I am a recurring contract designer for Huge, a design agency based in New York, on a yearly project for a Fortune 5 company. Our team develops an interactive OS prototype (under NDA) designed to empower tens of thousands of employees, enabling them to provide improved customer service while reducing operational costs.

Agency work with Huge.

Role

Design Lead

Timeline

2 Months

Reccuring annualy

Tools

Adobe Photoshop

Internal Prototyping Tool

Problem

Each year, the client requires a fully operational internal employee software tool ready for deployment ahead of an imminent international product launch. The OS is constantly updated during development, creating tight deadlines in a high-paced environment. This requires flawless communication and pixel-perfect design to maintain stability and quality.

Challenges

  1. Real-Time Adjustments: Continuously adapted to changes in a Beta operating system, requiring rapid iteration while maintaining design quality.

  2. High-Volume Design Work: Managed a large volume of design tasks in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment, balancing efficiency with precision to meet deadlines.

  3. Multilingual Development: Delivered the internal client tool in four languages, requiring careful attention to detail to ensure accuracy and consistency across all versions.

2025

  1. Brought back as Design Lead due to my speed, efficiency, and deep knowledge of the OS and client expectations, I quickly stabilized the team, focused efforts on priorities, and immediately became a key point of reliance for project managers.

  2. Initially part of a three-lead team, I became the sole design lead when the others were unable to complete the project. I took on additional design work, supported the QA team, and served as a key point of contact for the client, overseeing the compilation of all work into a cohesive prototype.

  3. Completed this year’s project on time and ahead of schedule, surpassing previous years’ timelines. Multiple superiors acknowledged that without my contributions, the project would have been delayed or incomplete.

2024

  1. Joined the project as a Production Designer, quickly familiarized myself with the OS and existing workflows, and immediately began streamlining processes to make design and prototyping more efficient and faster.

  2. Thanks to the process improvements I implemented, I was able to get ahead on my own tasks and take on additional work from team members, helping ensure the team stayed on schedule and met project deadlines.

  3. Successfully completed the project, and due to my excellent work and demonstrated leadership, I was invited to return the following year as Design Lead.

Results

Due to my NDA, I am unable to showcase the internal tool that was built. However, it is worth noting that the tool has been in active deployment and has garnered extensive use by employees since its integration. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many affirming that the tool has notably streamlined their customer assistance tasks, particularly in elucidating the application's intricate features to inquiring customers.

Takeaways

  1. Anticipating Mistakes: You can’t assume people know how or when to do something. Being a leader means spotting where things are likely to go wrong and preemptively guiding the team.

  2. Thriving in Fast-Paced Environments: I perform best in high-pressure, fast-moving projects. Both years showed me that while many struggle in these environments, I was able to stand out, deliver consistently, and enjoy the process.

  3. Resilience Under Pressure: Things will inevitably go wrong. When two design leads left, I was able to regroup, refocus, and keep the project moving forward without losing momentum.