Zendesk brand refresh

Link to work: https://www.zendesk.com/ https://www.zendesk.com/service/

Role: Program manager

Project summary:

Zendesk was undergoing a brand refresh, completely changing all aspects of the previous brand to create a brand worthy of a maturing company. This included: a new color palette, typography, imagery style, illustration style, the inclusion of animation and a new company positioning. The new brand was outlined to launch at the yearly Relate event, live in front of customers and prospects.

As a program manager, I was tasked with developing a program plan and laddering up project plans to create a comprehensive outline of how a multiyear brand refresh would be executed from conception to launch. Additionally, I was responsible for producing the program’s digital/web portion, which served as the first and largest touchpoint for the launch.

Due to time constraints, the digital design team had to synthesize a web style of all the new elements while they were in still in flight. I designed a plan that allowed for information to be shared between teams so that work was constantly flowing from concept to design. The ” Greenhouse” design system was rebuilt with these new elements and a ongoing plan was made to shift existing pages to the new design components and grid.

Timeline:

Blockers:

• There was a strong concern from senior leadership about a major redesign impacting customer conversions. The team needed to produce designs that followed a “do no harm” approach and a plan to test into more cutting edge work.
  • Solution: I worked with the engineering end experimentation teams to develop testing timelines for qualitative UserTesting, A/B tests pre and post launch and analytics trackers. These were coordinated with enough time to reach statistical significant data that was validated to senior leadership.
  • I developed a communications and review process for post launch to continue to iterate on the brand refresh with ledership approval.
• Leadership approval was needed up to the board of directors, therefore, a comprehensive review structure needed to be established.
  • Solution: I created a communications plan that was tailored to each group in the RACI based on their level of interaction. Async weekly updates were provided to VPs to allow them to provide direction and follow along with the process which made them more comfortable in supporting the work to the CMO and board of directors as needed.
• Regional leads voiced concerns about the brand refresh impacting engagement and conversions as they utilize areas of the site differently than the AMER region.
  • Solution: I facilitated sessions with regional leads to collect their concerns, requirments and areas of impact with the changing web style. Monthly I would meet with regional leads and engineers to keep them informed of the work and highlight any tasks that would need to be added to the backlog to not negatively impact their funnel. All backlog items were then brought to the program owner to review, negotiate and approve my plan for addressing the change in scope if necessary.

Key results

• A/B testing reached statistical significance and the data was in line with the parameters set by the CMO in order to launch.
• Impacts to regional websites were minor including countries with specifc regional requirments such as Japan and Korea.
• The Relate event was scheduled for the same time as the brand refresh launch. There was a significant uptick in webpage traffic during the months of May and June allowing for max reach of the new branding.
• Strong partnerships were developed with engineering and web teams to build and maintain the new design system moving forward.

Personal successes:

• Led a major program that impacted the company OKRs and Creative team innitiatives
• Prepared and led reviews with c-staff across verticles, working to align them to a common goal. Built trust with the CMO to push the project over the finish line.
• Created a strong foundation for the second iteration of the Greenhouse design system. Established processes that would incorporate systems maintence into future projects and built standards and agreements with the engineering team to foster continued iteration.
• Fostered a strong, supportive program team enviornemnt and resourced based on need and interests. This allowed team members to lean into work they were truly excited about and build new skills in a project that was very conceptual.