SaaS (software-as-a-service) product design directors are the cross-point between art and analytics, wielding user insights like a compass to guide product development. These leaders control teams of designers, researchers, and writers to create digital experiences that keep customers coming back for more. With both creativity and analysis-driven decisions, they turn otherwise complex software into tools that solve real-world problems.
Among these esteemed craftsmen is Ronit Cyjon, a skilled product design director leading one of the most widely used B2B SaaS platforms in the modern world. Today, she shares a few insights she has gleaned over her nearly two-decade career.
The Art of User-Centric Design
Product design directors immerse themselves in customer behavior, using sophisticated analytics to decode usage patterns and identify friction points. They work closely with cross-functional teams to turn these concepts into experiences that address user pain points. Analyzing metrics like churn rate and customer lifetime value, they can spot early warning signs of dissatisfaction and take swift action to remedy issues before they lead to customer departure. This, coming hand-in-hand with a more empathetic understanding of critical user needs, allows Ronit and her team to emphasize product love and much-coveted 'Aha!' moments.
"Always keep the user in mind. Practice, experience and perform tests to better understand your audience. Develop your 'muscle' so to speak, training the creative mind to make bold decisions. AI and data cannot be the be-all end-all of how you design. You need to dig deeper, balancing logic and emotions," explains Ronit.
Turning Insights into Action
The most effective design directors create customer feedback loops that refine the product experience. They establish organization-wide experience metrics and implement user sentiment analysis systems to track product perception. This type of data-based strategic thinking helps teams prioritize improvements that will significantly impact retention.
Personalization is among the most vital aspects when following this type of strategy. Research shows that 90% of consumers want to spend more with companies that personalize their services. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, technologically-driven design directors have found it easier to find and utilize quality insights from customers, especially in regards to quantification of said insights. This, in turn, helps them deliver the tailored experiences users seek.
Building Communities, Not Just Products
Outside of the product's groundwork, the leadership skills of modern SaaS designers must be flexed constantly. Ronit's belief is that effective, empathetic designers create vibrant user communities where customers become co-creators of the platform's development. Such collaboration elevates users from mere consumers to loyal participants in the product's journey.
"We want to create a product that solves real problems for real users. This way, it creates a self-sustaining partnership where the user helps the designer think of new avenues and opportunities for the product, further inspiring love for the product itself," says Ronit. "This also leads to better word-of-mouth virality, spreading the product to those that may also need it."
Cyjon, alongside her team, worked tirelessly at Elementor to the beat of this very philosophy. Together, they took the company from a simple WordPress plugin into a comprehensive SaaS platform serving 10 million+ web creators worldwide, with a whopping 11.8% of all websites making use of the software. Launching initiatives like seasonal content kits and creator accelerator programs, Cyjon's efforts have helped users build better websites–all while strengthening their connection to the platform.
The Future of Design Leadership
The role of SaaS product design directors continues to develop alongside their products. Today's leaders must balance multiple priorities: maintaining design excellence, driving business growth, and creating real emotional connections with users. To successfully do so, they need to have the taste, empathy and experience necessary to bring something new–something that resonates with those that need it.
"In order to truly master your craft, there needs to be a sense of good taste and intuition within you – something honed over years of empathetic experience and studying great design, technologies, arts, culture and products. Use it to evoke emotions with your users, to help them resonate with the product, to associate memories and feelings with it," says Ronit. "This is the job of a true designer. Emotions are mirrored. To guide the user is to understand them."
Ronit Cyjon's career, from award-winning brand designer to product design director, is the very picture of this concept. Her patents in visual clarity and AI-driven onboarding showcase how modern design leaders can integrate technology with aspects of art and design to build more intuitive, streamlined and striking platforms or products.
Her team's work has helped scale one of monday.com's rapid-growth CRM platforms from zero to 25,000 paying customers in just two years–all in a multi-products company crossing $1B in ARR, with 225k+ customers across 200+ industries in over 200 countries in 2024 alone.
"It is our responsibility to remind our people every day we are here to help our customers achieve their business goals," Cyjon emphasizes. A customer-first mindset, rigorous data analysis, and creative problem-solving have defined the new generation of SaaS design leadership.
Software is the very language of modern life, so these leaders play a central role in shaping how people work, collaborate, and create value in the digital age.
