Behind the Scenes at BEE: Interview with design researcher Dalila Bonomi
From marketing to product: Breaking down company silos with lateral career moves.
“Innovation happens at the intersections.”
-Emilie Wapnick
Q: Hi Dalila, tell us more about how you started and what you do at BEE.
A: I started here at BEE on the marketing team, doing things related to communication, such as managing the blog, writing newsletters, and writing and producing content for social media. I started here in February 2019 and I was in this role for 2 years, then I felt I needed to change. Now I’m a design researcher here at BEE, working in a product team instead.
What I’m doing now is more related to the behind-the-scenes at BEE. I research why and how people decide to use BEE products in their daily lives. I love to find out what’s not working on the journey of our BEE users. Sometimes insights are focused on what the end-user encounters, whereas other times it’s related to how the user experience is internally created.
Since I have a background in service design, I apply the frameworks and mindset of a service designer into my daily job. At the end of each research cycle, I bring insights back to the team or the stakeholders that need them.
Q: Wow, that’s a big career shift! How did you know it was time to move?
I think you really just feel it. Sometimes you top off on a topic and there’s nothing more to gain from it. It happened to me when I wanted to become a professional dancer and it happened again when I thought I wanted to be a restaurateur, like my parents. So when I had that feeling while working in marketing, I recognized it quickly.
When I was younger, I thought it was wrong to change career paths, but now I see that it’s actually part of the process, discovering yourself and who you are. Everyone is born with many passions and curiosities and we need to explore all the possibilities and the jobs we want to do. This became clear to me when I discovered the concept of being “multipotential”.
I saw this TED talk from Emilie Wapnick, in which she explains that it’s ok to not have a true calling. And I totally agree with her, I have many interests and I have done different jobs, and I think those things differentiate me from the rest of the world.
If you think about it, doing different jobs and having different interests is something that you can bring to your daily job and make it yours. There’s a concept called “comb shape”, where one person has multiple specialties and develops several different skills. Blending these skills together makes it so that you bring something completely unique to the table.
In the past, you had to go to one school to learn one thing. Now we have knowledge at our fingertips. All you need is an internet connection. You don’t have to trap yourself. It’s enriching.
Q: What are the benefits of having a marketing background on the product team?
A: Having a mix of background skills is really powerful. Especially if you are moving from one internal team to another. You know people, you know their hard and soft skills, you know how both teams work and so you better know how to make them work together.
You start thinking in systems instead of silos. The more you know about other teams, the better you work with stakeholders. And I personally think that when you start thinking in systems, this is the moment in which you can break down silos.
Especially during the pandemic, it’s easy to forget we work with other humans. And that what we do on our team affects what happens on another team. If more people were able to talk with other teams, know what they’re working on, how they work, know them as people personally…then we could break down silos and work better together.
Q: How was the transition from one team to the other?
A: It was smooth and easy. Both managers were positive about this change and they helped me make it. They saw that I was bringing value and wanted to keep me on the team. People & Culture also help us in this transition.
Since we are growing a lot as a company, P&C is working hard to develop a career growth program, and it’s not necessarily vertical growth. We can grow moving horizontally from one team to the other, like I did.
When you feel that your job isn’t satisfying anymore, you might think you can’t bring any more value. But the managers and P&C team at BEE showed me that I could keep contributing and they were willing to help me adapt. I really want to thank them for that because it was a great opportunity.
*Note from our People & Culture team: The process for changing teams currently happens on a case-by-case basis. Speaking to your manager about vertical changes is a good first step.
Q: What advice would you give for someone who wants to move internally to another team?
A: I can tell you the steps I took…
First was acknowledgment. I started to feel that I wasn’t that happy anymore in the morning when I was going to work. I started to question myself because I liked my job, I liked the company, I liked the people. It was confusing. Finally I had to admit something needed to change.
Then came a routine change. I tried reading more and working out more. I wanted to see if I could solve this feeling personally. But I finally realized it was really the job that I wasn’t excited about. I wasn’t gaining anything from the position anymore.
So then I realigned. I start listening to myself more. I needed to step back and discover what I truly like, aligning my values and my thinking to a job that I could enjoy again. Once you know yourself, you know who you want to become and so you know the choice you need to make.
Eventually, I realized I wanted to go back to the design field. I joined online communities and talked a lot with other designers, they mentored me and shared their experiences. I took an online course and read a lot to update my knowledge. After all of that, I started calling myself a designer again.
“If you want a job as a product designer, call yourself a product designer. If you want to be a front end developer, call yourself a front end developer. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission to be what you want to be — tell them what you are, and the rest will follow.”
-Milan Moffat, Senior Product Designer at Slack
Finally, I realized I had to talk to my manager. I couldn’t hesitate because I was already rolling down this path. My best advice is to be honest with your current manager. Explain why you don’t fit in that role anymore and thank them for walking this journey with you. Be clear about what you’re thinking and your desire to follow a new path. Good managers will understand and even help you to let you grow.
Editor’s note
Dalila Bonomi is a design researcher at BEE and works cross-functionally to support our product team. We are our own customers and all of our products are built with BEE Plugin. This is done intentionally so that we understand our product intimately and continue to provide the best experience to all of our customers.
About BEE Plugin.
BEE Plugin is an embeddable email, landing page and popup builder. BEE is a global team of over 50 people, half of whom work in Software Development or Product Management. Learn about BEE Plugin here.
