One global design organisation
Several independent UX teams, each with its own processes, had to become one global organisation. There was natural resistance and uncertainty from team members and from stakeholders.
Yara International · 2021 to June 2026
- My role
- Global Director of UX, reporting to the digital leadership team. Led the transition.
- Team
- More than 120 people across 20 countries
- Years
- Transition: from November 2020, about two years. Role: Global Director of UX to June 2026.
- Outcome
- One global UX organisation
01 The full story
Building a global UX team through change management: transforming multiple UX teams into a single, scalable global organisation.
The brief
Define and implement the transition from multiple distributed UX teams to a single global UX organization.
The objective was to create consistent ways of working across teams, while building an environment where UX professionals can collaborate, grow, and deliver at scale.
My role
Took on the role of Global UX Director with the mandate to bring distributed UX teams together into a single global organisation with clearer direction, stronger collaboration, and a more scalable way of working.
Built stakeholder relationships, set expectations for how the function should grow, and led the creation of key structural elements such as design systems and UX operations to make the transition successful.
- 01.A
The challenge of moving from small teams to a global team
The mission was clear: unify a set of independent UX teams into a single, scalable global organization. The transition required bringing together multiple teams that were used to working independently, each with their own processes, practices, and ways of solving problems.
There was natural resistance and uncertainty, both from team members and stakeholders.
On the team side by addressing concerns early, pushing for open communication, and showing the value of a unified team instead of imposing it, we were able to turn uncertainty into championing the change and adoption.
For stakeholders, we focused on building a global model that respected each stakeholder's local needs while creating new ways of working. We showcased that delivery would not be disrupted instead, we would bring innovation and greater impact to their projects through UX methodologies.
- 01.B
Building capacity and strategy across the UX scope
It was understandable that such a big change would bring doubts to the UX professionals affected by it. A key step was defining clear tasks to drive how the team should evolve and providing tools to track them and bring transparency to how and why we were changing.
We tracked the needed team changes across the full UX scope, including research, design, content, service design, and operations. This ensured clear ownership, defined responsibilities, and accountability to deliver each task. Also, it gave visibility to key team members owning tasks and ensured everyone felt there was a clear way to collaborate on the changes happening.
This was also a key delivery to the business to track how we were adapting to the change and the progress made. It built a clear way to request needed investment or hiring for improving team capabilities, all with a tactical approach that was easy to discuss.
The openness of the process allowed current team members to see any open position and apply. This ensured that no one felt left behind and that career growth remained a core aspect of the team.
- 01.C
Building bridges with stakeholders and disciplines
The team was designed to work closely with the rest of the organization. We established clear communication, shared metrics, and alignment with business goals to ensure UX contributed directly to outcomes. This helped build trust and made the value of UX visible across teams.
Strong relationships with stakeholders were key to ensuring adoption and long term impact, while also justifying the growth of the team.
- 01.D
Operations as the key stone to ensure a strong team
As a key driver for the team success, we invested in building a strong UX operations layer to ensure clarity, consistency, and scalability. This included defining processes, documenting ways of working, and providing tools and guidelines that supported the entire team.
The UX ops team members work output made it possible to operate effectively at scale and ensured that the UX team could scale while sustaining a cohesive vision.
A central outcome of this work was the UXOps Knowledge Base, which served as a primary resource for the entire global organization. By centralizing documentation on people, processes, and tools, we created a shared library that supported onboarding and daily workflows.
- 01.E
Building a culture of learning and growth
As a core value of the team, people growth was fundamental. We focused on creating an environment where learning was continuous and shared.
Methods and good practices were documented and made accessible, allowing team members to reuse and improve them over time. When new approaches were introduced, they were tested and then shared so others could learn from the results. All methodologies were documented and offered with templates and guidelines as part of a comprehensive UX toolkit.
We also hosted knowledge sessions with external experts to share success stories and new tools, ensuring we challenged our processes and stayed innovative.
This created a culture where growth was intentional and based on a collective effort.
02 Ownership
What I did, and what the team did.
The organisation
From one regional team to one organisation.
The figure opens on the final stage: several independent UX teams becoming one organisation on a shared way of working. Select a stage, or replay from the start.
- People in separate teams (illustrative)
- An independent team
- One person in the one organisation
- Link to shared operations
- Shared operations, processes and systems
03 Decision map
The decisions, and why.The pivotal decision.
Seven decisions I made in this work, and how or why I made each one. Where a figure shows the result, it is linked.
-
01
ChoseShow the value of one team, instead of imposing itInstead of
Imposing the changeWhyConcerns were addressed early and in the open, so people moved from uncertainty to championing the change.
-
02
ChoseMake the change visibleHow
Every change across research, design, content, service design and operations was tracked with an owner.
WhyThe same tracker became how the business saw progress and how investment and hiring were requested.
See Fig. 1.1 ↓ -
03
ChoseOpen roles to the team firstHow
Every open position was visible to current team members.
WhySo nobody felt left behind and career growth stayed central.
-
04
ChoseInvest in UX operations as the base layerHow
Processes, documented ways of working and tools, centralised in a UX Ops Knowledge Base used across the organisation.
See Fig. 1.2 ↓ -
05
ChoseA global model that respects local needsHow
Stakeholders kept what their markets needed; the shared way of working sat underneath.
-
06
ChoseTie UX to shared metrics and business goalsWhy
So the value of UX was visible across teams, which built trust and justified the growth of the team.
-
07
ChoseA separate rapid design team for early ideas
04 Evidence
The work behind the decisions.
Select a figure to open it larger.
Supports decision 2 ↑
Supports decision 4 ↑
Supports decision 4 ↑
Supports decision 7 ↑
One global UX organisation of more than 120 people across 20 countries, built on shared operations, processes and systems.
A global UX team operating across 20 countries, with more than 120 professionals across research, design, and content.
The team was built around strong UX operations, with clear processes, shared systems, and defined practices, enabling consistent delivery and long-term scalability.
A complex transition turned into a unified global team by aligning people, processes, and stakeholders around a clear direction and shared way of working.
Contact
Open to design leadership roles.
I’m based in Singapore and can work in Singapore and the EU without sponsorship. Available now.