Nicolas Backal, UX
A designer who builds timeless products.
Hello, could you please introduce yourself ☺️
Hi, my name is Nicolas Backal. I'm a product designer with approximately a decade of experience in the field. Currently, I am a principal product designer at Okta in San Francisco.
I studied architecture and began my professional journey in the architecture industry. During this period, I was fortunate to work for some of the world's most renowned architecture firms, contributing to diverse projects including high-rise buildings, tech company headquarters, and numerous single-family residences. However, my lifelong passion for technology has led me to collaborate with various startups from a young age. I've engaged in activities such as product development, creating digital artwork, and crafting digital user experiences for these innovative ventures. Shortly after relocating from Mexico City to the Bay Area, I got the opportunity to become a product designer for a nonprofit medical startup, and that’s where my career in tech officially started. Today, I’m a principal product designer at Okta, where I lead design for a new business unit looking to ship a new product to the market.
In your own words, how do you describe Okta?
Okta is an identity and access management company. Why is this important? Because in today's world, we all use a lot of different apps for work. And it can be a pain to keep track of all the different username and passwords. Not to mention the security risk of using weak passwords or reusing the same password for multiple apps. Whenever you're trying to access all your applications to be successful at your job, Okta will help you access those applications securely, safely, and hopefully smoothly as well.
I've been at Okta for five years and have been lucky to work with amazing people on different aspects of our business. My deep-seated passion lies in the dynamics of human interaction, a quality I infuse into my contributions at this organization. My goal is to craft products that simplify and enhance people's ability to collaborate and exchange information seamlessly.
Could you describe your journey of transitioning from architecture to the field of technology?
I'm a native of Mexico City, where I earned my bachelor's in architecture. After working as an architect there for several years, I moved to San Francisco. While the city is renowned for its tech industry, my initial move was prompted by an architecture job offer. Interestingly, I also dabbled in design work for tech startups on the side. Some years later, I made a decision to shift into product design, following my passion. It's worth noting that the human-centered design approach to cross-team collaboration in both architecture and product design share a similar design mindset. And I loved the connection! Of course, there are differences between architecture and product design. But at the end of the day, the basis of being a designer and how you approach a problem is the same.
“Some years later, I made a decision to shift into product design, following my passion. It’s worth noting that the human-centered design approach to cross-team collaboration in both architecture and product design share a similar design mindset. And I loved the connection! ”
How would you define a principal designer?
I've been asked the same question before a few times. How do you define a principal designer versus other roles or other levels depending on the company? There's a gray line between different roles and different levels. The way I like to approach a definition of a principal designer is in relation to the problem they're trying to solve or they're designing for. Let me unpack the responsibilities of each level:
Entry level product designer. The designer’s focus is on executing tasks according to predefined requirements. The problem has already been comprehended, and the requirements have been established.
Senior product designer. The designer establishes consensus by collecting, synthesizing, and overseeing design input, while collaborating with colleagues and stakeholders to produce concrete outcomes.
Staff product designer. This transition represents a substantial shift, as it now requires the designer's active involvement in defining the problem right from the outset.
Principal product designer. The designer has to fully engage in strategic decision-making, crafting a vision, and assuming a leadership position within the team.
How does your team define the ladder of each position?
That is a great question. Okta has clear expectations for each level, but in my current workplace, it's entirely up to you how much you want to challenge yourself and advance in your career. There are always opportunities to explore and find areas that spark your interest. That's similar to my story; I actively sought out new opportunities and pushed myself to grow as a designer.
One way to conceptualize career growth is as if there's a ladder with descriptions and expectations for each role. However, in reality, individuals aren't exclusively suited for just one level. You might find yourself at a staff level for prototyping, more junior in front-end coding, and even senior for research related responsibilities. The growth isn't linear. It's more like a spiderweb, with different paths and opportunities depending on your skills, experience, and interests. In my opinion, don't get too caught up in titles or levels. Focus on doing your best work and solving problems, and the rest will follow.
Have you worked on a principal level project before being promoted?
Yes, I've been involved in several projects that contributed to my promotion. This is a common practice in many companies, and it was also the case for my previous promotions. What I mean by that is usually you're already working at a higher level before you get promoted into it. You already cross the line on your own before your manager or leadership realize like, “oh yeah, they should probably be promoted.”
