When I joined Smokeball in 2023, the product had scaled to US$50M ARR through a founder- and engineering-led approach. While effective early on, it had resulted in a feature-rich but fragmented user experience, with no dedicated design function. As the legal-tech market evolved and competitors invested in experience design and AI, Smokeball needed to shift toward a design-led, outcomes-driven, AI-first model. I was brought in to establish design and embed user-centred decision-making across the organisation.

Shortly after joining Smokeball, I partnered with the CPO to redesign the product organisation and establish a more balanced, outcome-focused model.

We evolved the existing “two-in-a-box” structure (Product Owner + Engineering) into a “three-in-a-box” model, positioning Product Management, Product Design, and Engineering as equal partners in shaping product direction and delivery.

As part of this shift:

• Existing Product Owners transitioned into a new dedicated Product Delivery function

• Product Managers were introduced to drive strategy and customer outcomes

• Product Management initially reported to me while we established the function and prepared for a future leadership role

Together, the CPO and I defined new roles, created job descriptions, hired and built out a new team of Product Designers, and Product Managers.

Over the following year, we aligned Product Design, Engineering, Product Delivery, Product Marketing, Customer Experience, and Customer Support—establishing more integrated ways of working across the organisation.

Impact

This transformation clarified ownership across product, design, and engineering, improved cross-functional collaboration, and enabled more consistent, outcome-driven product decision-making and laying a solid foundation for a design-led product organisation.