Fierce

Experience Design Director

Associate Experience Design Director

LiveArea

Service Design Contract

UX Design Contract

Fantasy

Designit

This Place

Experience Design Lead

User Experience Designer

The Technology Partnership plc (TTP)

Industrial Designer 

Benetti

Design Intern

Sawaya and Moroni

Friendly reminder:

Frameworks and methodologies are helpful but as designers we have to start from the problem, not from the process




#Design

Laura Baker

Design Director @ Fierce™, Fearless™ | UX, Research & Service Design

It’s okay to start designing without research.

It is not a mandatory step or a roadblock.

Not including research at the start of a process, doesn’t mean you will never do it.

It doesn’t mean that you will never be able to meet needs.

It simply means that at a specific point in time there wasn’t a need or the option to conduct research.

There’s no shame there.

Maybe the problem space is well defined. Maybe the risk of not being 100% right is very low.

The best designers are the ones that know when the best time for research is, based on knowledge and objectives.




#Design #Designers #Research

Stop counting years and focus on impact

Years of experience is a 💩 metric for evaluating designers

Why? Because years ≠ expertise

Instead, focus on the quality and impact of their work.


Here are 5 questions to consider:

1. Did their projects achieve positive outcomes?
2. How much responsibility and influence did they have?
3. Were their efforts aligned with business strategy and impactful?
4. Did they effectively collaborate with and challenge stakeholders?
5. How extensive is their domain knowledge?


By focusing on the quality and depth of one's experience, we'll:

>> create a more accurate representation of designer value
>> make better hiring decisions
>> + ultimately cultivate stronger design teams


Experiences and ability to deliver are far more important than ‘years served’!

How can we start to normalise that?




#Design

Still seeing them 🫠

#1 tip to avoid when putting your folio / cv together

Stop with the little ‘skills’ sliders (please!)

They are pretty meaningless

I can only assume they are a self-assessment of your proficiency

But what are you measuring it against??

▪️  Are you comparing to others? Who?
▪️  Are you comparing relative to the other skills listed? Why?
▪️  Are you comparing to your own knowledge level this time last year?

Don't just put them in because you see them in other CVs or portfolios.

I’d rather see how you’ve used Figma, for example, in case studies.

I'd rather read about how you’ve used your comms skills to overcome project / team challenges.

Understanding the process and impact of how you used your skills is much more valuable to me as a hiring manager than lots of pretty sliders.



#Hiring #Design #Portfolio #CV

It’s official ….

Wasn’t always part of the plan but really honoured and honestly humbled to be a founding member of Fifty alongside some absolutely incredible Design leaders

In the last few months, I’ve connected with 50+ design leaders & execs

All unique

But also facing common challenges

It’s both eye-opening and comforting (from my perspective at least) to realise we are all in the same boat

To realise that titles aside, we are all just looking to do good work, do right by people and have some sort of meaningful impact

Fifty was born from the desire to give top design leaders (those you have never heard of) a place to come together, team up, support each other and share the load.

With our co-creation workshop tomorrow, I can say that while I’m not sure the exact form it will take yet, I have full faith in this group to start to drive some meaningful change for our industry!

Can’t wait to get going now 🚀


(stay tuned for updates soon)


—


PS. massive shout out also to the Fierce team for all their hard work in getting this community off the ground!






#FiftyByFierce #Design #DesignLeadership

5 things you should know as a first time design leader

#5 isn’t spoken about enough!


1️⃣ Building relationships with other leads & disciplines is vital. Your work will be more enjoyable and knowing what others are working towards, what they are motivated by…etc will help you more easily get s**t done, unblock for your team…etc

2️⃣ Meaningful change takes time and that's okay - celebrate the smaller wins. They’ll add up over time and help open doors

3️⃣ Large scopes are often overwhelming - sometimes the best thing can be to break it down, start with the smaller parts within your control and build from there

4️⃣ It’s okay to say that you don’t know something -- “I don't know but let's find out”

5️⃣ It is incredibly important to understand the environment you are working in. Even if you perfect your own team’s ways of working, processes etc, it will be relatively meaningless if you don’t understand the context of the bigger picture and how your team feeds into, impacts and sits alongside other design and/or digital teams.

Imposture syndrome is real and that first leadership role can be tough.

For anyone going through it, know that you are not alone and I hope it is the start of something amazing for you 💜

What advice would you give?



