Strategy & team development
UX team transformation
UX team transformation
I transformed my UX team from task executors to web experience advisors, guiding stakeholders in user-centric design, UX principles, web best practices
Stages
Problem
The web experience was dictated by marketing campaign managers, which led to low team morale and a disjointed buying journey.
When I joined Sartorius as Manager of Digital UX, I found the team building web pages exactly as instructed by campaign and product managers who, by no fault of their own, weren't trained in web best practices, let alone UX principles.
This situation led to many issues, including:
Team talents were underutilized and underdeveloped.
UX designers felt they had no authority.
Voice of customer was absent from the design process.
Problem
The web experience was dictated by marketing campaign managers, which led to low team morale and a disjointed buying journey.
When I joined Sartorius as Manager of Digital UX, I found the team building web pages exactly as instructed by campaign and product managers who, by no fault of their own, weren't trained in web best practices, let alone UX principles.
This situation led to many issues, including:
Team talents were underutilized and underdeveloped.
UX designers felt they had no authority.
Voice of customer was absent from the design process.
Strategy
My strategy was to completely flip my team's identity so we could utilize our talents to drive high-performing web pages—a UX team that owned the web experience and confidently advocated for Sartorius customers.
During my first year as a manager I had to change the team mindset, gain the trust of our stakeholders, and ultimately establish authority as experience advisors.
Strategy
My strategy was to completely flip my team's identity so we could utilize our talents to drive high-performing web pages—a UX team that owned the web experience and confidently advocated for Sartorius customers.
During my first year as a manager I had to change the team mindset, gain the trust of our stakeholders, and ultimately establish authority as experience advisors.
Approach & solution
To achieve this, I trained the team in the following areas:
Standard UX/UI tools: defining the problem and goal, analytics, stakeholder interviews, personas, competitive analysis, wireframes, hi-fidelity mockups, and prototypes
Analytics software: Google Analytics, Hotjar
Communication: Diplomacy, design thinking, persuasion
Training & certification: Send the team to a conference to better understand UX methodologies, get inspired, and get certified.
Approach & solution
To achieve this, I trained the team in the following areas:
Standard UX/UI tools: defining the problem and goal, analytics, stakeholder interviews, personas, competitive analysis, wireframes, hi-fidelity mockups, and prototypes
Analytics software: Google Analytics, Hotjar
Communication: Diplomacy, design thinking, persuasion
Training & certification: Send the team to a conference to better understand UX methodologies, get inspired, and get certified.
Outcome
Leveraging new UX tools for a better customer experience
Research, analytics, wireframes, hi-fidelity mockups, and prototypes provided my team methods to understand stakeholder goals, identify user behavior insights, compare our experience to other industry leaders, and provide UX guidance. It was a labor of love to ease our stakeholders into this new approach, but now they actively approach us for advice on how to create the best web experience.
Diplomatic communication
Building relationships with stakeholders became much easier as I coached the team on how to push back with empathy, provide alternatives for better design, and explain why their solution would work better for customers. Our stakeholders responded very well to this approach.
UX certifications
Continuing with my identity-flip strategy, I decided to have the team attend a week-long, virtual Nielsen Norman Group UX conference to expand their perception of user experience. The sessions opened their mind to new design approaches, methodologies, and tools that directly impacted their daily work.
After the conference had concluded, each designer attempted their NN/g UX certification assessments and 2 of 3 passed. Team morale had never been higher, and I was proud to have a group of certified UX designers.
After my first year of management, I had achieved:
100%
Team trained in standard UX tools
70%
Decrease in stakeholders submitting pre-designed web content
2 of 3
Team members offically UX certified
Outcome
Leveraging new UX tools for a better customer experience
Research, analytics, wireframes, hi-fidelity mockups, and prototypes provided my team methods to understand stakeholder goals, identify user behavior insights, compare our experience to other industry leaders, and provide UX guidance. It was a labor of love to ease our stakeholders into this new approach, but now they actively approach us for advice on how to create the best web experience.
Diplomatic communication
Building relationships with stakeholders became much easier as I coached the team on how to push back with empathy, provide alternatives for better design, and explain why their solution would work better for customers. Our stakeholders responded very well to this approach.
UX certifications
Continuing with my identity-flip strategy, I decided to have the team attend a week-long, virtual Nielsen Norman Group UX conference to expand their perception of user experience. The sessions opened their mind to new design approaches, methodologies, and tools that directly impacted their daily work.
After the conference had concluded, each designer attempted their NN/g UX certification assessments and 2 of 3 passed. Team morale had never been higher, and I was proud to have a group of certified UX designers.
After my first year of management, I had achieved:
100%
Team trained in standard UX tools
70%
Decrease in stakeholders submitting pre-designed web content
2 of 3
Team members offically UX certified
Nicholas Fargher
© 2026 Nicholas Fargher
Nicholas Fargher
© 2026 Nicholas Fargher