How This Director at Daily Harvest Inspires His Product Design Team Through Humility, Fluidity, and Feedback
WORKING NOT WORKING
After building three creative teams from scratch at three different companies, Jason Powers, Director of Product Design at Daily Harvest, understands the complex details that come with forming a winning product design team.
Jason’s diverse professional experience has included work in web design and advertising. His introduction to product design came when a casual app-creation project turned into a side business in 2009.
Jason Powers, Director of Product Design at Daily Harvest.
“Making apps, putting them out there, getting customer feedback, and figuring out how to market them and stand out in their categories ... It was really a crash course of everything you would need to think about in product design. Ever since that experience, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Jason said.
After leading a team to develop web and app products for MTV and Comedy Central, he realized he wanted to transition back to a smaller startup that was doing its part in making the world a better place (something he had done previously and missed). Daily Harvest was the perfect fit.
In this story, Jason shares how he has learned to inspire and lead a team of creatives throughout the design process. His goal is to build rapport and give each team member a voice. He provides perspective on:
How to incorporate group feedback without hurt feelings
The importance of giving creative teams a safe space to work and create so they can do their best work
What it takes to find and retain creatives that fit the company’s culture
How fluidity supports designers in the creative process.
Jason uses these methods at Daily Harvest to allow his team the freedom they need to create products that capture and convey the company’s message.
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How Jason Gets the Best Work Out of His Team
There’s No ‘Us’ Versus ‘Them’
Product design leaders know that each creative team is different and each personality in the group is different. Encouraging the team to function as one cohesive unit can be a challenge at times, but Jason believes that understanding people on a human level is a key component in discovering the team’s collective heartbeat.
Who are they? What makes them tick? What do they value?
Jason feels strongly that creating a culture which sees each team member as an individual and which prioritizes a healthy work/life balance is what will help produce great products. If a person feels valued for who they are, they’ll be motivated to create great products.
He also says that in order to build trust, he reminds them that there is no ‘us’ versus ‘them.’
“I would never want to ask someone to do something that I wouldn't want to do myself or feel like I'm above or anything,” he says. “I just try to set a good example.”
Jason makes it a point to share his own work early and often, even if it’s completely abstract or not fully developed. It’s important for his team to understand that mistakes are okay to make along the way, after all, because sometimes those mistakes lead to a better product. Getting this open and honest design culture right is a priority for him.
How to Make Group Feedback Work
Jason’s product team is strengthened by constructive group feedback. He uses a combination of formal, structured feedback sessions, both with his group and cross-functionally with other teams in the company.
Jason’s goal is to always model the type of environment he wants to create. To do that, he’s learned that setting the right context will get the right feedback. In the group environment, he encourages all designers to participate, knowing they are in a no-judgement zone. The simple act of talking about their work together in a weekly meeting can help spark ideas that may not have been thought of otherwise.
“It’s important for creatives to have a safe environment. In a management leadership role, I feel that’s one of the most important things I can do – create a safe space for other designers to explore. I think people are not going to do their best work if they feel like someone’s always looking over their shoulder or judging them,” Jason explained.
“It’s okay to try things and share things, even if you’re not super stoked on it yet. Take advantage of the team environment. More creative eyes looking at your work and offering suggestions and feedback can make it better,” he added.
While it’s no substitute for in-person design reviews, he also finds unstructured, informal written feedback to be helpful. He doesn’t recommend doing that via email, but Slack can be a good place for ideas and feedback if it suits a team member’s personality better.
It’s just one more channel where you can empower product designers to share their work and get a constructive response from their team.
Building a Dream Team
Daily Harvest has seen significant growth since Jason stepped into his leadership position. At the moment, the product design department is on pace to hire approximately one person per quarter for the near future.
Where He Finds Talent
Jason finds candidates in different ways, including some perusing on Working Not Working. He said that networking has been one of the most effective ways of finding new talent. “When I see talented people become available, I’ll make a note of that. I love making connections for a mutual good fit. For example, if it’s not a fit for us right now but I know someone else’s team is hiring, I’ll reach out and try to make that connection. The relationships we make in the creative community outlast the gigs or roles that we have,” Jason shared.
“If it’s not a fit for us right now but I know someone else’s team is hiring, I’ll reach out and try to make that connection. The relationships we make in the creative community outlast the gigs or roles that we have.”
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How He Identifies a Good Fit
When it comes to hiring, Jason looks for natural creative ability and a strong portfolio. But gauging their response to your environment (and your existing team’s reaction to them) is an essential part of the hiring process, too.
He looks at how the rest of the team reacts to the candidate, he measures their excitement, and then he determines if the candidate shows equal enthusiasm. Getting the team involved in the hiring process encourages greater collaboration and ties back into his core value of giving each team member a voice. He also finds feedback from his existing team to be helpful while trying to increase diversity at Daily Harvest.
Why He Prefers Generalists
Jason prefers to hire candidates with a general skillset rather than specialists.
Is the candidate comfortable and able to contribute to all levels of the project phase? Are they able to jump in at the end of a product development lifecycle and wrap up the final details? Are they equally as strong in their ability to do early-stage ideation for new features or new products? Can they work on cross-functional teams to ensure that visual designs become fleshed-out digital products?
That’s not to say there isn’t a time and place for specialists. At a previous job, Jason needed to hire a design technologist for some difficult prototyping work. But while the team at Daily Harvest is relatively small, generalists make more sense for permanent hires.
Keeping the Process Fluid
Building a solid and diverse creative team is not always easy. Jason shares that he constantly evaluates his processes and adjusts as necessary to determine what is best for the team and its growth at that time.
Finding a balance between a set process and staying flexible is important. What works now may not work down the road, especially as the company begins to scale. He reiterates that being too strict in the design process can hinder creativity and put limits on designers.
The solution? Continually keeping the door open for collaboration and communication to ensure that everyone is clear about what needs to happen. If that means updating a process that used to work but is now causing problems, that’s okay.