Intuit Comic Book | Vivek Saigal

Overview

A comic page of teammates reacting to a customer who was scared by the text, ending with one shouting, "Hold on! I need more Post-its!"

Problem

Content designers kept getting brought into projects too late to make a real difference.

Why it mattered

Joining late meant they could only tidy up the words, not help shape the product. Customers got less than the whole team could give them.

Goal

Show every designer why the whole team should start together, without scolding or preaching.

Outcome

A comic book called Everyone, given to every Intuit designer worldwide in January 2019. It even won over a job candidate, who said the comic made her want to work at Intuit.

The problem

Content designers were brought into projects too late to help in any meaningful way. The company saw them as an afterthought: copywriters who write the words, not designers who help shape the product.

I could relate. As a visual designer, I'd sometimes join a project with only enough time to polish someone else's designs.

What we found

For years, content designers told our content design director and her managers the same thing: they were brought in too late. Fixing that meant changing how every designer worked, so the message had to be right.

It couldn't preach. It had to inspire, not scold.

It couldn't be a slide deck. Yet another deck would get ignored.

Readers had to see themselves in it. Every designer, whatever their title or team, needed to recognize their own daily struggles.

What we did

Our idea

Our content design director wanted something inspiring and well designed, but she didn't know what yet. So she asked me to help.

We tossed around ideas. She imagined a choose-your-own-adventure story. Others thought visuals would help. I suggested a comic book, kind of as a joke. A day later, everyone loved it.

What's the story?

The setup had to fit every designer: designers try to solve a customer problem. We told it two ways, based on our own experiences. In one, the whole team starts together. In the other, people are brought in one by one.

Two stories with two endings called for two styles, so I drew them side by side.

Comic panel: the team works together around a table and whiteboard, joking about a cluttered page. — The happy path: The team starts together, and it all works out.

The same working session redrawn in rough lines, with teammates asking vague questions like "What's the right strategy?" — The unhappy path: Everyone joins one by one. Predictably, it doesn't end well.

Comic panel: the team sits across from a customer, seen from behind, who says the legal text makes her feel like she's about to get sued. — The happy path: Clean lines and full color. The whole team meets the customer.

The same interview redrawn in rough lines. A teammate's thought bubble covers what the customer is saying. — The unhappy path: Rough lines on crumpled paper, in two muted colors. Only two people show up, and the camera looks down on them.

Results

In January 2019, every designer in every Intuit office worldwide got a printed copy, whatever product they worked on. The morning it came out, dozens of designers messaged me on Slack to congratulate me.

Printed copies of Everyone fanned out on a table. The front cover's large letters are filled with comic art, next to the pink back cover.

Afterward, our director heard from more designers that they were being brought in at the start of projects. I saw it too: when I suggested bringing in our content designer from day one, I never got pushback again.

At her suggestion, the comic was also handed to job candidates during in-person interviews.

Tina O'Shea, Director of Content Design Systems, Intuit: "I interviewed a candidate yesterday who said she looked at the comic and decided she wanted to work here."

Reflections

Content designers had been saying it for years, and nothing changed. A story did what the argument couldn't: people saw themselves in it, and that's hard to ignore.

Tina O'Shea shaped the story with me, and content designer Scott Ganz wrote the final script.

Also, say the joke idea out loud. Sometimes it's the one that gets made.

Can a comic book change how we work?