VP of Product Design, Talks Career Journey in the Digital Space
Eric Centeno is the VP of Product Design at TripActions which is the leading global business travel platform. Eric is a Designer and Creative Leader with over 20 years of experience in the digital space. In this profile, he talks about his path to leadership and how companies can build a more inclusive and diverse design culture.
Career Journey
Can you share a bit about your career journey to leadership as a VP of Product Design?
I always start by letting folks know I’m from Philadelphia, I think it says a lot about my personality, and I proudly wear it on my sleeve. I spent my formative years drawing, reading comics, listening to hip-hop and playing video games. I always assumed I’d do one of those things as a career, then my parents bought me Mario Paint,
I got to play with Photoshop at a friends house and the rest was history.
My first real job in the industry was at Okayplayer, a community based website and agency founded by Questlove of The Roots. During my time there I led creative, crafting experiences mostly
in flash for artists like Common, Montel Jordan, Dru Hill, and The Roots.
I freelanced for a bit before joining a small startup in Philly (I was employee #4) which was rare at the time. I was there for over 9 years where I led a multidisciplinary design team, helped grow the company to over 100+ employees, and exponentially grew the user base. After 9+ long years, I decided to embark on a new journey and headed out west to work for Disney in their Labs group, which was an amazing experience working with some of the most talented artists and thinkers.
I then moved up to NorCal and landed at Slack. My time at Slack was incredible, I learned so much from my peers, leadership, and execs. During my tenure I led Growth, the entire design team as Interim Head of Design, and the Foundations team. I learned the true value of operations, process, being a translation layer between leadership and design, etc.
Today I lead design at TripActions, taking all the things I’ve learned over my career around a customer first approach, quality design, process and operations, mentorship, and am applying them. It’s been a fun, sometimes hard journey, but I couldn’t be more excited about trying to take all the things I’ve learned in my career and applying them to the Design team.
“I learned the true value of operations, process, and being a translation layer between leadership and design.”
What does your typical work day look like?
I’m an early riser and typically like to get started before everyone else. Doing so typically gives me large chunks of uninterrupted time to thoughtfully respond to any unanswered Email or Slack messages, and time to focus on deep work. Before any of that
work happens I need coffee… I would say I'm a Latte enthusiast,
I typically have 3 a day and need to have one before I get started (Heart is my fav roaster).
The deep work usually comes in the form of Design org initiatives, hiring plans, process, cross-functional (XFN) planning, strategizing on top company priorities, etc… Once folks start showing up, and the day actually begins my time is typically split between Design reviews, team meetings, XFN reviews, and 1:1 meetings. Roughly 75% of my day is spent on Zoom.
Leadership Development + Growth
What will you bring to your company after COVID that you learned and didn’t know/practice before?
Fully remote work is here, and it’s very real. As with anything there are pros and cons, but it’s clearly evident that teams can thrive and be productive (maybe more so) remotely. I think there’s still quite a bit of work to do in replacing the face-to-face interactions and hallway conversations, but I think that’s a fixable problem. In reality I think a lot of Designers / XFN partners were over-indexing on the necessity of meetings and not enough time focusing on deep, heads down work.
How do you maintain a strategic mindset when dealing with any unknowns or problems?
I can’t speak for other disciplines, but in my experience as a Design Leader, being receptive and responsive to change is key. In this industry nothing is a given, and there are always pivots, fire drills, and new company initiatives. Being able to navigate and apply a “whatever it takes” mindset is typically more successful than being rigid and stubborn in the face of change.
That said, it’s incredibly hard to do unless you know your organization's approach to solving problems. Do you index on internal POV, test multiple iterations and measure, or release quickly to gather feedback then adjust, and so on. Being clearly aligned on how you intend to tackle that change with your Product and ENG partners is paramount.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
What advice do you have for companies to build a more diverse and inclusive design culture? What does that mean to you?
Invest in potential. Build an org where you can bring in skilled, highly motivated folks that may not be the most experienced, but who you will help mentor, and grow. Underrepresented folks haven’t had the same opportunities. Find ways to change your hiring profile, to accommodate for that fact. Culture starts with people, so it’s about hiring / building a team with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Personally (selfishly) it makes me more comfortable being my natural self at work when I’m with a diverse group of people. It removes the expectation of us all “showing up” in the same way. It is also hugely beneficial to the products we build, as it brings perspectives that are different from what we are accustomed to in tech.
ModelExpand: ModelExpand is an inclusive recruiting strategy firm that helps companies build diverse and inclusive workplaces through strategic consulting, workshops, and events. Join our upcoming Inclusive Recruiting Bootcamp series that begins on October 23 to learn how to adjust key parts of the hiring process in order to build a more diverse talent pipeline. Learn more here.
