This initiative wasn’t about tweaking a screen or updating a flow — it was about changing how UX showed up in the product development process. As Lead UX Designer, I worked closely with my design team as well as PMs, engineers, and QA to take a hard look at how design was (or wasn’t) being integrated across the SDLC, to identify gaps in our process and opportunities for better integration.

Too often, UX was brought in late, after key decisions had already been made. That meant we were solving the wrong problems, rushing through handoffs, or seeing avoidable issues pop up during development. To change that, I wanted to ensure we were embedding UX earlier — joining discovery meetings, helping shape ideas from the start, validating concepts with stakeholders and users before development, and staying involved through sprint planning, standups, and handoff reviews. I introduced a dedicated UX Jira board to track design work, priorities, and promote iterative feedback between teams.

One of the biggest wins was adding a UX QA step at the end of the process. This gave us a chance to make sure what got built matched what was designed, followed our design system, and felt consistent with the rest of the product.

All of this helped us reduce rework, ship better experiences, and build stronger relationships across teams. More importantly, it helped shift the perception of UX — from a support role to a strategic partner at the table from day one.

UX involvement in the product lifecycle was inconsistent and reactive. Designs were often delivered too late to influence outcomes, leading to rushed implementation, preventable bugs, and a disconnect between design and build.

• Facilitated discovery sessions with PMs, engineers, and design team to map current gaps
• Introduced structured UX checkpoints at each SDLC phase—from discovery to post-dev QA
• Rolled out a dedicated UX Jira board to manage visibility, feedback, and iterative design work
• Ensured UX participation in sprint planning, dev check-ins, and handoff sessions
• Formalized a UX QA process to ensure built features match design intent and system standards

• Improved alignment between product, design, and engineering teams
• Reduced design-related rework by catching issues early and validating before development
• Elevated the role of UX as a strategic, consistent partner in the development process
• Established scalable workflows now adopted across multiple teams and product lines