Vision and Strategy
This page explains what strategic positioning means for each discipline, how we’re building it through three foundational pillars, and how to partner with us effectively.
What strategic looks like for each discipline
Strategic positioning means different things for each discipline, but the core shift is the same: being upstream, where decisions get made.
Product Design
Strategic Product Designers are involved in Interlock planning from the start, not after direction is set. We have a strong point of view on user workflows and use that perspective to drive product decisions.
This means:
- Simplifying aggressively and challenging assumptions before features are built
- Working as a connected team with platform-wide perspective
- Having clear success criteria to advocate for quality with data
- Room for experimentation and vision work, not just execution
- Being positioned to say “no” or “not like this” before engineering starts
UX Research
Strategic UX Research validates or disproves hypotheses before teams commit to direction, not after building has started. Research drives what we build and shapes how the entire company approaches decision-making.
This means:
- Proactive experiments designed to understand users before problems emerge
- Workflows analyzed before they become issues
- Methodologies developed that influence company-wide processes
- Impact expanding across both product and brand
Technical Writing
Strategic Technical Writing focuses words where they create direct product impact—guiding users exactly where and when they need it most. Technical Writers are involved in product design early enough to influence where guidance lives and how it’s delivered.
This means:
- Expertise shapes the product experience, not just documents it
- Words deployed at the beginning of the process
- Direct influence on product decisions through documentation clarity
Design System
Strategic Design System work delivers platform-wide patterns and production code that sets the foundation everyone builds on. The team ships cross-cutting experiences that no single product team owns.
This means:
- Expanding capability to deliver code beyond components
- Platform-wide thinking that drives standards proactively
- Setting strategic patterns that enable velocity and consistency
Brand
Strategic Brand establishes one consistent language across web, collateral, support, education, technical docs, and product. Brand creates customer love and trust proactively, not just supporting launches already planned.
This means:
- Expanding visual vocabulary before campaigns require it
- Enforcing consistency as gatekeepers of the experience
- Telling stories that shape brand perception strategically
How we get there: three pillars
Our strategic positioning is built on three foundational pillars:
1. Identity - being seen as strategic partners
We operate as Upstream Studios—one unified organization that sets the pace. Each discipline maintains its distinct identity and expertise, but together we represent strategic partnership.
The name matters. Strategic partners are upstream—at the source, where things begin, where ideas originate, where direction gets set. Identity shapes how others see us and how we see ourselves.
2. Process & structure - operating strategically
Strategic positioning requires strategic processes:
We optimize for creativity and quality through:
- Longer lead times that allow for exploration
- Clearer objectives upfront
- Workflows that position us at the beginning of planning
- Clear success criteria and shared definitions of done
- Data to advocate for quality
Our structure enables strategic work through:
- Project-based work alongside group-level assignments
- Stage-level collaboration for platform-wide thinking
- Specialists who coach and elevate work across teams
- Strategic bets and investments in high-impact areas
3. Experimentation and platform thinking - thinking strategically
Strategic partners proactively explore, experiment, and push thinking forward:
- Building libraries of tested patterns
- Creating vision work for tomorrow’s users
- Platform-wide thinking, not just feature-level work
- Psychological safety to share early, rough work
- Cross-timezone collaboration that elevates quality before execution
Strategic thinking is messy. We collaborate early with rough explorations, not late with polished work.
Building strategic connections
Strategic work requires collaboration across disciplines and geographies:
- Designer-to-designer connections: Strong internal collaboration as foundation for external partnerships
- Regional design studios: Opportunities to work together in person
- Cross-discipline collaboration: Research informs design, design systems enable development, documentation guides success, brand creates meaning
We’re the connective tissue across GitLab—unified by shared commitment to exceptional customer experiences.
Strategic work in action
Examples of strategic, upstream work:
- Platform-wide Settings initiative: Cross-cutting experience improvements no single team owns
- Navigation redesign: Foundational information architecture work spanning the entire product
- Design System expansion: Proactive pattern development that enables velocity
- Cross-brand research: Understanding users before launching campaigns
- Vision work: Branch rules, merge request flows, and future-facing explorations
These aren’t tactical executions—they’re strategic initiatives that shape GitLab’s direction.
How to partner with Upstream Studios
For Product Managers:
- Involve design in Interlock planning from the start
- Define success criteria together before execution begins
- Create space for exploration and experimentation
- Value the strategic POV design brings to product decisions
For Engineering:
- Collaborate on technical feasibility early in the process
- Partner on implementation quality, not just handoffs
- Contribute to design system patterns
- Share feedback on what works and what doesn’t
For Marketing:
- Engage Brand on storytelling before campaigns lock
- Leverage research insights for audience understanding
- Maintain consistency through Slippers design system
- Partner early on visual language and narrative
For Everyone:
- Bring us upstream—at the beginning, not the end
- Trust the expertise each discipline brings
- Create space for messy, early collaboration
- Measure success by customer outcomes, not output volume
Our commitment
We’re committed to being strategic partners who:
- Ship experiences that matter from research to production
- Think platform-wide beyond individual features
- Collaborate early when ideas are still rough
- Advocate with data for quality and user needs
- Move fast while maintaining craft standards
From research insights to production code, from brand narrative to technical documentation—we own the complete stack and deliver it upstream.
Learn more
- How we work: Our principles, manifesto, and approach
- Product Design: Workflows and practices
- UX Research: Research methodologies and impact
- Technical Writing: Documentation philosophy
- Design System: Pajamas and platform patterns
- Brand: Brand strategy and Slippers design system
For GitLab team members: See our internal vision document for additional context on our strategic transformation and organizational direction.
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