Insight Timer
Social
Wellness
Head of Design
Apr 2019 - Now
I joined Insight Timer as Head of Design in 2019 when we were a team of around only 30. My first year was a typical startup experience, working closely with the CEO to express deliver features within a matter of weeks that other companies would release over 6 months. Since then, Insight Timer has grown to almost 200 employees, with significant changes to the team structure and product offering. While work remained fast-paced, we began increasingly looking towards new strategic directions. I was fortunate to be part of the small original management team, and played a key part in many company milestones such as turning profitable, a full app redesign, Version 1 of our design system, and countless feature releases. My proudest achievement, however, is the team I built, and how well we worked together to meet the kind of objectives that a team three times our size would struggle to accomplish.
Responsibility
- On the tools
- Design manager
- Design Strategy
- Design culture
- Team development
- Management team
- Stakeholder Management
- Holistic user experience
- System & brand consistency
Building a mindfulness platform for 20+ million meditators.
Head of Design
Apr 2019 - Now
I joined Insight Timer as Head of Design in 2019 when we were a team of around only 30. My first year was a typical startup experience, working closely with the CEO to express deliver features within a matter of weeks that other companies would release over 6 months. Since then, Insight Timer has grown to almost 200 employees, with significant changes to the team structure and product offering. While work remained fast-paced, we began increasingly looking towards new strategic directions. I was fortunate to be part of the small original management team, and played a key part in many company milestones such as turning profitable, a full app redesign, Version 1 of our design system, and countless feature releases. My proudest achievement, however, is the team I built, and how well we worked together to meet the kind of objectives that a team three times our size would struggle to accomplish.
If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
30
Management
I managed my team’s workflow and was the face of the design department. Stakeholder management played a large part in my role, as well as working with my team on processes to ensure a smoother workflow in a particularly fast-paced environment.
20
Mentoring
A happy designer is a designer who feels that they are growing. At Insight Timer I reserved an hour per week with each designer, during which we went onto Figma together so that I could provide feedback and demonstrate how I would approach particular tasks.
50
On the tools
I will never step away from the direct “on the tools” approach. A design leader should not only be strategic and public facing, but also ready to help out with the team at any time to support them technically to deliver projects.
Process
To ensure tickets flow smoothly, a design and testing workflow was implemented for my team that new designers and Product Managers could pick up with ease.
High level UX workflow
Our UX resources were spread extremely thin, so a strict workflow was put in place to ensure an efficient progression towards sign-off. Given the startup context, not every project had the luxury of in-depth research. I worked closely with the Product Managers to determine and subsequently help navigate the UX of each project.
Product design workflow
Since stakeholders were heavily invested in this phase, a workflow was created to ensure stakeholders could accompany us on our journey and in order to avoid last minute changes. I assumed a bird’s eye view of all the projects, and paid particular attention to the high priority projects requiring stakeholder collaboration to make a faster sign-off possible.
Rapid testing workflow
Not every project received the same treatment. For larger projects, we opted for 5-10 user interviews followed by low fidelity Maze testing. For projects with smaller resources, we implemented a rapid testing workflow that allowed anyone from the product team to validate their ideas quickly via Maze.
Branding
Our brand developed over the years by stripping images back to a clean, minimalistic tone that highlighted our content and teachers above all else.
This was no typical re-branding focussing on simplifying and reducing. Our user community had grown accustomed to the previous world app icon for Insight Timer, so a flat, modern icon would not have worked in its replacement. I recreated the signature bowl image in Figma for a more scalable symbol than our previous JPG logo.
This was no typical re-branding focussing on simplifying and reducing. Our user community had grown accustomed to the previous world app icon for Insight Timer, so a flat, modern icon would not have worked in its replacement. I recreated the signature bowl image in Figma for a more scalable symbol than our previous JPG logo.
