Scaling a Global Design Organization
Building and leading a global design organization across 11 product teams and 6 time zones — establishing structure, elevating quality, and embedding design as a strategic function.
Overview
At Ernst & Young, I led and scaled a global design organization supporting enterprise SaaS platforms used by 130,000+ users. This work focused on transforming design from a distributed execution function into a cohesive, high-impact organization—aligned on quality, process, and business outcomes.
The Challenge
Design operated across multiple product teams, regions, and time zones with limited alignment. This led to inconsistent quality, fragmented processes, duplicated work, and unclear ownership — reducing both team effectiveness and product impact. The core challenge was scaling alignment and quality without slowing down delivery or limiting team autonomy.
The Solution
I established a scalable design operating model built on three pillars: process, visibility, and accountability.
• Introduced structured rituals: design critiques, cross-team syncs, KPI reviews
• Standardized planning, capacity management, and workflow coordination
• Defined shared quality benchmarks across all products
• Created clear communication loops between design, product, and engineering
This created a consistent system where distributed teams could operate independently while staying aligned.
Design Leadership
01 — Org Design & Scaling
Structured and led a team of 40+ designers across 11 products.
02 — Quality Governance
Established UX standards, reviews, and consistency across platforms.
03 — Operational Leadership
Improved planning, prioritization, and cross-team coordination.
04 — Talent Development
Mentored direct reports and built growth paths across the org.
05 — Executive Alignment
Partnered with leadership to connect design to business strategy.
Impact
• Scaled a global design organization supporting 130,000+ users
• Improved consistency and quality across all enterprise products
• Increased delivery efficiency through standardized processes
• Elevated design to a strategic partner across product and engineering
Design evolved from a reactive support function into a core driver of product quality and decision-making.
Takeaway
Scaling design is not just about hiring — it's about building systems that align teams, maintain quality, and connect design to business outcomes. Strong design leadership creates clarity, consistency, and momentum across the entire organization.
"Pratt was my Design Lead for two years. He was always a benchmark when it comes to making things work out, understanding and communicating with business teams, and achieving great results with limited tools.
For our team, his leadership has always been crucial. He used to find the exact point between demanding from us what he knows we can do and taking care of ourselves so that nobody collapses. He also collaborated a lot with other teams to build better things together.
He was the one who brings solutions and ideas and keeps things moving forward, even when priorities changed all the time and it was very difficult to keep up. That's very valuable for me, considering that the design processes were confusing and overwhelming at the company.
I don't think there are many Pratts out there, who can manage everything at the same time. We have learned too much from him these years and I'm so thankful for that."
