In recent years, there has been an increase in designers working across various fields, such as management, development, and product strategy. Among them, some choose to take on the challenge of diving head-first into small start-ups or companies where design has not yet taken root, seeking to demonstrate the value of design through their efforts. What do these so-called “first designers” think about and do on a daily basis?

We spoke with Ryuki Murakami, who is working as the first designer on the digital cognitive behavioral therapy app “Awarefy” for mental health care, about the initiatives and innovations he has undertaken, as well as the struggles and failures he has encountered.

A Designer Spanning the Engineering Domain

── Tell us about your career so far.

Murakami: I studied design at the Chiba University Faculty of Engineering Design Department (now Design Course) and joined BizReach Inc. as a new graduate. At BizReach, I was responsible for the product design of the “BizReach Campus” service for four years. Currently, I am working as the first designer for the digital cognitive behavioral therapy app “Awarefy” at Awarefy Inc. In addition to my role as a designer, I am also responsible for front-end implementation and have released an iOS app through personal development.

── What kind of service is “Awarefy,” which you are currently involved in developing?

Murakami: Awarefy is a digital cognitive therapy app that helps you develop skills to care for your mind. In a nutshell, it’s an app that helps you live as comfortably as possible while facing your daily stress. I think anyone can experience mental exhaustion from being overwhelmed by work or feeling strong stress. To prevent that state in the first place, we value recognizing and recording our own condition, so we can understand our own tendencies and patterns. By understanding our tendencies, we can take countermeasures, leading to a better way of life, and we develop the app daily based on this idea.

 The transition from a Large IT Company to a Startup

── Were you anxious about the challenge of jumping into the world of startups as the first designer from a larger company? Tell us about your motivation at the time.

Murakami: Of course, I was very anxious, but my motivation was to work for a company that was tackling issues that I felt were challenges. Around June 2021, I experienced mental exhaustion from taking on too much in both my work and personal life. I couldn’t comprehend the content of Slack messages, felt palpitations, and had a constant feeling of my engine running empty. Looking back, I simply hadn’t taken the time to care for my mind and body, and I personally felt the importance of rest. Since then, my interest in the mental health field has grown, and I came across Awarefy. There are several approaches to mental health, but I joined Awarefy because I deeply resonated with the approach of “enabling everyone to care for their own minds.”

── Despite feeling anxious, it seems your desire to “do it” was stronger, wasn’t it? Have your feelings changed since you joined the company?

Murakami: There have been ups and downs, but I’m always able to approach things with a positive attitude. I find myself constantly wanting to do more, to take on new challenges, which sometimes leaves me seriously worried about a lack of resources (laughs). On top of that, our organization has grown a bit since I joined, and it’s exciting to see more colleagues joining us.

However, being the only designer, I feel anxious knowing that my compromises could limit the potential of our product. At my previous job, we had two or three designers on the team, and we would review each other’s work. We would fill in any gaps in perspective by saying things like, “Yeah, that’s one way to look at it.” But now it’s just me, so I have to constantly question myself. It’s difficult and mentally draining to always have a critical eye on my own work, like, “Something feels off…” or, “But I’m running out of time, so how do I compromise?” In reality, I can’t consider all perspectives on my own. I’ve been getting feedback on my designs from Product Marketing Managers (PMM), Product Managers (PM), engineers, and our CEO, and their support has been incredibly helpful.

Challenges and Struggles as the First Designer

── What was the team structure like when you first joined?

Murakami: As of December 2022, we were a team of 15 people. The product team consisted of one PM, five engineers, myself as the only designer, and a licensed psychologist/clinical psychologist. One thing I found unusual was having a licensed psychologist/clinical psychologist on staff. They mainly handle things like designing content to help people learn about cognitive behavioral therapy. Having an expert who can provide feedback on our experiences and content is a huge reassurance.

── What was the first thing you worked on after joining the company?

Murakami: I started by getting to know the current state of the product while actively working on it. Before I joined, the product design was handled by the CTO and a contracted designer, so I started by taking over their work.

During my initial one-on-one with the CTO, I shared a skill map outlining my strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. Whenever there was a small task where I could use my skills, I would be asked to handle it.

Besides that, I tackled any task or problem that I thought I could solve right away. Specifically, these were some of the things I worked on:

• Improving the virtual office
• Creating eye-catching images for the media
• Implementing and adjusting the style of our owned media
• Taking photos for the corporate website

When I first joined, the team was preparing for a major release, so everyone was focused on that. Until the release, I was looking for things I could do on my own and addressing them. Through these actions, I was able to build relationships and trust within the team, which I think helped create a sense of comfort and trust that allowed them to delegate tasks to me.

── So you basically took on anything and everything. What kind of improvements did you make to the virtual office?

