The Role of Design in PLG: Embracing Quality and Non-Linear Paths with David Hoang (ex-Webflow, VP at Replit)
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A conversation about learning from leaders, diversity in leadership, the guest's online presence, Replit, and an experimental newsletter. The host applauds the guest's dedication to creating quality content.
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This time I talked to David Hoang, a VP of Design and Marketing at Replit, previously Head of Design and Weblow. David currently is an Executive focused on Design, Marketing, and Growth (sounds like a dream job! )
We started by discussing non-linear career trajectories, and how David combines all these disciplines as an executive. Then we talked about the importance of design in the future of Product-Led Growth, how to leverage templates for Growth and practical examples from Webflow, and finally how to align the whole company around quality.
I loved how David emphasized the need to prioritize craft for product growth. I hope that by the end of this episode, you will feel the same way, and will take away some inspiration on building a non-linear career and advice to uplift the quality bar for your product.
If you find this show valuable, please share it with one of your colleagues or friends — it gives huge support to continue creating it. To receive all episodes right in your inbox — subscribe to katesyuma.substack.com
This episode is supported by Appcues — the platform that helps you design, deploy, and test captivating onboarding experiences.
Appcues created the Product Adoption Academy to help you level up your product adoption for free. Check out the template that I created to help companies uncover meaningful improvements. Find an example of Dropbox Onboarding inside and apply it to review any growth flows: appcues.com/growthmates
Key highlights from this episode:
* Merge Design with Marketing for Customer Insight: David Hoang, as VP of Design and Marketing, underscores that combining these fields focuses on optimizing the customer experience and adding value. Treat this intersection as a strategic asset to guide customer journey improvements.
* Value Nonlinear Career Paths in Design: Embrace diverse career trajectories in design to enhance versatility and innovation within your team. This approach enables designers to contribute uniquely to various aspects of the business, particularly in product-led growth.
* Foster Collaboration Between Teams: Effective growth requires seamless collaboration between growth and core teams. Prioritize end-to-end customer experience management, using cross-functional teamwork to identify and address customer friction points.
* Utilize Community and Templates Strategically: Leverage community-led initiatives and templates to accelerate user acquisition, activation, and monetization. Recognize these tools as essential components for scalable growth strategies.
* Commit to High-Quality Design Standards: Establish non-negotiable quality principles for design, ensuring it's ready for general availability. Incorporate design critiques as a regular practice to uphold quality, align the team, and foster continuous improvement over perfectionism.
Listen now and subscribe on your favorite platforms — Apple, Spotify, or watch on YouTube (new!).
For the 1st year of Growthmates, we’ve collected from dozens of leaders from Dropbox, Amplitude, Canva, Coda, Atlassian, and now I need your take.👉 Take a 7-min survey and get the first copy of “The PLG Playbook“🎁
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Where to find David Hoang, VP of Design and Marketing at Replit (ex-Weblow):
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhoang2/
* Newsletter: www.proofofconcept.pub
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidhoang
What we’ve covered in this episode:
00:00 Nonlinear Career Trajectories
03:52 Role of a VP of Design and Marketing
07:35 Nonlinear Career Trajectories for Designers
10:31 Design as the Future of Product-Led Growth
20:10 End-to-End Experiences and Horizontal Focus
23:46 Collaboration between Growth and Core Teams
26:10 Leveraging Templates for Growth
29:28 Community-Led Growth
29:55 The Role of Design in Growth
30:59 Defining Quality and Making it Actionable
32:28 Emphasizing Craft and Quality
33:21 The Stigma Against Growth Designers
36:00 Non-Negotiable Quality Principles
38:41 Treating Design as if it's Going to GA
40:18 Defining Quality Standards
41:37 Design Crit as a Space for Quality Discussions
44:08 Aligning the Whole Company Around Quality
46:38 Companies that Execute High-Quality
47:11 Quality Principle: Iteration over Perfectionism
48:47 Quality Principle: Iterate Smart
51:25 Recommended Guests for the Show
Referenced:
* David’s Newsletter: www.proofofconcept.pub
* The Future of PLG is Design: www.proofofconcept.pub/p/the-future-of-plg-is-design
* "The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems" by Jef Raskin: https://www.amazon.com/Humane-Interface-Directions-Designing-Interactive
* "Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams" by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner: https://www.amazon.com/Org-Design-Design-Orgs-Managing
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