Therese Sharp
Shaping a Unified Product Design Team at Atolls
Transforming a Disconnected Design Function into a Strategic Force
In early 2021, Atolls’ Product Design function was split across two siloed teams: white-label and cashback. Each worked independently, serving distinct brand sets with minimal cross-collaboration. The white-label team managed design for over 47 brands with a lean crew - including part-time students - while the cashback team operated in a hybrid brand/product role, often reduced to “artworking” with limited strategic impact.
The result? Inconsistent design quality, unclear ownership, minimal collaboration, and an under-leveraged team. With Atolls targeting ambitious growth, it was clear the design function needed to evolve, fast.
Success Measures
Context:
Designers were stretched thin across complex offerings with little time for discovery or innovation. The white-label team lacked design maturity, while the cashback team, though slightly more experienced, had fallen into comfortable habits that limited growth. PMs lacked meaningful design support, and junior team members had no clear pathways for development.
The teams operated from different cities, London, Paris, Berlin, and Munich, with differing cultures, communication styles, and expectations. Collaboration was rare. Standards were inconsistent. Career development was unclear. The organisation needed a true design team - one that delivered measurable value to the business, not just UI screens.
Objectives
Establish a high-performing, strategic Product Design function that meets the needs of Atolls' business and users.
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Merge both design teams into one unified function (achieved early 2022)
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Create a supportive culture focused on collaboration, learning, and growth
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Elevate the strategic impact of design by embedding research and data into decision-making
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Introduce a senior layer to the team structure to mentor and support junior designers
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Set clear standards for excellence, delivery, and development
We shaped the transformation around three key questions:
1.
How do we establish a true team culture within a siloed environment?
2.
Can we establish an environment where excellence is expected and delivered?
3.
Design is subjective - so how do we even begin to measure success?
Challenge 1: How do we establish a true team culture within a siloed environment?
The two teams had long worked independently, each with their own habits, rituals, and frustrations. Collaboration felt forced and unnecessary. Language barriers, different cultural norms, and varying levels of maturity across teams added to the disconnect.
What we did:
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Merged the teams in early 2022 to form a single, cross-functional Product Design function
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Introduced team rituals: weekly deep dives, workflow mapping, regular showcases
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Organised an in-person team event to foster trust and connection
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Embedded a mentoring culture, where Leads and Seniors actively supported juniors as part of their role expectations
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Fostered a healthy feedback culture where in-progress work was shared early and often
What changed:
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Communication improved significantly, and team members began to actively collaborate and support one another
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Engagement scores rose from 40% to 48% over two years
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Attrition dropped as team members felt more connected, supported, and challenged
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PMs and stakeholders noted marked improvements in design quality, ownership, and strategic thinking
Challenge 2: Can we establish an environment where excellence is expected and delivered?
Design excellence had no clear definition within the team. Work quality varied widely, feedback loops were long and frustrating, and there were pockets of under-performance that undermined the wider team’s progress.
What we did:
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Conducted individual deep-dives with every team member to identify strengths, blockers, and development opportunities
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Created a Skills Matrix to define core competencies across technical, research, and communication domains
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Set clear expectations for delivery, quality, and collaboration
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Actively addressed under-performance, including transitioning one disruptive team member out of the business
What changed:
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With clearer standards and expectations, performance across the board improved
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Team morale increased as frustrations were addressed head-on
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Design quality became more consistent and solutions more robust
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Feedback from stakeholders improved as the team began solving problems more creatively and effectively
Challenge 3: Design is subjective - so how do we even begin to measure success?
Without research and analytics, feedback was anecdotal and subjective. Designers felt unsure of their impact, and product peers questioned the rationale behind design decisions.
What we did:
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Established a baseline of data literacy across the team through dedicated training and tooling support
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Partnered with PMs and the Data team to gain access to click-through rates, user engagement metrics, and event data
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Embedded research and data review into the design process to build confidence in recommendations
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Set expectations for all designers to become subject-matter experts on their domains, bringing product and market insights to every discussion
What changed:
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Designers now actively use data and research to guide and defend their decisions
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Product peers engage more readily with design recommendations, reducing delivery friction
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The team tracks the impact of their work, enabling iteration and measurable improvement
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Confidence, clarity, and strategic influence have all grown significantly across the function
