Building Trust, Creating Clarity, and Making an Impact, with Vuokko Aro (Monzo Chief Design Officer)

Vuokko Aro is Chief Design Officer at Monzo, where she has led the design function for nearly a decade through hypergrowth from startup to one of the UK's most loved fintech brands. She oversees a team of over 100 people across product design, brand design, and user research. On today's show we chat about scaling design teams, building trust through transparency, the value of constraints, and how to focus on strengths rather than weaknesses as you grow in your career.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Intro
• 02:26 – Vuokko's journey into design and joining Monzo
• 06:16 – Building in the open and transparency as a core value
• 11:42 – Scaling design whilst maintaining craft and quality
• 23:12 – Building design culture and protecting craft at scale
• 37:44 – Managing stakeholders and navigating disagreement
• 48:36 – Transitioning from IC to leadership and learning to let go
• 55:48 – Career development and focusing on strengths
• 01:03:22 – End of show questions

Connect with Vuokko
LinkedIn

Selected links from the episode
The Monzo Book of Money