Voyager Sopris Learning – Jordan Detota

Leading Design at Voyager Sopris Learning

Overview

At Voyager Sopris Learning, I took on my first formal management role, leading the newly formed product design team and entering the education technology space. I built and led a diverse team creating products for middle schoolers, K-5 learners, and professional development, with designers ranging from junior to principal levels. Additionally, I guided the team through the transition from in-office to fully remote work during the pandemic.

Approach

Stepping into a new industry and my first management role, I focused on understanding the unique needs of both the education tech space and my team. I built strong relationships, tailoring support to junior designers while empowering senior team members with leadership opportunities.

Collaborating closely with product, engineering, and curriculum leaders, I aligned design efforts with organizational goals while advocating for the team’s value as the first designer at the company. By promoting design contributions and fostering trust, we secured a seat at the table for key decisions and became integral to the development process.

Despite initial resistance from engineers unfamiliar with working with a design team, we introduced a design system, partnered to implement it in code, and established a robust design QA process. This improved engineering attention to detail, reduced defects, and elevated the overall quality of our products.

Reflection

Learnings

As my first step into formal design leadership, I took it very seriously, wanting to make sure that the team not only delivered quality and effective work but that they too felt accomplished and challenged. The team effectively started from scratch and covered a lot of ground very quickly, making sweeping changes to how the organization operated and delivered software. Through this, and similar to the design process, I learned to evaluate our methods and decisions as a team and adjust them as necessary.

At first, I thought I needed to be the expert on the team and have all the answers but after some time I realized this was not the most effective way for the team to be successful and I empowered the team to make their own decisions and mentor each other.

What I Would do Different

Looking back, I would have prioritized creating more opportunities for informal team bonding and connection, which could have mitigated some of the isolation and communication challenges that came with adjusting to remote work.