There was a time when I viewed designers with the same scepticism as I viewed homeopathy. When I pictured designers I thought of Mad Men, the creative department sitting around smoke-filled rooms waiting for inspiration to strike. But slowly and surely, I've realised great products are built by designers and engineers working together.

Our product teams pride themselves on working in small, autonomous units. Each team has their own roadmap, their own weekly goals, and their own ways of collaborating. Traditionally, this has worked really well for each of our products. But when building product that spans mobile and web, this process can quickly break down.

Whether you are a designer, engineer, or product manager, you have to work with others to iterate and execute. But if you have ever opened someone else's work, you know how hard it is to find the right file, page, group, artboard, or layer.

We pride ourselves on the fact that Intercom has become synonymous with high quality design and content. But we never take that reputation for granted. We are one of that growing band of designer-led startups and believe we have a strong design-led culture. We've also invested heavily in content in the past 18 months.

Basecamp co-founder and CEO Jason Fried talks when to rebuild a successful product, why chat use in the workplace has gone overboard, and more.

The most powerful thing you can understand when building a product is the motivations behind people's actions. At Intercom we're constantly re-evaluating our process for building great product - product that people find valuable and useful, a product that they love. One thing we place a huge emphasis on is research.