#Design #Leadership

Experience Design Director @ Fierce™, Fearless™ | UX, Research & Service Design

Company culture

❌  is not something you can throw money at
❌  is not Friday beers
❌  is not something that can just be ‘fixed’

Company culture is something that is felt

It lies in the hearts and habits of the team

It’s the invisible, unspoken way that things are done

The way that people feel

Material objects and superficial efforts won’t get you there

Real, impactful culture?

It's born from authenticity




#Culture

A post about letting things go

The first project as had as a newly promoted lead was terrifying

It felt like such a massive weight on my shoulders

Things started to go wrong from the off.

Timelines were already super tight but then there were delays on the clients side

I was working on a project in Hong Kong and was flying out there when the riots kicked off 🙃
(that’s another fun story - unless you are my mother)

My interview slots were cancelled, my research got pushed and it was bad news after bad news

But then a weird thing happened

I suddenly started to relax

I should have been increasingly concerned but I went the opposite way

It was the best thing that could have happened

Realising that there was so much out of my control took the pressure off and made me focus in on what I could

I started to break it down into pieces and I went from there

It’s a lesson that I have always held onto

Everything new always seem massive and scary

But when you take a step back and find your first step or two, you can trust yourself to figure it out as you go

You don’t need to know what the end will look like at the start

Just trust your gut and trust yourself

Remember that you are likely in the position you are because others trust you 🖤

No alternative text description for this image

“I trust you. I have your back.”

So simple, but probably the best thing any of my leaders have ever said to me

In your career, if you are lucky, you'll find a few people who:

-  believe in you when no one else does
-  are always willing to tell you the truth
-  give you opportunities & push you to grow

Those are the things that just stick with you.


👉  What's the best thing a manager has said to you?





#Design #Leadership #DesignLeadership


Big lesson for me

❌  Don’t take the teams’ problems away
✔️  Support them in solving the problems for themselves

When I suddenly had a team to look after I assumed it was my job to just solve every challenge for them and remove the roadblocks

Over time, I realised the importance of the team identifying and overcoming issues on their own (within reason!)

I realised that it is just my responsibility to:

-  stand by their side
-  ensure they are armed to deal with what comes their way
-  be ready to step in if needed

The benefits are numerous but my top two are:

1.  My workload decreases 😅
2. The team are empowered and trust themselves so much more


Weirdly I think it has helped me grow as a leader also




#Design #Leadership #DesignLeadership

Don't get caught up in the numbers game!

People with 40,000+ connections aren’t necessarily networking well, they’re just networking.

They might have lots of eyes, but they might not have many relationships

We're all mostly sailing in the same LinkedIn boat, pushing for more followers and connections.

But here's the truth:

Quantity doesn't always equal quality.

Networking well is about finding the right people for your network and mastering the art of meaningful conversations.

It's about nurturing relationships that benefit both sides over the long haul.

So, forget the one-time meet and never speaking again approach.

Keep those connections alive!

Networks don't magically build themselves.

You gotta roll up your sleeves and hustle! 💪💼

We are being let down by Design education

Why is the business side not really mentioned in Design schools / bootcamps?

3 reasons that have come up in recent conversations I’ve had.


1.  Not the primary concern for the younger designers that are typically on them?
2. The value / importance of those skills are still not fully recognised?
3. The people teaching don’t have the knowledge themselves?


Without these business / sales skills, designers are joining orgs with great knowledge about the double diamond, affinity mapping and personas but without the frameworks and language skills to demonstrate how they work within the bigger picture.

To me it’s a problem to fix as the lack of it is hurting us.

Design is more than just pushing pixels.

Design can push boundaries.

But to get there, if we want a “seat at the table” or even more responsibility and sway

We need to be able to adequately speak to AND show the value we can bring

For me this needs to start at the beginning - from the first stages of Design education

Happy to hear other views though!



#Design

Design is getting frustrated with Product

Heard many complain for a while that they are picking up the work of Product.

Two things that come up the most:

1️⃣  Just not enough people. People are leaving and not being replaced (quickly enough)

2️⃣  Product roles are being filled by those from BA or relevant industry backgrounds and not given Product training. They end up being tactical executors and designers are stepping in to drive product strategy, roadmaps and discovery.

Curious to hear thoughts on it.

Is it a fair take?

Sometimes seems like there is a maturity and ‘seat at the table’ issue for Product as well as Design in places.


——


PS. just being a messenger here.

I have met some incredible Product people and BAs.

This is not a generalisation but rather a discussion starter (hopefully!)

