Design Reach Program

How it Works

The program operates through two interconnected layers:

1. Centralized Expert Teams develop deep domain knowledge, create reusable frameworks, and establish standards that work across multiple product areas. These teams focus on strategic vision and cross-product consistency.
2. Embedded Domain Specialists work directly within product teams, applying the centralized expertise to specific product contexts. They implement frameworks developed by expert teams while maintaining deep knowledge of their product area’s unique requirements.

Each embedded specialist is paired with a specific member of the centralized expert team, creating a direct partnership for ongoing collaboration, guidance, and knowledge transfer.

The interconnected layers allow specialized knowledge to reach multiple product teams efficiently while ensuring implementations remain contextually appropriate.

Program Benefits

Efficient Expertise Distribution Domain knowledge developed by expert teams reach multiple product areas through embedded specialists, eliminating the need for each team to develop specialized capabilities independently.

Foster Complex Feature Development Product teams implement features using proven patterns and frameworks, reducing research and exploration time while maintaining quality standards.

Consistent User Experiences Related experiences across different product areas follow unified patterns within their domains, creating coherent user journeys rather than fragmented touchpoints.

Skills Development Across Teams Embedded specialists gain deep domain expertise through training and collaboration with expert teams, raising the overall design capability across the organization and creating growth opportunities for designers.

Business Impact Specialized design expertise translates to measurable improvements in conversion rates, feature adoption, and user satisfaction in complex product areas.

Team Structure and Responsibilities

Centralized Expert Teams

Expert teams focus on domain-wide strategy and knowledge development.

Key Activities:

• Develop strategic vision for their domain across product areas
• Create and maintain pattern libraries and design system extensions
• Establish ethics, accessibility, and quality standards
• Design and deliver training programs for embedded specialists
• Research emerging practices and evolving user needs

Embedded Domain Specialists

Embedded specialists apply expert team knowledge within their specific product contexts.

Key Activities:

• Implement domain frameworks within product workflows
• Design feature-level user experiences using established patterns
• Optimize implementations for their product area’s specific needs
• Coordinate with local stakeholders and engineering teams
• Provide feedback to expert teams based on implementation learnings

Domain Selection

The program supports domains that meet specific criteria to ensure focused investment in areas with maximum impact:

Strategic Business Importance Domains must directly influence key company metrics and be critical to GitLab’s competitive positioning, with opportunities for cross-product integration.

Specialized Knowledge Requirements Selected domains involve complex expertise not typically found in general product design, with rapidly evolving best practices that benefit from dedicated research.

Cross-Team Coordination Needs Domains must include features or experiences that span multiple product areas and benefit from consistent frameworks and coordinated implementation.

Sufficient Scale and Impact Selected domains must have enough scope to justify dedicated expert resources and offer opportunities to create reusable frameworks that benefit multiple teams.

Getting Involved

Domains Product teams interested in domain specialist support should work with their design leadership to assess whether their area meets the selection criteria and aligns with current program capacity and priorities.

Designers Designers are nominated to participate as Embedded Domain Specialists based on their product area’s alignment with program domains and their readiness for specialized skill development.

Selected designers participate in Skill Up-Level training programs and are paired with centralized team members for ongoing partnership and mentorship.

Current participation

The program currently supports AI, Growth, and Analytics with the following embedded domain specialists:

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