Design System
Ours was not the typical process of introducing a new design system to a company. Instead, our particular design system was conceived, planned and implemented in the midst of a concurrent codebase migration followed by a new app release. I had to coordinate with the product team to ensure a timely delivery within a very strict deadline for the two projects, which did not originally include a buffer for the design system. Our innovations, however, had a huge impact. Developers can now complete projects in half the time required previously, new developers and designers join the company with very clear guidelines, and designers are empowered to put prototypes together much faster.
This was not a typical process of introducing a new design system within a company. Instead, this particular design system was designed, planned and implemented in the midst of a company that was also undergoing a codebase migration followed by a new app release. I had to coordinate with product to ensure a timely delivery within a very strict deadline for the two projects, which did not originally accommodate any buffer for a design system. This project had a huge impact. Developers can now put together projects in half the time they required previously, with new designers and developers joining the company having very clear guidelines, and empowering designers to put together prototypes much faster.
+50%
Reduced dev time (estimate)
+35%
Reduced design time (estimate)
Projects
Given the environment of a fast-paced startup, my time at Insight Timer involved a variety of large-scale projects spanning smartphone applications, desktop, dashboards and smart TVs.
Registration
Getting the basics for a personalised welcome
Introducing regestration was a big move for us, since up to this point we had only accommodated “guest” users. The reason for this change was our increased focus on social networking features and the many workarounds required to make these features accessible to “guests.” We also wanted to learn a little about the individual user, to offer them a richer, personalised experience when encountering our app for the first time.
Introducing regestration was a big move for us, since up to this point we had only accommodated “guest” users. The reason for this change was our increased focus on social networking features and the many workarounds required to make these features accessible to “guests.” We also wanted to learn a little about the individual user, to offer them a richer, personalised experience when encountering our app for the first time.
Homescreen
A home for your everyday wellbeing
The new home screen is composed around the concept of “everyday wellbeing.” It is now free from the clutter of the previous home screen, which had become congested with non-personalised content owing to a one-size-fits-all approach. The tailored new design splits the home screen into three sections: “Stories,” “Calendar,” and “Made for you.”
KPI: 30% of installs practicing in week 4
15-20%
DAU using recommendations
+90%
Happy with recommendations
Stories
Expression of self through passive stories
Unlike traditional social media “stories,” Insight Timer stories only appear on the home screen when a friend of the user listens to a certain teacher’s content, or when a followed teacher uploads new content. We generated this model along the lines of a new social media experience, whereby self-expression is more passive, and generated by quiet moments of contemplation.
KPI: Connected & engaged users
TV application
An enriched experience on a bigger screen
The TV app was created as a quick growth initiative with a small team. I worked closely with my design systems lead in the MVP stage, with the result being a very elegant and smooth user experience launched in under 3 months.
The TV app was created as a quick growth initiative with a small team. I worked closely with my design systems lead in the MVP stage, with the result being a very elegant and smooth user experience launched in under 3 months.
Daily check-in
Smart suggestions based on mood
The daily check-in was conceived to give our users a visual aid to help them understand how their personal journey and wellbeing has progressed while using Insight timer. We also utilised daily check-ins as an opportunity to recommend hyper-focussed content based on the user’s mood. The mood graph was displayed in an easily digestible format that highlighted common trends.
KPI: 30% of installs practicing in week 4
120k+
Daily users Checkin
+20%
Of our total DAU
User profiles
A profile as unique as your practices
The goal of the new profile pages was to create a story about the user and their practice style, which in turn would help other users to discover new content through their friends’ favourite tracks, track reviews, groups, etcetera. As we moved further towards the social networking approach, we also added visual features to give our users more options for self-expression.
KPI: 30% of installs practicing in week 4
Teacher Profiles
Rich profiles for stronger friendships
The previous profiles were organised into a simple list format ordered by content popularity, which did not particularly help our teachers gain exposure for their projects. The goal of the redesign was to help our teachers market their content, including any upcoming events, paid workshops, and mentoring. The new profile format significantly increased follow counts, click-through rates to new content, and numbers of shares. It also gave our teachers a page that they were proud to share outside of the app.
