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Super excited for this event! Lex Roman here. I'm going to live tweet the panel in this thread 
https://twitter.com/GrowthDesigners/status/1329655470362079233?s=20
https://twitter.com/GrowthDesigners/status/1329655470362079233?s=20
. @andybudd is kicking us off by explaining how this event came about with the Adobe Design Circle team. Growth design is new and there's a lot of excitement around unpacking just what it exactly means.
@AdobeXD @Adobe
@AdobeXD @Adobe
Molly Norris Walker shares that her of our focuses is on sharing growth design stories outside of Silicon Valley. A lot of times we can over-anchor on how a small group of folks work rather than approaching problems with our eyes open.
@AdobeXD @Adobe @andybudd
@AdobeXD @Adobe @andybudd
Chetana Deorah ( @tanadeo) and Molly Norris Walker explain how growth design differs from product design.
Product design is about creating the value. Growth design is about connecting people to that value.
Product design is about creating the value. Growth design is about connecting people to that value.
Andy ( @andybudd) asks why this role can't fall into the practice of product design.
Chetana ( @tanadeo) responds by saying product design skills are still core to growth design. But the aptitude and attitude when designing for growth is different.
Chetana ( @tanadeo) responds by saying product design skills are still core to growth design. But the aptitude and attitude when designing for growth is different.
Chetana ( @tanadeo) continues by saying product designers tend to be more thorough - working end to work. While a growth designer focuses on the harder to solve, high impact areas.
@AdobeXD @adobe
@AdobeXD @adobe
Poll results from "Have you heard of Growth Design before?
60% first time hearing about it!
@AdobeXD @Adobe
60% first time hearing about it!
@AdobeXD @Adobe
Molly Norris Walker says if you are outside Silicon Valley, keep your eyes open for growth design! It's coming to a city near you!
@AdobeXD @adobe
@AdobeXD @adobe
Speaking of outside Silicon Valley, Krystal ( @kryshiggins) highlights Canva as a growth design success story out of Australia. Folks in the chat sharing lots of love for @canva which has really skyrocketed to success.
@AdobeXD @AdobeXD #growthdesign
@AdobeXD @AdobeXD #growthdesign
Chetana ( @tanadeo) says it's really hard to work on growth when you haven't nailed product/market fit. This is a confusion point we hear about a lot.
Finding product/market fit needs to happen first before you move into more of a growth strategy.
@AdobeXD @adobe #growthdesign
Finding product/market fit needs to happen first before you move into more of a growth strategy.
@AdobeXD @adobe #growthdesign
When asked about the skills growth designers need, Molly Norris Walker highlights this article from HBR. She says an interest in testing, analytics and social science really helps. It's not for everyone. https://hbr.org/2017/09/the-surprising-power-of-online-experiments
Molly also says she likes to hire frontend devs as growth designers and finds development skills are useful for running tests.
(I agree that technical skills can help but also don't think you need to be a developer to do growth design. Many of us are less technical)
(I agree that technical skills can help but also don't think you need to be a developer to do growth design. Many of us are less technical)
Chetana ( @tanadeo) says that as your product grows, you can spend even more time on your customer. You live and breathe at this intersection of how can a company grow but not at the cost of the customer. The value exchange between the customer and the business is key.
Molly says that people really gloss over how much work it is to get your experimentation and analytics set up. (Amen!)
She recommends people start with onboarding emails as they often have these tools built in and it's a sure bet for increasing ROI while getting the rest set up.
She recommends people start with onboarding emails as they often have these tools built in and it's a sure bet for increasing ROI while getting the rest set up.
In this way, growth designers become more entrepreneurial, looking at every touchpoint as an option to share value with a customer.
Krystal ( @kryshiggins) recommends designers look at the assumptions of what comes first in an onboarding flow. Testing the order, removing things, moving them later--really optimizing these moments.
@AdobeXD @Adobe #growthdesign
@AdobeXD @Adobe #growthdesign
Chetana ( @tanadeo) highlights the value of working with content strategists or UX writers. Thinking about how the messages are unique and targeted to the right customer, in the right market.
Shout out to all the writers working on growth!
Shout out to all the writers working on growth!
Another great tip! Chetana ( @tanadeo) says you have a big opportunity in cancellation flows. Making the cancellation easy but communicating the value to customers and offering openings to pause or come back.
(Holding my tongue on this one @adobe
)
(Holding my tongue on this one @adobe
)
Andy ( @andybudd) asks how can people become a growth designer.
Molly says best place to start is to learn by doing! Run your first experiment. Build and iterate.
Great resources from our panel too:
https://www.design-driven-growth.com/
https://www.kryshiggins.com/tag/onboarding/
Molly says best place to start is to learn by doing! Run your first experiment. Build and iterate.
Great resources from our panel too:
https://www.design-driven-growth.com/
https://www.kryshiggins.com/tag/onboarding/
Molly says don't let a job title stop you! A lot of growth designers are self-appointed!
#growthdesign @AdobeXD @adobe
#growthdesign @AdobeXD @adobe
Andy echoes, says starting to ask questions, looking for those opportunities proactively. The laser focus on build-measure-learn. A lot of people talk a good game about build-measure-learn but really they mostly build, rarely measure and learn very little.
Well said @andybudd!
Well said @andybudd!
Andy asks about the gender diversity in growth design. Molly talks about how growth design is a high risk profession and that it is dominated by folks with a lot of privilege. You have to feel safe to take these risks. Folks who have past trauma or need stability may shy away.
We've heard both Molly and Chetana speak on this. It's a really important point for everyone in growth to hear. Not just growth designers.cc @reforge @lennysan (see above tweet)
Chetana ( @tanadeo) talks about how sometimes growth design can become very transactional - "we need x result from this team." This can be quite different from a product design team.
Krystal ( @kryshiggins) says you need to make sure you have wide enough influence over the experience. She's talking about how onboarding is not just in product.
To have the impact you want to have, you'll need to negotiate and expand your scope so you can really optimize.
To have the impact you want to have, you'll need to negotiate and expand your scope so you can really optimize.
Some resources from the panel:
Krystal Higgins' talk from UX London "Onboarding for the long run"
https://vimeo.com/275471498
@kryshiggins
Krystal Higgins' talk from UX London "Onboarding for the long run"
https://vimeo.com/275471498
@kryshiggins
Molly Norris Walker's book: https://www.design-driven-growth.com/
That's a wrap on the panel! What a great event, very informative, lots of actionable info and a fantastic turnout!
Thanks @andybudd @tanadeo @kryshiggins @ixdmolly @Adobe
Thanks @andybudd @tanadeo @kryshiggins @ixdmolly @Adobe
