Getting started

It hurts when your best designers leave. You spent time training them. Now they're taking their skills somewhere else.

You can:

  1. Keep doing things the same way and watch people leave
  2. Build a team culture that makes people want to stay

Here's the truth. Most design leaders can't keep people because they focus on the wrong stuff. Big salaries and fancy tools won't keep people if they don't feel valued. They need to see a path to grow.

Take Eliana at Banco Guayaquil. She had to grow her design team from 10 to 20 people in just five months. And she needed to make sure they'd stick around.

This playbook shows simple ways to use Uxcel Teams to build a culture where people feel seen, stay eager to learn, and connect with their team. The result? A team that stays, grows, and does better work year after year.

What you'll need

Before you start, make sure you have:

  • An Uxcel Teams account with admin access
  • Basic know-how of Uxcel Pulse, Skill Mapping, Assignments, and Leaderboards
  • Regular team check-ins (weekly or every two weeks)
  • Team members who are open to learning
  • 10-15 minutes a week to check on progress

No tech skills needed! If you can use basic design tools, you can do everything in this playbook.

Step 1: Recognize your top learners on a weekly basis

The Problem: Designers want to be seen for their growth. But most feedback only looks at project results.

Your team wants to know their learning efforts matter. Banco Guayaquil found a simple fix with their "Design Fridays" ritual. It changed how their team works together.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Open your Uxcel Leaderboard: Log in to your Uxcel Teams dashboard and find the Leaderboard section
  2. Filter your learners based on unit completions: Set up a simple view that shows you the top learners each week
  3. Put it where everyone can see it: Show this in your team Slack channel, workspace, or on a screen in your office
  4. Make Friday recognition a habit: Set aside 15 minutes every Friday to cheer for these top learners (Banco Guayaquil calls this "Design Fridays")
  5. Give small but meaningful rewards: Try gift cards, extra break time, or first pick on new projects

Pro tip: Don't just reward the same high performers each week. Try different awards like "Most Improved," "Course Champion," or "Steady Learner" so everyone gets a chance to shine.

‍What you'll see: Learning activity will jump by 30-40% as team members try for recognition. Better yet, your team will start to see learning as valuable, not just extra work.

Step 2: Create shared learning moments

When people learn alone, they miss chances to bond with the team and share knowledge.

Fujitsu found that making learning social changed both their team feel and their design work.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Set aside learning time: Save 15-20 minutes in your regular team meetings for shared learning.
  2. Create a Earn PX Assignment weekly: Create an assignment to earn specific amount of pixels on Uxcel. This will motivate your team members to learn something new every week
  3. Create a rotation: Have 1-2 team members each week share something new they learned on Uxcel
  4. Ask simple questions: Try "What surprised you about this?" and "How could we use this in our work?"
  5. Keep notes: Use a shared doc or board where you collect these learning bits for later
  6. Connect learning to work: Ask the team to try one new idea from these talks in a real project each month

Pro tip: Record these talks for people who miss them. Make a simple library that new team members can check out when they join.

What you'll see: Better teamwork as people start using the same design language and ideas. Knowledge doesn't stay trapped with one person, and new team members catch up faster.

Step 3: Use data to show off your team

Design growth often goes unseen by the rest of the company. This makes designers feel less valued.

When other teams don't see what your design team is doing, it's harder to get resources and keep spirits high. Sharing data in the right way changes this.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Get skill growth data: Go to Uxcel Reporting and pull reports that show how skills are growing
  2. Share widely: Post these in company emails, all-hands meetings, or Slack/Teams channels
  3. Point out wins: Call out people who've made big jumps in key skills
  4. Link to results: Pair skill jumps with project wins to show the real impact

‍Pro tip: Make a simple "Design Growth Report" each quarter to share with company leaders. Show how your team's skills connect to company goals and projects.

What you'll see: More visibility means more respect for design work. Your team will feel more valued by the company, and you'll likely find it easier to get resources for design work.