Murakami: At Awarefy, we use a virtual office called Gather, where we often have casual exchanges of ideas. Gather is a platform where you can connect with others through voice chat when you enter a particular area, and usually, all of our team members gather in a large meeting space.

Initially, the default Gather space we used when I joined the company had only 12 desks, as if there were 12 personal spaces. In an offline setting, it’s easy to casually say, “Excuse me, can I talk to you for a moment?” However, online, even though we’re in the same space, there’s a strange feeling and psychological hurdle that prevents us from speaking freely. I thought, “Why not take off these walls?” and that’s how our big meeting space came to be. Thanks to this change, we can hear other people’s conversations online, creating a casual space where other team members can join in and say, “Wouldn’t it be better to do it this way?”

── It’s a field like communication design. How did you discover what you could do?

Murakami: Before joining the company and during catch-up sessions, I casually voiced out areas I thought could be improved and took it upon myself to work on them. This pattern was exactly how I approached improving the cover images of our owned media and our virtual office.

I continue to tackle areas I can quickly resolve on my own. For instance, I recently replaced the icons in our app. In UI design, we have icons from multiple libraries, which don’t affect user operation but need to be standardized at some point to avoid becoming even more disorganized. Considering the scale, I believe it’s better to tackle such tasks sooner than later, so I rewrote the code. There are basic priorities for tasks, but as the first designer, I think it’s crucial to identify and eliminate areas that may become future liabilities, no matter how small.

── Have you felt any differences or gaps between large companies and startups since joining?

Murakami: The main difference is that with fewer overall staff, it’s easier to move around, and I can interact with almost everyone, which is great. Also, while this may not necessarily be a difference between larger companies and startups, real-life conversations make a big difference. My previous job was fully remote at the time of my tenure, but Awarefy has two office days per week. When you talk in person, it’s easier to get into the finer details and quickly build rapport. We often have abstract discussions at the office, and it’s smoother to organize these discussions while writing on a whiteboard when we’re face-to-face.

Growing as the First Designer

── Now you have been with the company for seven months, what are you currently working on?

Murakami: As the first designer, I’m essentially responsible for all design aspects related to the product. For communication design tasks like banners and landing pages, I collaborate with part-time contractors. If something suddenly becomes necessary or involves external events requiring coordination, I typically take charge.

Lately, I’ve been not only focusing on product design but also exploring the direction of the product, including strategy.

As part of this, I’ve created many drafts of the “product growth model” to align understanding between the CEO, marketing, product management, and designers. Even in a small team like ours, when each person writes down where they want to go in the medium to long term and where to focus now, we find that while we agree on the broad direction, our understanding can slightly differ. One of the greatest strengths of designers is visualization, so I’ve been working to align understanding by creating drafts and comparing them with team members.

In today’s world, we’re using models, like our Product Growth Model, as a base to strategize and design initiatives.

But that’s not all. We’re also considering and proposing North Star Metrics – these are key performance indicators that help us measure if our product is genuinely improving. We’ve even created a ‘Mental Health Issues Map’ to visualize the full scope of industry challenges. As we continually tidy up our product’s issues, we’re exploring what the future of our service should look like.

── Are there any challenges you face in your work?

Murakami: One of the main difficulties is shifting perspectives between micro and macro considerations. While it’s essential to think about the product’s issues and design from a broad, future-oriented macro perspective, we also need to resolve more immediate, numerical goals. The struggle lies in deciding what to prioritize and when, as well as how to proceed.

── You must communicate with many different professions, do you have any strategies to improve that communication?

Murakami: Well, I’m still figuring it out, but here are some approaches I’ve tried:

1. Making Figma viewable by everyone to get a wide range of feedback.
2. Creating a channel where everyone can freely suggest ideas about the product.
3. Conducting cross-team workshops.
4. Onboarding new members.

For the first point, I’ve made it a practice to freely share Figma projects, and if there’s something I’d like to discuss, I’ll share the link on Slack. Initially, I posted only to the product team, but when I mentioned, “If the marketing team is interested, feel free to look,” the feedback on the design flooded in within a couple of hours. We also use Miro for organizing thoughts and brainstorming at the abstract level, and we get feedback there too. It’s incredibly helpful to receive feedback from various perspectives.

The second point was just about creating a channel on Slack, but it’s a place where everyone can jot down ideas like, “It would be great if we had this feature!” The initiative came from myself being unsure about where to share my ideas. It’s a joy to see an idea spark a thread, which then escalates into a synergistic conversation and occasionally leads to new initiatives.

