Meet Eleanor, our Product Design Lead

Eleanor Broderick is an integral part of the D&G Product team, here she tells us about the kind of work she does day to day and gives her pearls of wisdom for a career in product design. If you want to pursue a vocation that blends the creative and the technical, look no further.

Can you tell us a bit about your career up until D&G?

I began my career as a graphic designer and spent many happy years working in agencies and in house teams for a variety of clients and organisations including The Natural History Museum, British Airways, MoneyGram and Transport for London. As time progressed, I discovered the world of User Research and User Experience, took a qualification in it and it became a passion! ?After working freelance for a few years, I joined D&G as UX Design Lead and my role has since evolved into Product Design Lead.

Did you always want to pursue a career in tech / product design?

It’s always been important to me to work in a creative environment. Brand design is a great starting point if you want to pivot into product design as there are so many relevant transferrable skills. I’ve always loved projects that require creative, technical and strategic thinking.

Product design is a wonderful blend of all three, as well as giving the opportunity to carry out research to define a problem and validate your thinking with users.

I love it.

If you were to give one piece of advice to someone wanting to pursue a career in tech/ product design, what would it be?

Don’t hesitate! I find product design fulfilling, challenging and varied. For those folks starting out, I’d recommend taking an accredited qualification if you can, to try to broaden your knowledge of the many aspects of product design. Then, look for opportunities where there are real problems to define and to solve, rather than being too swayed by a particular brand or industry – there are juicy, interesting product design challenges everywhere!

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Is there such thing as a typical week for you?

I meet (usually virtually) with my team of eight product designers every week to ensure all have the support they need. Some days I’m highly focussed on research, some I’m creating wireframes or prototypes for a new digital product. Usually once a week I pop in to our lovely Wimbledon office to meet face to face with colleagues, these days are often concluded with a chat and a cheeky glass of pinot in The Alex round the corner...

What are the kind of projects that you enjoy the most/ what are the most challenging?

I appreciate the variety of projects in my role, but I particularly enjoy carrying out User Research – especially moderated research – as I get to talk directly to users. I love the challenge of building the research strategy and creating a discussion guide to enable me to pose the right questions without any bias. I enjoy carrying out the analysis and pulling insights together to report back to the team. I have had the privilege of working with our propositions team, so have been able to carry out research into users’ appetites for brand new products – it’s exciting to be part of the start of a new proposition.

Could you describe your experience of being a woman in a leadership role within the tech space? What advice would you give to women starting out in this industry?

I don’t think I’d tailor my advice for female leaders specifically – I’d suggest we should all champion and celebrate diversity. When recruiting, don’t ask yourself “Is this person a good cultural fit” perhaps instead we should ask “What can this person add to our culture?”. Our customers are diverse, so it’s a huge benefit if our teams are too.

If you like the sound of what Eleanor gets up to, why not apply for our new Product Design vacancy, or check out our careers page to see even more opportunities!