Perks of a Designer
As a Designer I have been lucky enough to work with many great companies, with great visions. Leading design, from the inside, has given me a chance to look at the entirety of the Design Process, as well as the way in which the different disciplines collaborate in order to bring the Business, and User Objectives together.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to be a part of successful efforts, as well as face many challenges that have tested me, and helped me grow professionally, and personally. Below I have written about some experiences that have taken me to where I am today.
My growth as a designer, and a lead
BUILDING & RE-BUILDING TEAMS
Contributing to the growth of a team has allowed me to be a part of the development a design practice within a company. Both as part of new efforts in an already design-lead organization (Capital One), as well as within one that needed to embrace the power of design (Verizon), and those that live somewhere in between (Everly). I have also had the responsibility to help re-build teams after the organization has experienced difficult times.
NEW PROCESSES
I have had the opportunity to redefine the way processes work within the Product arm of a company. From creating a new collaborative process, and workflow for a platform based pod, to completely re-imagining the Product Vetting, and Development process for an organization.
ENGAGING LEADERSHIP
Building bridges is sometimes the biggest challenge to tackle. As a design leader I have been able to establish channels proper of communication with executive leadership, ensuring the design teams have the level of advocacy and autonomy they require.
DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH
A major part of my career has been spent ensuring members of the team have access to the tools and support they need to develop as designers, and as partners. My focus is not only to provide educational, and professional growth opportunities, but also create an opportunity for personal development, and relationships building; things I consider to be major components of a successful designer.
TEAM CULTURE
This is something about which companies talk a lot. However, not many have been able to establish a design culture that is truly based on collaboration, partnerships, social development, and work ethic. I am an advocate for the development of a culture that not only allows designers to perform, and want to perform, at their best, but also fosters the growth of the very important social aspect. Developing trust stars at the bottom with your peers, as well as at the top with your leaders.
A challenging experience
RE-ORGS
A common thing that happens in every company. I have worked towards making it a priority to make sure designers are organized within a structure that gets the best out of their expertise, as well as the focus of partners and the business. In order to do this I have established new processes, and pods based on disciplines, platforms and product offerings.
LOSS OF A LEADER
At a certain point in my career we lost a great leader, the person who had brought the team together. Facing financial, and prioritization limitations created by changes in the business, I found myself in a place where I could have sat and waited for C-Suite leadership to fix our problems. Instead, in collaboration with another design partner, we decided to take on the situation head on, and provide the team with the leadership they needed in order to move forward.
RE-BUILDING TRUST
Without trust, you find yourself in world where no one is truly motivated, always afraid, and never performing at their best. Having been under circumstances where trust has been lost, I have always made it a priority to work towards providing my team with the support needed, as well as finding ways to provide motivation (new projects, extra-curricular initiatives, socially oriented activities, representation, and advocacy).
At the same time, working towards re-establishing that trust with other parts of the organization, and leadership, by leading conversations, and workshops geared towards solving conflicts, and reducing friction (an example of this being the friction between Marketing/Branding and Design within the Consumer side at Everly).