Two Trailblazers Found Their Inner Designer. You Can, Too
An architect and a consultant share what it looks like to skill-up in design.
One design-curious Trailblazer can be the foundation for a design-led organization.
It all begins with a longing to know more. From there, building design knowledge can take many paths. Some design-learning journeys spark when a collaborator shares tips. Others get a book recommendation or come across design in a Trailhead module. What they all have in common is a willingness to follow the crumbs.
“Skilling-up in design made me better at my work,” said Salesforce architect Vicki Moritz-Henry.
Starting from scratch
Design was a relatively new skill for Moritz-Henry. She rates her pre-certification design knowledge as a three out of 10. Design surfaced in her world when a developer shared key principles with her during a website collaboration. He encouraged her to read “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. Moritz-Henry followed the crumb. Soon, she applied usability best practices and information design to her Salesforce projects. Her colleagues joked at her new go-to feedback line: “As soon as you make someone think, you’ve lost them.”
So when a Salesforce contact tagged her in a tweet to take the new UX Designer Certification, she bit. It was a virtual support system all along the way.
“It exploded on social media because it applied to everyone across every role. The Ohana in the Twitterverse is incredible and people are always supporting each other,” she said.
Example 1: One Architect’s Path Toward Design
The web development books she had studied helped her on the certification. Years of experience as a Salesforce architect did, too. “Design comes into the architect’s role at every touchpoint from decision guides to principles for ExperienceCloud,” she said.
At first, when she read a module, it was top of mind on her current project. Over time, human-centered design has become less of a tool and more of an ingrained reflex. It’s helped her simplify designs such as ones on a project for a group reaching out to their volunteers.
“By creating records off the back of a screen flow, we reduce clicks and steps,” Moritz-Henry said.
Even for a Trailblazer with a design background, the learning journey is about focusing on one small piece at a time.
Building off a solid foundation
Lifelong learners know there’s always more to absorb. Salesforce consultant Emma Keeling is a four-star Ranger on Trailhead. She’s spent her career leveraging user-centric practices for clients of her company, Hazledene Solutions.
Keeling previously was an in-house product manager. She began picking up design skills by observing her colleagues who were creating strategic personas, war rooms, and other design-related processes. She envied coworkers who had bigger budgets and access to more professional development. Her team was small and less resourced. When the chance to take a product management and design training course presented itself, she didn’t hesitate. The same impulse came over her when the first design modules surfaced on Trailhead (e.g. screen flows). And then again when the UX designer and strategy designer certifications launched.
The holistic Salesforce Design curriculum gave her unexpected clarity after a largely product-specific education
She realized that much of her solutioning was made up of design tools. For example, journey mapping and Jobs To Be Done. “I had never heard JTBD called that,” she said. “I would make this list but I couldn’t put it in a user story. I struggled to explain the concept, but now I can point people to it. It connected the dots. It solidified my knowledge.”
Example 2: One Consultant’s Path Toward Design
Today, Keeling knows what good design can do. When she sees a website with a poor user experience, she often turns to her husband and laments its lack of design standards.
On her client projects, she keeps usability at the forefront. For example, one initial and effective move toward better UX is to help clients clean up their record design. Organizing related records — such as contracts and account details — on the same page reduces screen switching. Other design wins include creating flows with the utility bar, or simply encouraging users to use the favorites button.
And she’s never done learning. At every community event, she looks for what’s new in UX. For example, the user adoption presentation this year at YeurDreamin’ in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Design has empowered Keeling to provide better insights to her clients.
To Trailblazers who are new to design or familiar with the practice, she reiterates the need to keep learning.
“Even if you’re not doing the cert, pick out the areas of the cert prep that interest you,” Keeling said. The aim isn’t to know it all or to be the best. It’s to follow that instinct you feel to bring something supportive into your work and your life.
Start light with a module today: Salesforce Designer Quick Look
Or sink in and go big: Salesforce UX Designer Certification or Salesforce Strategy Designer Certification
Many thanks to Vicki and Emma for sharing their design-learning paths.
Salesforce Design is dedicated to elevating design and advocating for its power to create trusted relationships with users, customers, partners, and the community. We share knowledge and best practices that build social and business value. We call this next evolution of design Relationship Design. Join our Design Trailblazers community, become a certified UX designer, certified strategy designer, or work with us!