When I joined Okta, I started as a senior product designer in the end user experience team. My team and I helped our customers to go through Okta in order to be able to access the applications to complete their job. The first thing that I worked on with my product manager was setting up a vision for our area. During the time, we realized that we had clarity in the short-term goals and tasks for the team, but honestly we had no clear idea where we were going. You know, it felt like we had a wide-open field of possibilities ahead of us. The guidance we received from our leadership was, "Your team, your territory. Let us know where you think we should guide this ship." So we dedicated several months to crafting a vision. We generated excitement for this vision, developed a roadmap, obtained approval, and secured funding.
After being promoted to Staff Product Designer, I started to work with more teams, and eventually I got an opportunity to lead design for a new business unit at Okta. The leadership saw that I could build a vision for a team and use it to create alignment with multiple stakeholders. Through this process of building a team from the ground up, I ventured out of my comfort zone, took on the responsibility of hiring and played a role in shaping team processes. Ultimately, these efforts resulted in my promotion to Principal Product Designer.
What does the word “vision” mean to you?
Sure, I can give you an example of what I mean by setting up a vision because I recently just had to go through this process.
As I mentioned earlier, I focus on a new business unit at Okta. In many ways, it operates like a startup, with approximately 25 team members functioning somewhat independently from the broader organization. Although we maintain connections and actively collaborate, you can envision us as a distinct startup entity within the company. In recent months, we've noticed that several internal team members have struggled to grasp the connection between their work and the broader company objectives. They often find themselves working on specific tasks without a clear understanding of how these tasks align with our overarching objectives or the ultimate goals and metrics we're striving to achieve. To be honest, the majority of teams possess a clear understanding of our long-term vision, which extends beyond five years, outlining the trajectory we envision for this business unit. However, there is a noticeable gap in our planning. Specifically, we lack a well-defined one-year vision. We need to articulate where we see ourselves just one year from now.
So going back to your question about the tangible aspect of what we accomplished, I collaborated with the head of our product division and our head of engineering, to create a vision. We dedicated several weeks to amalgamate all the ideas we had in mind for the forthcoming year. The outcome was a visionary yet low fidelity prototype I constructed using Figma. It's crucial to emphasize that we deliberately left it unfinished and with less polish. We aimed to avoid imposing a final user experience or workflow on it. Our primary objective was to convey the underlying concepts. During an offsite meeting, I presented this prototype to the team. We delved into a scenario involving "Bob" and explored how he would navigate through various tasks. As we journeyed through the prototype, everyone's enthusiasm grew as they gained a vivid visual grasp of how their work interconnected with the overarching goal we were striving to achieve.
We leveraged the same prototype to communicate our vision across the entire company, including leadership and the C-suite. We even shared it with some external customers to illustrate our objectives, generate enthusiasm, secure funding, and ensure alignment. To recap, the tangible design vision was a design prototype, deliberately low-fidelity, used to tell a story and create alignment.
What guidance can you offer to individual contributors seeking to enhance their skills in people management?
As an individual contributor, I'm passionate about using design tools, and staying as close as possible to the core problem, the product, and the people—our users and personas we're addressing. I love being hands-on, yet I also recognize that no matter how much I advance in my career, as I have up to this point, there's a limit to the amount of work I can personally handle. If I want to allocate my time efficiently to establish a vision, I won't be able to simultaneously handle the IC projects.
I found that whatever my processes are have proven to be successful and has led me to grow. So as a next challenge for me, I want to see if I can help others follow a similar path. That is something that I'm excited about, basically challenging myself to not only be on the work, but helping others do the best work they can.
“I’m passionate about using design tools, and staying as close as possible to the core problem, the product, and the people—our users and personas we’re addressing. ”
What excites you about being a designer in the next few years?
Just two decades ago, only a handful of companies had dedicated designers, and the concept of a product designer was relatively uncommon. Nowadays, most companies have a design team, and what's even more remarkable is how the balance among engineers, product managers, and designers has started to even out. As a designer, I'm excited about the increasing appreciation of design in tech and the more balanced ratio of the golden triangle of product, design, and engineering.
Furthermore, I'm eager to explore the vast potential for innovation within the tech space itself. The opportunities to push boundaries and create groundbreaking designs in this ever-evolving landscape are truly inspiring. There's a multitude of emerging concepts and numerous avenues for innovation on our horizon. The prospect of introducing fresh ideas energizes me greatly. Whether one's focus is on Web3, identity access management or in consumer products, the opportunity for innovation is substantial, and designers play a pivotal role in shaping these advancements.
Most personally, I'm really excited about stepping into a manager role. I'm excited about embarking on this journey and curious to see where it leads. Let's see how it unfolds! :)
