Meet Renann Silva (he/him), a Senior Product Designer II based in Amsterdam. Passionate about all things design, Renann loves exploring how effective design can be in solving problems related to usability, connectivity, and overall user experience. Renann is also on HubSpot’s Disability Alliance planning committee for Disability Pride Month this year and is dedicated to breaking down the stigma around ADHD. Read on to learn more about Renann, a typical day in his role, and more.
Tell us about your role as a Senior Product Designer. What do you do for HubSpot?
As a Senior Product Designer II on the Flywheel Product Line, my main focus is supporting our internal sales representatives. I collaborate closely with business partners to develop a design strategy that enhances our systems and improves the overall experience for our sales team. This enables them to work more efficiently and form more meaningful relationships with our clients.
What does collaboration look like on your team?
Collaboration is a key aspect of my role. I regularly collaborate with our internal business partners, as well as teams in development, data science, and data analysis, and other product teams. Through this collaboration, I’m able to gain insights from different perspectives, priorities, and research. This open communication with various teams is a crucial strategy in effectively managing my priorities and sharing progress with them.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
I have a strong passion for design strategy and conducting discovery. It brings me great joy to engage with our internal sales representatives. Gaining insight into their daily tasks, and developing a strong understanding of their obstacles. By closely collaborating with our sales teams, I can thoroughly explore their challenges, rapidly construct designs, and acquire feedback to enhance the solution and decrease difficulties during development.
What do you find the most challenging part of your job?
Sometimes, we have to make trade-offs to focus on what needs to be delivered. It's not always possible to complete every task, so we must make decisions that benefit everyone and bring us closer to our goals. Having a method for prioritizing features helps us to stay focused on our outcomes. However, we sometimes are faced with hard decisions to make faster progress.
What are a few ways you balance work and life? How does HubSpot’s flexibility/hybrid work style help with this?
To start my day, I enjoy taking a brisk walk and exercising whenever I feel motivated. I also make a point to plan out my tasks for the day to avoid overwhelming myself. I find satisfaction in creating lists and checking off completed tasks.
Throughout the day, I take short breaks to rejuvenate and spend time with my cats. I have also experimented with methods like the Pomodoro Technique to establish a balance between work and breaks. If I start to feel overwhelmed, I communicate with my manager for assistance and reassess my priorities. To maintain a healthy work-life balance, I keep my work separate from life and disconnect from it once I am done for the day.
What are the top three things you love about your role and team?
What I appreciate most about HubSpot is the level of flexibility it offers. I have the freedom to steer my own work process and the independence to be my authentic self, which is respected by everyone. It's always enjoyable to have a good time with my team, and attending in-person events like PEER Week in Dublin allows us to connect face-to-face and foster strong professional relationships.
How are you able to bring your whole self to work every day?
By maintaining a curious attitude and continuously learning about the business, processes, and how I can improve as a designer. I allow myself to make mistakes and learn from them. I recognize that I won't always have all the answers or know the exact direction to take, but I consistently seek feedback and support from peers to enhance my skills and deliverables.
How do you solve for the customer?
By working with our internal teams and understanding their challenges to best connect with our customers. We want to empower our teams to help customers achieve their goals, and supporting sales teams is a way for us to connect problems with solutions in a streamlined way so our sales reps can be efficient while engaging with customers.
What has made your job at HubSpot different from other places you’ve worked?
What sets our company apart from others is our HEART culture. Our work is deeply rooted in our HEART values, which bring a sense of fulfillment to everything we do. This culture serves as the basis for our approach and allows us to bring value to our internal teams. Being a part of this exceptional community and culture is truly energizing!
Tell us about any communities at HubSpot you’re a part of.
Neurodiversity, LGBTQ Alliance and Healthy@HubSpot.
What surprised you most about working at HubSpot?
HubSpot has remarkable autonomy and an unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion. Everyone fully embraces their individual identities and works hard to create an inclusive atmosphere. empowers us to excel and produce our most exceptional work.
What keeps you at HubSpot?
What keeps me at work is the opportunity to collaborate with talented and innovative individuals who constantly challenge the status quo. As a passionate designer, I thrive in environments that push me out of my comfort zone because I believe that true growth happens there. I am driven by the excitement of creating exceptional experiences and the continuous learning that comes from working with a team that is dedicated to excellence.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone wanting to become a HubSpotter?
Focus on your users, embrace the uncertainties that come with solving a problem, and find joy in the process of discovery. At HubSpot, it's important to have the courage to navigate through unfamiliar territory. This is a normal part of the job, but we must be willing to embrace the unknowns and seek out answers that will inform our framework and strategy.
Keep a strong focus on the customer, as this is the foundation for driving business growth. Our goal is to deliver value to customers and internal teams, providing exceptional experiences for all involved.
Choose 3-4 words that describe your role at HubSpot
Autonomy, Friendship, Flexibility and Diversity
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