Is Your Company Ready for a Growth Product Design Function?
When should you introduce a separate growth product design function? Here’s how to know:
Product growth design expert Kate Syuma and I have developed a framework that can help you make a decision and introduce this function smoothly.
To assess your company’s readiness for a dedicated Growth Product Design function, you should score yourself 1–5 against these 4 dimensions:
- Product-Market Fit (PMF) Stage
- Go-to-Market Strategy
- Design Maturity
- Growth Opportunity Size
Be sure to check out our deep dive to go deeper on product growth design.
1. Product-Market Fit (PMF) Stage
At the pre-PMF stage, you should focus on nailing your core product experience.
Once you start noticing the early signs of PMF, then you can start thinking about growth design principles.
Finally, when you have an established PMF then a dedicated growth design function can drive significant impact.
2. Go-to-Market Strategy
If your strategy is heavily sales-led, with long development cycles and a smaller top-of-funnel, a full-fledged growth design function might not be the best use of resources.
However, if you’re leaning into a product-led growth (PLG) model, that’s where growth design can really shine.
3. Design Maturity
Before diving into growth design, ensure you have a solid design foundation. If you’re still working on basic design systems or struggling with consistency, tackle those first.
Remember: Growth design should be an extension of a well-established design function, not a replacement.
4. Growth Opportunity Size
Assess the size of your growth opportunity. If your product has limited growth levers or a small Total Addressable Market (TAM), a dedicated growth design function might be overkill.
But if you’re sitting on a goldmine of untapped growth potential, that’s when you want to invest in growth design.
Now that you’ve gone through the 4 parts of the framework, add up your scores.
This determines what to do next:
- 4–8: Focus on core product and design fundamentals for now.
- 9–14: Consider introducing growth design principles or a small initiative.
- 15–20: You’re ready to build a dedicated Growth Product Design function.
There’s no need to rush to a product growth design function. Build it when it’s right.
