Helen Keighron

Helen Keighron, Director of Product Design at HubSpot, is focused on leading and scaling multi-disciplinary UX teams. HubSpot’s UX organization numbers in the 160s and growing, and the team’s dedicated work has helped small businesses grow, driven unprecedented NPS growth, and cemented HubSpot’s ease of use advantage over other CRM platforms. Helen is hiring roles at all levels, so you should probably get in touch. She lives in Massachusetts with her family and unruly cats.

For more, keep up with Helen on Twitter as @helenpremium.

Presentations

Leadership By Design 2021

Dear Design Leader – Explanations & Experiences with Leading Designers

​​Leadership isn’t easy, and finding someone to ask questions to, or to give coaching and advice can sometimes be a challenge. Fear not, design leader,  Maria and Helen, along with Meena as guide and expert interjector, will address your burning question about design, leadership, design leadership, and likely a few other things.

Leadership By Design 2020

Leading With Discomfort

Originally I’d planned to discuss the systems that keep HubSpot’s 120 person UX team focused on the right things for our customers. Then the world tilted back in March, and 2020 has served up a series of unprecedented obstacles.

So how did those systems fare under the extreme pressure test of working with needy pets, homeschooled kids, and a constant thrum of anxiety and grief? So far, it turns out that leaning into these challenges with vulnerability and transparency proved to be our greatest leadership tool, and our culture is our most important “system” of all. I’ll share how external turmoil has shaped my framework for allocating leadership attention across infrastructure, process, culture, impact, and vision. Sometimes you have to fall apart to truly come together.

Leadership By Design 2019

Designing Your Leadership Career Search

When we interview for a new role, design leaders frequently are not screened and evaluated the way other leaders in a company might be. In my most recent search, I tapped into a vast network of other design leaders and solicited their best advice. I leveraged their advice so effectively that well-known companies fought for me based on my skills as a leader, not a maker.

When design leaders search for new opportunities we are confronted with a market that doesn’t know where to place us internally or how to hire us. We face well-intentioned yet naïve requests for artifacts and exercises, all while being evaluated by people who don’t know what good design leadership looks like. I’ll regale you with tales from my experiences so we can all learn to elevate the design leadership hiring process!