Step 4: See how your team stacks up

Without looking outside, it's hard to know if your team is truly good compared to others.

Teams that work in a bubble often miss skill gaps they don't notice until too late. Comparing to others gives you insights to stay ahead.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Use benchmark mode: In your Uxcel Teams dashboard, find the Benchmark feature
  2. Compare with others: Run a simple check of your team against the 400,000+ designers on Uxcel
  3. Spot gaps and strengths: Note where your team shines or needs help
  4. Make targeted learning plans: Focus learning on areas where your team falls behind
  5. Share results openly: Show your team how they rank and ask for ideas on how to improve

‍Pro tip: Create friendly contests with other design teams you know. Share basic data and challenge each other to improve in specific areas.

What you'll see: Your team gains confidence where they excel and gets a clear plan for areas needing work. This balanced view boosts both spirits and actual skill levels.

How Banco Guayaquil nailed design team culture creation

These ideas aren't just theory. They work in real teams:

Banco Guayaquil's Story: When Eliana Campos joined as Lead Designer, she faced a big task: grow the team from 10 to 20 people in just five months while keeping quality high.

Her team struggled with:

  • Finding growth paths for each designer
  • Making clear career paths in a fast-changing team
  • Building leadership skills in new team leads
  • Finding time to learn with tight deadlines

After using Uxcel Teams with weekly recognition:

  • The team doubled in size while skills got better
  • People started saying things like "I saw this example on Uxcel" in daily talks
  • Designers created their own contests to push each other
  • Team leads put Uxcel tasks right into sprint planning
  • "Design Fridays" became a weekly habit to cheer for top learners
"The game-like parts turned learning from a chore into a social activity. Team members made friendly contests on their own, pushing each other to improve scores and finish new courses. This natural engagement beats what forced training usually gets." - Eliana Campos, Lead Designer

How to implement this playbook

Weeks 1-2: Setup

  • Set up your Uxcel Teams dashboard
  • Tell your team about the new ideas
  • Start gathering basic data on learning activity

Weeks 3-4: Start with the public recognition

  • Begin the weekly top learner shout-outs with "Design Fridays"
  • Start with simple rewards
  • Ask for feedback and tweak as needed

Month 2: Build learning habits

  • Add shared learning moments to team meetings
  • Create a simple schedule for who presents when
  • Keep notes on key insights to share

Months 3-4: Grow and connect

  • Start sharing data with the whole company
  • Run your first comparison with other teams
  • Link learning to project results
  • Ask team leads to add Uxcel tasks to sprint planning

Tips from Banco Guayaquil:

  1. Tap Into natural motivation: Skip forced training. Use fun challenges and friendly contests to get people motivated without constant pushing.
  2. Blend learning into work: Don't make learning separate from daily work. Mix morning skill sessions with Uxcel tasks in sprint planning to make learning just part of the job.
  3. Make growth visible: Regular celebrations turn one person's win into team inspiration. This builds a shared push for getting better.

Common bumps and fixes:

  • Low starting interest: Begin with tiny, easy learning goals and slowly ask for more
  • Time squeeze: Use Uxcel's bite-sized learning for busy folks, like Banco Guayaquil did
  • Motivation dips: Let team members create their own challenges to keep things fresh

Wrapping Up

Building a design team that sticks around isn't about free snacks or fancy perks. It's about making people feel valued, helping them grow, and noticing when they do.

As Eliana from Banco Guayaquil puts it: "By building this base of ongoing learning and growth, we're making our design team more than just service providers. They're driving innovation."

With Uxcel Teams, you can build:

  • Weekly recognition habits that keep people learning
  • Shared learning moments that bring your team closer
  • Data-driven show-and-tell that raises your team's profile
  • Comparison insights that keep your team competitive

The result? A team that stays together, grows together, and does better work year after year. Just like Banco Guayaquil, you might even double your team while making your culture stronger, not weaker.

Ready to change your design team culture? Start with Uxcel Teams today