ConstructConnect Design Leadership Case Study

ConstructConnect

The challenge

ConstructConnect was evolving its product organization while serving customers across a complex portfolio of construction technology products. The opportunity went beyond improving individual interfaces—it required strengthening how the organization understood customers, made product decisions, and delivered consistent experiences across the portfolio.

My role

As VP of Experience Design & Research, I led the evolution of the product experience organization, including experience design, user research, design systems, and experience strategy.

My focus was on building the team and practices needed to make customer insight a stronger part of product strategy while creating the systems, partnerships, and ways of working required to improve experiences at scale.

The work spanned

Product experience strategy · UX research · Team building & leadership · Design systems · Cross-functional operating models · Customer insight · Experience measurement

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At a Glance

3 → 13

Experience team growth

Built and scaled a multidisciplinary product experience organization to support a growing product portfolio.

Research practice established

Customer insight at scale

Introduced dedicated research capabilities and stronger practices for bringing customer evidence into product decisions.

Design system introduced

Greater consistency

Established shared design foundations to improve experience consistency and help teams design and deliver more efficiently.

UX Moved Upstream

Stronger partnership

Shifted experience design from primarily supporting delivery to influencing product strategy, discovery, and decision-making.

Team Growth & DesignOps

Building and nurturing a high-performing team is central to my leadership. By establishing clear career paths, providing mentorship, and fostering team cohesion, we achieved a Gallup score of 4.6 out of 5, placing us in the 86th percentile. Championing effective processes and a supportive environment has been key to our collective success.

Product Research

We leverage quantitative and qualitative research, including atomic research, to gain comprehensive insights. By standardizing Voice of the Organization (VOO) and Voice of the Customer (VOC) practices, we've established a centralized repository for research findings. These insights are regularly published and shared to ensure widespread awareness and foster a culture of informed decision-making throughout the organization.

ConstructConnect

Global Payments

McKesson

Other

"I had the pleasure of working with Susan at ConstructConnect, and her impact on our team was significant. Susan is a driven and results-oriented professional who not only excels at building efficient processes but is also highly adept at building and nurturing teams.

One of Susan’s standout qualities is her commitment to learning and growth. She consistently demonstrated a proactive approach to expanding their skills and knowledge – including work towards her Master’s in Information Design + Strategy at Northwestern University. Additionally, Susan has a genuine passion for team advocacy. She always ensured that team members felt valued, supported, and empowered, creating a positive environment for our design team."

Jennifer Johnson, CPO