5 things that make an effective leader in my books

Curious to see how they align with other people’s views

1. They create spaces to learn & fail (for themselves and the team)
2. They are willing to fight & stand up for what they believe
3. They embrace the feeling of imposture syndrome
4. They balance team and companies needs
5. They bring people together

What would you add as a #6?



#Design
#Leadership 
#DesignLeadership

Is digital design the least commerically understood out of the design disciplines?

Had a really interesting conversation the other day around how other design disciplines (eg. Industrial Design) are more understood / more valued / more highly recognised compared to digital.

Thought I’d bring up here to get some views


Here were some of the conversation possibilities:

✦  It is just simply a newer discipline and hasn’t caught up
✦  Digital tends to be more collaborative in nature / lines are more blurred
✦  Digital is swallowed by other disciplines (product etc) in the ways others are not
✦  Industrial seen as more of a niche skillset - need experts to do it, can’t just be covered by another role
✦ Following on. Are we part of out own problem with all these bootcamps? If we tell people you can learn UX in 6 weeks / 6 months, are devaluing what we do? Enabling others to think they can pick it up and do it also


Okay so what do you think?

Reasons make sense?
Or is the idea that Digital is less recognised ridiculous in itself?



#Design


Design is not a spectator sport

It doesn’t work on it’s own. Period.

To have any sort of meaningful impact whether on the bottom line or for the customer, other disciplines need to be involved.

As a leader if you are only focused on the design org, your impact will be limited.

Horizontal integration is key.

Personally I think that Design as a vertical is why so many are struggling to make the impact they desire.

If design works to cut across teams, there will be more opportunities to:

- Connect dots
- Build relationships
- Find areas of opportunity
- Be pulled into more conversations

It’s a tall ask but real transformation requires both change management and cultural transformation.




#Design #Transformation

1 thing people often miss when trying to sell work

When budgets are tight across the board, as they have been recently — it is harder to sell

(no big revelation there!)

When trying to get someone to spend money - client, colleague, stakeholder etc

To land the work you need to:

>> research to understand their (immediate) challenges / pain points
>> craft your offer around them
>> use social proof / case studies / data

But most importantly → answer the question: ‘why now?’

The fact is that urgency sells

You push it over the line, you need to show the cost of not acting or the value of doing it NOW

Sometimes it isn’t about the cost or even your offering.

It comes down to great storytelling and a little bit of FOMO!

Does the Design agency mindset need a reset? 🧐


I recently saw a post from a career coach who had been "cancelled" by a new client who felt like the support was no longer needed. The coach was thrilled.


"Designed to be deleted" was the campaign for the dating app Hinge


👉 How many design agencies out there operate with that perspective?


Not many in my experience.


Over the years I’ve seen more agencies adopt and hold the “land and expand” mindset


It makes sense from a staff aug model but as consultants, should we be more like the aforementioned coach? Or Hinge?


Should we be measuring success by our own redundancy?

 In some ways I wonder — if we are still working on that original problem 2 years later, have we failed?



Curious to hear thoughts on this one!

Feel like there might be some good opinions / debates :)




——



PS. In case you aren’t aware of the term

“Land and expand” = getting into an account, trying to spread with bums on seats numbers and staying for as long as possible




#Design #Agency 

❌ Start hiring based on budget
✅ Start hiring based on need

Appreciate it is easier said than done and budgets will always be a key factor for consideration

But to get the best, you need to figure out what / who you need first

Then work backwards

Sure it might mean that trade-offs will be needed

But at least this way:

-  You know what your ideal candidate looks like
-  You can prioritise the most important areas that need to be fulfilled
-  There is visibility as to where tradeoffs have been made
-  Expectations can be managed

Some hires are tactical to fill a gap

Others are strategic to drive the company forward

You might get away penny pinching on the former

But don’t with the latter!

Invest in the best when needed, long term it will be worth it!



#Design #Talent #Hiring

Collaborate + coach, but stay off the pitch ⚽️🏟️

In the world of sports, the distinction between the manager and players is much cleaner

You never see the manager stepping in at the last minute for a penalty

But the business world is more fuzzy

→  That critical presentation

→  That new strategy

→  The deck that just needs to be done

Trust me, I know it is so tempting to step in and do the work yourself sometimes

For a whole host of reasons

But as much as possible, delegate and coach your team to get the answer themselves rather than doing it yourself.

It might not be exactly the way you would have done it

But in the majority of cases, both sides will be better off for it





#Design #Leadership #DesignLeadership

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