I owned the product. I also fixed it in the codebase.
Seven years designing inside IBM product teams — across five products, from IBM MQ through to leading Asset Explorer as sole designer from concept to GA. When the design-to-engineering handoff broke down, I used AI to contribute fixes directly into the codebase myself.
End-to-end product ownership on a technically complex, enterprise platform — as the sole designer, with no structure to lean on and no one to wait on. I defined the problem, shaped the solution, worked directly with engineering, and shipped it. When the process broke down, I didn't raise a ticket — I fixed it myself. That's what it looks like to own a product end-to-end without a safety net.
The story
Asset Explorer GA
IBM webMethods Hybrid Integration spans 11 capabilities, each producing assets with value beyond their original context. But there was no unified way to discover, understand, or reuse them — valuable work stayed hidden behind capability silos and tribal knowledge.
As the sole designer, I led Asset Explorer from concept to GA — a cross-platform discovery experience for the ecosystem. I defined a realistic MVP from an ambitious vision, aligned stakeholders, made difficult prioritisation calls, and advocated for the experiences that would deliver the most value first.
Shipping code as a designer
Joining a newly acquired team as the sole designer, I faced a familiar scaling problem: too many visual defects, too little time before release. Manual review and Jira workflows weren't keeping pace.
I introduced AI-assisted fixes directly within the codebase — fitting into established engineering workflows rather than disrupting them. I became the first designer in the organisation to contribute production code this way, then shared the approach across the wider design org. The result: a faster path to quality and a stronger design–engineering partnership.
