Missy Kelley is the Director of Product Design at Bubble. She’s also one of the key people behind the modernization of our editor — an update that will make building on Bubble simpler, sleeker, and more intuitive. At this year’s BubbleCon 2024, happening on October 1 and 2, she’s excited to share her team’s progress and results.
Ahead of the event, we decided to sit down with Missy to find out what brought her to Bubble, what her typical day is like, and how design teams can succeed — no matter their constraints or challenges.
Tell us about your journey to Bubble. What intrigued you about no-code?
I’ve spent the last six years leading design in digital creation, from music and video to digital products.
My focus has always been on building tools that help people tap into their creativity and make things they once thought were out of reach.
Describe a typical day in the life as Director of Product Design at Bubble.
I see leadership as working alongside the people building the product and making sure they have everything they need to make the best decisions, whether that's support, info, or resources.
In practice, that means a lot of communication — collaborating with the Design team, building relationships with cross-functional partners, educating them on our processes, and getting feedback on how we can be better together. And, of course, there’s the design side, too — joining design crits and brainstorming with the team to tackle tough problems.
In your opinion, what makes a product design team successful?
I’m biased, but product designers embody the best of the triad: engineering, product, and design. We have to balance the user needs, the business needs, and the tech needs in order to design the right experience.
A good, successful design team has respect for their partners and sets a standard of excellence that’s balanced with pragmatism and practicality. An excellent design team listens without ego — to internal and external users, stakeholders, and industry trends — while pushing for best practices where it makes sense.
What are some challenges your team faces?
Like many teams that have been around for a while, our biggest challenge is the limitations of our current tech stack. That’s where our strong partnership with engineering really shines.
By working closely with them early in projects, we can push the boundaries of what's possible while staying within the limits of our tech. At Bubble, design has an equal voice in the engineering, product, and design triad. These relationships turn challenges into opportunities, making them feel less like hurdles and more like possibilities.
What are you excited to share with the community at BubbleCon?
Oh, man. BubbleCon gives us an opportunity to share where we’re taking the editor. We’ve been deep in conversations with users, testing new concepts, and using the product ourselves to ensure the changes we make are truly impactful. I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on, like a new and improved UI that communicates visually through things like iconography, color, and imagery. But I’m just as excited to highlight how we work — especially how much we involve the community in our design process.
How would you describe the Bubble community?
A diverse group of passionate makers and doers.
