Global Design Director @ Fierce™, Fearless™

I’m an Industrial Designer turned UX Designer, turned Service Designer, turned (accidental) leader. 

Since moving into the digital space over a decade ago, I’ve seen the same patterns repeat: 
Design teams are being asked to deliver more impact and faster; but often without the levers to make it happen. 

Now as Managing Director at Fearless, I work with senior Design and business leaders to help navigate some of these challenges and embed Design as a genuine strategic capability. 

We help organisations: 

- Embed Service Design and DesignOps as a strategic capability
- Build and scale in-house design teams that deliver measurable business impact
- Design operating models that connect design, delivery and strategy
- Prove the value of Design through operational outcomes (as well as beautiful outputs!)

Our agency + talent services model blends the depth of a large consultancy with the agility of a boutique partner. 

We act as an extension of our clients’ teams - helping them move fast, think big and of course deliver meaningful change. 

If you’re navigating cost-cutting, change fatigue or the constant push to “do more with less,” you’re not alone. 

There are always smarter, lower-risk ways to build momentum (and Design can be the lever that gets you there). 

I’m always happy to share what’s working or swap notes with other leaders facing similar challenges; feel free to reach out.

—— 

Proud to lead a team that truly lives its name: authentically Fearless 😎

Laura Baker

‼️ Available Service Designers ... a fun role for you ‼️

Contract details:
-  6 month contract
-  Senior / lead level
-  Start ASAP
-  Day rate: ~£550
-  Mostly remote but may require a few days in a London office (UK only)
-  Must have insurance / complex financial / consumer duty experience

Work details:
-  Complete outstanding Phase 1 customer journey maps across the client’s products and build on these in Phase 2 to create more detailed, actionable artefacts
-  Embed FCA Consumer Duty requirements and address the needs of vulnerable customers, while supporting cross-functional collaboration to inform solution development and continuous improvement


If this all sounds like something for you - please message Jake Harber
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Thank you as always LinkedIn :)

Marina Krutchinsky

For a long time, I thought decisions stalled because the work wasn’t clear enough.

So I kept tightening things.
More rationale.
Cleaner flows.
Better research framing.

It helped.
Until it didn’t.

At some point - usually when money, timelines, or visibility entered the picture - the same thing kept happening.

The meeting would go well.
People would agree.
But nothing would change!

No pushback.
No debate.
Just quiet drift.

—

I've spent 25+ years in UX - sometimes leading teams, sometimes deep in the craft - at companies from startups to JPMorgan Chase (where I'm a VP now). And what finally clicked wasn't a "UX insight."

It was watching what happened after the meeting.

Not in reviews.
In side conversations.

That’s where the REAL QUESTIONS showed up.

Who owns this if it goes wrong?
Who has to explain it?
What gets riskier if we move forward?

Those questions rarely get asked out loud.
But they decide everything.

Once the stakes go up, decisions stop being about quality and start being about EXPOSURE.

If no one is clearly holding the trade-offs, the system protects itself.

It slows down.
It fragments.
It agrees without committing.

This is how people end up with more responsibility and less authority.

More meetings, fewer outcomes.
More trust, less follow-through.

Not because they’re doing "bad work".
Because the work never gets attached to consequence.

If this keeps happening long enough, it stops being situational.
It becomes STRUCTURAL.

That’s the part most people miss...
...until it’s already shaping their role.

—

I unpack patterns like this in my substack *UX Mentor Diaries*.
Free to join -> https://uxmentor.substack.com

____________________________________________

⚠️ My posts are my own and do not reflect the opinions of my current, past, or future employers.

VP, UX Design, CCB

You're not "reliable".
You're disposable.

Let me explain.

I see experienced UXers make this mistake constantly↴

👉 They think being the "go-to person" builds authority.

It doesn't.

It builds DEPENDENCY.

And dependency keeps you exactly where you are.

You know the pattern ↴

Messy project appears.
You get pulled in late.
Someone else owns the decision.

You carry the risk.
They get the credit.
Nothing changes next time.

This is not bad luck.

This is the SYSTEM working exactly as designed.

Because here's what the org actually learned ↴

"This person will absorb risk without demanding control."

And once they learn that? 
You're done.

You'll never get decision rights.
You'll never get in the room.
You'll never get the title.

Because why would they promote the person who'll do the work WITHOUT THE POWER?

🔄 Now, let's flip it in 3 steps↴

1. SET CONDITIONS

They want you to save it? 
Fine.

"I need a decision owner. I need a decision date. I need to know what we're not changing."

No agreement?
Don't do it.
I'm serious.
Let it fail.

That's the only way they learn you're NOT the emergency fund.

2. TURN THE FIX INTO A MANDATE

You just saved a disaster?
Great.

Now make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Root cause: X
System fix: Y
Owner: ____
New default: Z"

Send that.

If they ignore it and come back with the same fire next quarter?

That's not a project problem.
That's a you problem.
Stop accepting it.

3. MAKE TRADEOFFS VISIBLE

Emergency work always means cutting corners.

Skipped research.
Shipped bugs.
Design debt.

If you hide that, they think you "handled it."

Don't hide it.

"Ship Friday = we ship with A, B, C broken.
To fix A, B, C = we need +1 week or we cut D."

In writing.

Now THEY OWN THE TRADEOFF.
Not you.

---

So, are you stuck in one of these?
🔲 LATE - pulled in after decisions are made
🔲 REACTIVE - always responding to fires
🔲 DISPOSABLE - you strategize, others present

Were you able to pick one?

You're being USED.

And it won't stop until you stop.

♻️ Repost if you've watched someone stay "reliable" for 5 years without a promotion.

VP, UX @ JPMorgan Chase | I helped 2,400+ UXers become confident leaders by closing the gap between competence and power → uxmentor.substack.com

Your strategic work is frequently invisible.

Many Sr. UXers think they show leadership through:
→ Polished rationales for design decisions
→ User research that validates their choices
→ Clean case studies of solved problems

But they DIDN'T show:
→ How this decision affects 6 other product areas
→ What opportunities it creates (or closes) for the future
→ Which risks they anticipated
→ How they'd handle them

So when promotion time comes they hear...
"We need MORE strategic impact."

Their work WAS strategic.
Leadership just didn't see it.

Here's the fix 👇

Create "Systems Impact Maps"

Document how your decisions ripple through:
- Immediate UX changes
- Technical requirements triggered
- Future opportunities unlocked
- Risks identified + mitigation plans

SAME work you're already doing.
Just made VISIBLE.

This single shift has helped dozens of my students break through to the Staff/Principal level.

Full framework here -> https://lnkd.in/e5WZ-BP4

VP, UX @ JPMorgan Chase | I help UXers become confident leaders by closing the gap between competence and power → uxmentor.substack.com

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