KPI: MoM growth in Marketplace revenue
Group meditation
Bridging the gap with Group Meditation
Meditating as a group was something that we knew our members pursued external to the app. Our group meditation feature facilitated this interaction while using our product, and helped our users feel connected from anywhere on the globe following a few simple clicks.
Meditating as a group was something that we knew our members pursued external to the app. Our group meditation feature facilitated this interaction while using our product, and helped our users feel connected from anywhere on the globe following a few simple clicks.
Referral program
Growth loops through existing users
Insight Timer has a strong user following as is clear from our reviews section. The objective of our growth loops was to harness the power of our existing users in order to provide the Premium service to those who might not have been able to afford it previously. We offered a year of Premium for free to users who invited 3 friends to Insight Timer.
KPI: Increased daily subscribers
Workshops
Take your practice further with Workshops
Although our teachers possessed very sizeable followings on Insight Timer, there was no clear method for cross-promotion or engaging with followers. Our workshops project focussed on empowering teachers to sell multi-day workshops to boost their Insight Timer revenue. For the MVP, we used Zoom and Stripe to release the feature and gauge its uptake among our community. As a result, some very new teachers started to sell out at high ticket prices on the platform, building a very healthy recurring revenue from Insight Timer.
KPI: MoM growth in Marketplace revenue
2
Frontend releases
46
Backend releases
Website Redesign
Moving our large free library over to web
It was a 3-month endeavour to move our full application over to the web, replacing the previous marketing site. The aim was for the new website to serve as a funnel into the app, boosting downloads and allowing users to register via the web. This project significantly increased scope for invitations and content sharing, since it allowed us to display design flows that were previously locked behind an app installation.
It was a 3-month endeavour to move our full application over to the web, replacing the previous marketing site. The aim was for the new website to serve as a funnel into the app, boosting downloads and allowing users to register via the web. This project significantly increased scope for invitations and content sharing, since it allowed us to display design flows that were previously locked behind an app installation.
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
“Andy is definitely one the most talented designers i have worked with. He has so much experience and deep understanding about mobile app design. As an engineer, I always wanted to implement whatever masterpiece he designed asap. So glad to have the opportunity to get to know him and work with him.”
Demin LiHead of Data & Analytics (Same team)
“Andrew always showed diligence and care in managing the design team and our workload. He is not only a talented designer but a great design leader with creative idea's and strategy! I'm thankful for his teachings and guidance whilst working together, as well as his approachable demeanour within the workplace.”
Emily TierneyGraphics Designer (Direct report)
“Andrew creates an astonishing design, especially around Mobile UI and has a solid work ethic with the design team. He leads the design team with ease and looks after individual growth at the same time. I was lucky enough to work with Andrew and learned his design approach on various projects at Insight Timer.”
Kocha WSenior Product Designer (Direct report)
“I've worked with Andy for a few years, and he's not only a talented designer but also a great leader. I've seen him implement robust design systems to speed up development whilst also focusing on the individual growth of his team. Whilst Andy is focused on design, he also has a strong understanding of product development and factors business requirements into his designs.”
Daniel MunozProduct Manager (Same team)
“Andrew and I work closely together and has directly supported me now at Insight Timer for a couple of years. He is enthusiastically creative and has truly inspired me from day one with his breathtaking design skills. He has a unique ability to produce flawless designs in no time that have been thoroughly considered. I always loved hearing his approach to design and enjoyed working side-by-side. The design team grew tremendously under his leadership at Insight Timer. As a manager Andrew is compassionate and helpful through difficulties and twists and turns, and at the same time always asks the hard questions to lead the team to the right decisions. He gives the team plenty of independence, but also provides the context needed to do better work, and always has advice for design and a lot of brilliant ideas.”
Kate TrifoDesign System Lead (Direct report)
