Tito at Smashing Meets Product Design
Last week, Paul and I were invited to speak at Smashing Conference’s Meets Product Design event.
We were interviewed by infectiously energetic host Geoff Graham, in what turned out to be a lovely, reflective moment on the inner workings of Tito and the ethos that drives our team.
In this post, I recap our conversation about the product design process at Tito.
Growing on our own terms
Paul talked about how we’ve remained a small, focused team over the years. Our approach to growth isn’t about chasing vanity metrics or scaling for the sake of it. We’re always prioritising quality; crafting software that event organisers, from massive conferences to nonprofits and niche communities like spoon carvers or repair cafés, love to use. Commercial success feels close — we’ve processed over $1 billion in ticket sales — but mostly we make choices rooted in a philosophy of creating value and joy rather than being driven by revenue alone.
Staying close to our users
As a small team, we have no choice but to be close to our users. This is something we embrace. As everyone in the team shares responsibility for support, there’s no buffer between us and our customers to soften the blow of a poor user experience. As product manager, I get to hear customers describe their challenges directly to me via support, which is a huge motivator to solve problems. I recounted a small recent example of a customer suggesting we add anchor tags to the event homepage sections for better navigation, and by the next day, the feature was live. This nimbleness is our superpower.
Following the data our instincts
With a constant stream of user feedback, we have to repeatedly apply our company values to filter out noise. This has helped us develop strong instincts on how to figure out where to direct our limited resources. For example, we feel comfortable pushing back against certain requests around tracking and analytics that we feel compromise attendees’ privacy or degrade the user experience. It's a careful dance between listening to what people want and maintaining the integrity of our vision, and there are of course grey areas sometimes, but it helps that we’re all on the same page as a team.
Refining our processes
Switching to two-week development cycles has proven to be a great fit for the team — keeping us focused while allowing flexibility to work on multiple projects (and sometimes across multiple apps) at once. We use Linear to track progress, prioritise tasks, and maintain transparency across the team. But productivity is sometimes as much about slowing down as it is going fast, which is why we’ve brought back Calm December this year. For one month, we eliminate meetings and deadlines, letting everyone work on what brings them joy.
Embracing opportunities
Because we’re not beholden to anyone’s vision but our own, sometimes we can turn a niche requirement into an opportunity to innovate. The best example of this is a customer request for a tailored invite system that led to the creation of an entirely new product, IO. A year on from that initial enquiry, IO has grown into a robust RSVP platform for high-end events, offering advanced customisation and personalisation options, and seamless and secure RSVP management and check-in. We can’t wait to get it into more people’s hands when we launch in February 2025.
Looking ahead
As we were wrapping up, Geoff referenced Robin Rendle’s article Vibe Driven Development, to which Paul replied:
"After being in software for 25 years of the game… it's craft, right?"
It’s skill and it’s art. It’s deliberate and it sparks joy. We’re continuing to refine our products, make customers happy, and grow without compromising our values. It’s been quite a full-on year and we’re all glad of the break that Calm December brings, but we’re also excited about what comes next. More working on our craft, and lots more talking about what we’re doing!
The rest of the event
I really enjoyed hearing from the two other speakers on the panel. UX Research & Product Design leader Kevin Hawkins shared his experience of scaling international user research on a lean budget, highlighting the importance of democratising research and fostering user communities. It resonated to hear how to do more with fewer resources while still maintaining a strong connection to diverse user bases.
Wahnsinn Design co-founder Chris Kolb challenged the notion of users as "stupid," reframing it as a matter of context and cognitive load, and demonstrating how distractions, poor design, and environmental factors often lead to user struggles, rather than any lack of intelligence. It was a great, empathetic talk that I think any product leader would benefit from listening to.
Huge thanks to Geoff, and the organisers — Amanda, Charis and Jarijn — for including Paul and me, and for all the care they put into the event. You can watch the session in full on the Smashing Meets hub on Vito.
Credit for bird illustration in banner image: Smashing Conference