Making design part of how a team works.
The conversations, habits and handoffs that bring design into everyday delivery.
Mahan SharifiProduct DesignerJoining a team as its first designer means working on two things at once: the product and the way design becomes part of delivery.
Understand before simplifying.
UltraTone was my first project in telecommunications. Work had already started before design became part of the process, and the flows connected software decisions with hardware constraints.
Conversations with the founder and developers helped me understand the domain. Scenario-writing sessions made the edge cases more concrete, including what should happen when an activation slot was unavailable.
Make the handoff a conversation.
I worked on the component foundation, updated flows, and helped establish a process for reviewing changes. Over time, developers discussed changes with me before changing the interface.
The purpose was to keep the product logic and user experience connected to implementation. A small visual change can affect an important state or expectation.
- Write the scenario and the expected behaviour together.
- Make constraints and unresolved questions visible.
- Review changes before they become a new pattern.
Help other designers own the work.
As the workload grew, I helped hire four product designers. Two worked directly on other parts of UltraTone, while the others worked across different projects.
My role included explaining the domain, reviewing ideas, and supporting how designers presented their work, managed their time, and ran meetings. The goal was for them to make informed decisions with more independence.