you like?
As a person, I love memes, jokes, and pranks. In general I like to keep things fun and motivating for the team. Team morale and culture is at the core of who I am as a manager and leader. I find that when a team has high morale and have fun together, the team thrives and works in sync. My management style is to focus on understanding each individual’s strength and align the right projects to maximize their design output and motivation. My hope for each designer on my team is that by the time they wish to leave, they are leaving as a much stronger designer and have maximized their growth here, professionally and maybe personally as well.
On the other side of people management is the business management part of my role. My focus is to always be aware and aligned with our business and product partners to ensure alignment with anything my team works on. At the end of the day we are a team working on designs that have to serve a purpose. We need to be ready to pivot as needed to make sure what we do still makes sense and still on track towards the goal. It’s not always about having a win for the design team, it’s about winning as a company. Design has to be intentional and makes sense. Ego has no place in design.
What I do for fun
On my free time I love spending time drawing or baking with my daughter. We both share the love for anything creative. You can see some of my creations on my art Instagram page.