The Power of Mentorship in Design Leadership

We’re happy to welcome you on the Season 2 of the Growthmates podcast where we will dive into insightful conversations with leaders from Amplitude, Canva, Intercom, Coda, HubSpot, and more to come. If you enjoy our show — subscribe to get all episodes right to your inbox on katesyuma.substack.com.

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In this conversation we invited Thom Rimmer, a design leader at Intercom, to discuss the importance of a design-led culture and user-centricity. Thom provides insightful perspectives on the pivotal role of design principles and rituals in the creation of top-tier products like Intercom. Thom also explains Intercom's transparent roadmap and how it helps create a company-wide commitment to customer satisfaction. The conversation delves into the shift toward product-led growth and the challenges of experimentation and optimization. We also explored the adoption of AI and machine learning, with a focus on leveraging these technologies to enhance customer service. Finally, Thom emphasizes the significance of mentorship and leadership in personal and professional growth. The conversation covers topics such as building internal connections and mentorship, inspiring advice and quotes, books for building a design culture, and fun team rituals to maintain a thriving culture.

Some Takeaways:

* Design-led culture and user-centricity are essential for creating products in a highly competitive market.

* Transparent roadmaps help to create a company-wide commitment to customer satisfaction.

* The shift towards product-led growth requires deeper attention to product quality.

* AI and machine learning can enhance customer service and improve efficiency.

* Mentorship and leadership are valuable for personal and professional growth. Building internal connections and mentorship is important for designers within an organization.

* Anyone can be a mentor, regardless of their level of experience.

* Having someone outside of your company to mentor you can provide a fresh perspective.

* Setting weekly goals and holding yourself accountable can help build a strong design culture, and there’s an Intercom approach that Thom also shared in the episode.

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Where to find Thomas Rimmer, Design Director at Intercom:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-rimmer-73903030/

* Website: https://www.thomrimmer.co.uk/

Where to find Kate Syuma, Growth Advisor (ex-Miro):

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-syuma/

* Newsletter: https://katesyuma.substack.com/

* X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/kate_syuma

Where to find Oscar Torres, Product Designer at Miro:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartorrestryme/

* Website: https://www.oscartorres.me/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oscar_towers_/

What we’ve covered in this episode:

00:00 Introduction and Design-Led Culture

06:01 Design Principles and Culture at Intercom

08:15 Emphasis on Quality and Unique Rituals

11:12 Roadmap Transparency and Customer Commitment

15:08 Shared Understanding of Quality Bar

17:34 User-Centricity and Customer Exposure

19:30 Involving Engineers in User Research

22:56 Shift to Product-Led Growth

32:18 Adapting to AI and Machine Learning

43:06 Mentorship and Leadership

46:10 Building Internal Connections and Mentorship

48:36 Lightning Round

49:10 Inspiring Advice and Quotes

49:43 Books for Building Design Culture

50:39 Fun Team Rituals

53:21 How to Connect with Thom Rimmer

Resources referenced:

* Roger Martin, “The Design of Business”: https://rogerlmartin.com/lets-read/the-design-of-business

* Tim Brown, “Change by Design”: https://www.amazon.com/Change-Design-Transforms-Organizations-Innovation/dp/0061766089

* Reed Hastings, “No Rules Rules”: https://www.amazon.com/No-Rules-Netflix-Culture-Reinvention/dp/1984877860

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