Leading UX Design Team at Keen
Balanced individual contribution and team leadership to deliver measurable product improvements, mentor designers, and launch Keen’s first design system.
Role: Senior UX Designer & Acting UX Team Lead
Company: Keen.com | 2023
Team: 8 Designers (UX team) plus collaboration with PMs, Engineering Devs, Branding Team
Focus Areas: Growth, Design Systems, Mentorship, Team Operations
Tools: Figma, Maze, Jira, AmplitudeFrom scaling design operations to delivering measurable growth improvements.
About the company
Keen.com is a platform connecting users with vetted spiritual advisors for live guidance on relationships, career, and personal growth. With a large user base and complex business model, the company focuses heavily on growth experimentation and conversion optimization.
Project Scope & Challenge
I joined Keen as a Senior UX Designer on the Growth team, focused on conversion and engagement experiments. Soon after, I was also entrusted with leading the UX team, which included mentoring two designers, overseeing design operations, and launching the company’s first design system.
Balancing both tracks — strategy and execution — required adaptability, prioritization, and a proactive mindset.
Team Leadership & Mentorship
As the acting UX Lead, I:
- • Mentored two designers, supporting their growth from entry-level to junior and junior to mid-senior within a year
- • Facilitated weekly design reviews and cross-functional critiques to align product, design, and engineering
- • Advocated for consistent UX practices and collaborated with leadership on org-level priorities
This role helped establish stronger collaboration patterns, design consistency, and increased designer confidence across the team.
Growth Initiatives & Product Impact
As the acting UX Lead, I:
- • Mentored two designers, supporting their growth from entry-level to junior and junior to mid-senior within a year
- • Facilitated weekly design reviews and cross-functional critiques to align product, design, and engineering
- • Advocated for consistent UX practices and collaborated with leadership on org-level priorities
This role helped establish stronger collaboration patterns, design consistency, and increased designer confidence across the team.
Internal Impact: Design System & Ops
In parallel, I initiated and led the creation of Keen’s first design system (Clarity) to address growing inconsistencies across teams.
This effort:
- • Centralized shared components and tokens in Figma
- • Reduced design-to-engineering friction
- • Set a scalable foundation for future product growth
- Combined with team rituals and clearer documentation, this helped bring design and development into closer alignment.
Outcomes & Recognition
• Delivered meaningful growth metrics across the platform
- • Coached and grew design talent within the team
- • Launched a foundational design system adopted across products
- • Twice named Employee of the Month, in recognition of both leadership and product outcomes
What I Learned
This experience solidified my belief in leading with empathy and intention. Investing in people, setting up systems, and focusing on outcomes — all while staying grounded in the work — enabled real, measurable impact across both product and team culture.
If given the opportunity again, I’d push to bring stakeholders into UX strategy earlier to scale impact even faster.