For the third point, we conducted a workshop to “define the personality of our service.” This came about when we realized through user interviews that “the words we use in the app connect to our core values.” While we had a vague shared understanding, it wasn’t explicitly stated. So, we decided to unify our communication stance based on a common understanding, hoping to provide more people with a sense of security and value. We started by conducting a survey on our internal perception of “Awarefy’s personality,” asking questions like, “Do we greet the user?” and “Do we use exclamation marks?” Based on the responses, we could see where our perceptions aligned or differed, and we used that as a basis for defining our service’s personality. This workshop served as an opportunity for everyone to develop a common understanding, which was a great outcome.

Part four of our onboarding process for new team members involves sharing what we like to call the “Awarefy persona” and the “mental health issue map”. The map is a compilation of the challenges in various fields of the mental health care industry, providing a comprehensive overview. We’ve designed it so that every member of Awarefy can have a shared understanding of the areas we’re supposed to be tackling. We gather and organize challenges from various perspectives like politics, psychology, the medical industry, and more, to get an accurate understanding of the industry as a whole. We’ve also incorporated this mental health issue map into our onboarding process for new members. I take the time to explain it personally, and I’ve been delighted to hear from new members that having access to the map has boosted their motivation. We’ve managed to create an environment where everyone understands the bigger picture of the industry.

The Expected Mindset

── So, Ryuki, what do you feel is expected of you by the company?

Murakami: First and foremost, I believe it’s to become someone who can systematically create designs that will excite our users and keep them engaged, especially in my role as lead designer. Plus, understanding areas like implementation and analysis, the engineering domains, is also important.

── Have there been instances where your opinion sparked a discussion?

Murakami: Yes, there have been. For instance, I suggested that we should place a feature that allows us to receive more user requests and feedback in a prominent place, like at the bottom of the home screen. We already had a contact feature, but it was basically for issues and malfunctions. I wanted to know more about the smaller, yet important needs of our users, which sparked the idea. The goal was to create a system where we could regularly receive user feedback without the development team having to actively collect it.

However, when you look at the data that users enter in this feature, it only includes the user ID and the content of the request, which is the same data we get from the contact feature. When I received feedback questioning, “Why should we differentiate this? Is it really necessary?” I was certain that they were missing the point.

── How did things evolve from there?

Murakami: I clearly expressed my opinion. I pointed out “A current contact form is a place for users who’ve encountered problems to struggle to reach and report. It would be better if we had a place where user voices could reach Awarefy more casually. Knowing that there are user requests and starting the design from there allows us to refine the user experience (UX) in more detail.” By clearly expressing my opinion and reasons, I was able to gain their understanding.

So, we had this request form all set up and running, and the results were pretty fantastic. The inquiries that used to trickle in at a rate of about one a month suddenly surged to a steady stream of a dozen or so a week through the request form. In the past six months, we’ve managed to gather around 500 pieces of user feedback. These aren’t just critical issues that would typically be submitted through a contact form; we’re talking about loads of minor but super important suggestions on usability. It’s like we’ve got this constant source of fresh insights, every single day.

── Now, is there something you’re particularly aware of when communicating with other professionals?

Murakami: Oh, absolutely. Besides ensuring clear communication and logical thought, I’m all about encouraging a mindset that values assertive opinions and lively debates. I believe it’s a real waste if we miss opportunities because we’re too shy to speak up. It could even lead to missed business opportunities, which is something I always bear in mind. So, I’m always reminding myself – if I don’t speak up, who will?

── Speaking of which, are there any initiatives you’re focusing on or have already started to speed up the design process within the company?

Murakami: Sure thing! One internal mechanism we’ve already kicked off is making sure the design tasks aren’t all falling onto one person (me).

For example, in our work on Figma, each team member takes on the tasks they can handle. Here at Awarefy, besides me, we’ve got a total of seven folks from marketing, public relations, psychology, product management, and engineering, who all have editing rights. They help design various things like mockup images for marketing campaigns and event slides, or cover images for our owned media, based on the templates I’ve created.

And it’s not just about app design. Our psychologists and product managers help by drafting writing proposals, and our engineers often suggest alternative design patterns they’ve thought up during implementation. So it’s not just the designer, everyone’s in on the design process.

Going forward, one initiative I really want to ramp up is creating a seamless connection between user feedback and development. Even when we’re working on features that could bring about major changes, we sometimes end up releasing them without conducting the user tests we originally planned, even after conducting user hearings and concept validations.

But, you know, startups have limited resources, and it’s important to figure out how to maneuver within these constraints. To make every shot count, we need to make it easy to gather user feedback and use that to inform our development decisions. It’s crucial to lay this groundwork. Luckily, we’re finally getting to the point where we can conduct four to five user hearings and user tests a week, constantly refining our hypotheses along the way.

So, in essence, I’d love to see us move towards a model where design isn’t just the realm of the designer. Instead, it should be a collaborative effort involving the whole team, and even the users, to create the product.

── Thanks for your time, Ryuki!