Product Designers at GitLab are strategic partners in the product development process. We work in trios with Product Management and Engineering to shape user experiences from concept to delivery, positioned upstream to drive product decisions with user-centered thinking.
Product Design is a core discipline within UX and Upstream Studios, GitLab’s full-stack experience organization. Together with UX Research, Technical Writing, and Design System, we ensure the GitLab product is productive, minimal, and human.
Product Designers at GitLab work in close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering as strategic partners in trios. Depending on the scope and nature of the work, designers are either aligned to specific stage groups or work on cross-cutting platform initiatives.
Stage-aligned designers immerse themselves in specific product areas, becoming experts in user workflows and solving real customer problems within their assigned domains.
Project-based designers work on platform-wide strategic initiatives—Design System, navigation, settings, and other cross-cutting experiences that span multiple groups or operate independently.
All Product Designers, regardless of assignment model, contribute to:
Product Designers work as managers of one, collaborating with peers and managers to manage their capacity and deliver results. For a detailed view into how Product Designers work, review the Product Designer workflow page.
For team member assignments and product areas, visit the product category page.
Product Designers work in trios with Product Management and Engineering as equal strategic partners, positioned upstream in the product development process. We’re involved in Interlock planning from the start—shaping strategy, not just executing on decisions already made.
Within the trio, Product Managers define the “what” and “why” to lead product direction, Product Designers define “how” the direction is experienced and how users interact with the product, and Engineers define “how” the product is built. As the DRIs for design decisions, we are entrusted with the authority of design judgment. We have a strong point of view on how users should experience the product and use that perspective to drive product decisions—challenging assumptions, advocating for users, and simplifying aggressively before features are built.
Our process begins with understanding the problem and prioritizing for the best user experience. When additional constraints or insights arise—technical considerations, marketing strategies, or differing opinions from counterparts—we collaboratively evaluate and adjust our designs accordingly. We consider all perspectives thoughtfully, but as the design DRIs, we make the final call on design decisions. We proactively communicate how constraints impact our designs and what changes will affect users.
Effective partnership with Product Design means:
This strategic positioning means we define clear success criteria and hold the line on quality with evidence. We work across teams on platform-wide experiences, not just isolated features. We ship to learn, measure impact, and improve based on real customer behavior. And critically, we’re positioned to say “no” or “not like this” before engineering starts, not after.
Success is collaborative and accountability is mutual. We win together.
We aim for sophisticated simplicity—balancing structure, discovery, and capability to create experiences that reduce friction for basic functionality while providing quick access to powerful features.
Our design principles are outlined in the Pajamas Design System and guide all product design work.
Product Design and Design System are led by Valerie Karnes, Senior Director of Product Design, who reports to Jonah Sterling, Chief Design Officer.
The Product Design leadership team includes a Director of Product Design, Senior Product Design Managers, and Product Design Managers supporting designers across stage groups and platform initiatives.
Learn more about UX leadership, Upstream Studios leadership, and view team member assignments.
49bdccb8)
