Smartsheet
Lead Product Designer
2020–2021
Company Profile
Company Size
2,000
Team Size
3
Domain
Work Management & Automation
Company Stage
Public
Customer Scale
99K+
Revenue
$386M FY21
Summary
At Smartsheet, I led three core product pillars—workflow automation, document generation, and navigation—while mentoring a designer and researcher through the shift to distributed work. I launched the Workflow Template Library and v1 Document Builder, led discovery for a major search-and-browse redesign, contributed to the Lodestar design system, and helped automated workflow creation increase 30% in the first month with continued 3% month-over-month growth.
Building community
I was peer-nominated to co-lead Smartsheet’s AAPI employee resource group during the pandemic, amid a sharp rise in anti-Asian hate. As a founding member, I helped shape its charter and build community at a time when many AAPI colleagues felt isolated—particularly around moments like Lunar New Year. I felt a personal responsibility to create space for connection and belonging when our community was facing hostility beyond the workplace. I’ve selected a few workshop and planning artifacts from that effort.
Chris is a passionate and influential leader. With his mentorship, I’ve learned helpful frameworks to evaluate myself and my career goals, and how to navigate my career growth. Not only is he a great listener, but he asks questions that help me reflect, and the conversation always ends on a positive note. I’m grateful to learn from him, and he inspired me to give back to the community.
Janel Wong
Senior Product Designer
Smartsheet
Automated Workflows
Make the first workflow feel achievable
Automated workflows had an 80% drop-off rate after the first click due to the significant learning curve. I led the initiative to create an animated library of common workflows for users to select from. The feature increased workflows created by 30% in the first month and drove continued 3% month-over-month growth during its first six months.
Chris did a great job balancing a demanding situation with a short ramp-up time while supporting multiple projects on multiple teams at once. He brought a fresh perspective right away, identified process inefficiencies, and helped codify decision-making processes to expedite the time from concept to dev-ready design.
Scott Tewel
Director of Product Management
Smartsheet
Document Builder
From sheet data to dependable documents
I led Smartsheet’s Document Builder from inception to launch. Content creation was a strategic investment for the legal and administrative markets; Document Builder saves time and removes error-prone steps by mapping fields in a sheet to a fillable PDF form. Customers can scale their data and generate documents for one or more datasets without leaving Smartsheet.
Chris is a strong advocate for quality design, holding himself and others to the highest of standards, both in design and in collaboration. He works to strategize and prioritize design needs, partnering strategically with cross-functional partners to craft user-informed designs that lead to effective and impactful products. He also mentors designers earlier in their careers, encouraging deep thought and helping them build a diverse toolkit.
Crystal Morey
Sr. Manager, UX Research
Smartsheet
Search & Browse
A direction the organization could carry forward
I led one of Smartsheet’s largest navigation changes and spearheaded discovery research while mentoring a junior designer on the project. The work has not yet gone GA, but I authored both a PRFAQ and a Design Vision document so the team could carry it forward.
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