Doug Powell’s Post

Interesting session for leadership folks on the job market!

Pay It Forward — A powerful initiative from the folks below 👇 We need more initiatives like this that focus on empowering people through skills and career development. Whether you call it charity, paying back, or paying forward, this approach creates real change by helping people build their future, rather than capitalising on people’s unfortunate situations.

POST 2 OF 3: There was an incredible response to my first post about this exciting opportunity for established design leaders impacted by a recent layoff or job separation—let's keep the momentum going! 3 sponsored seats are available for my next DESIGN LEADERSHIP AT SCALE Director+ (DLSD) online course coming up November 11-21. Here are the deets: I'm partnering with Silke Bochat and Wix Studio, the end-to-end web platform for agencies and enterprises, to #payforward by sponsoring* ➔ 3 SEATS ➔ DESIGN LEADERSHIP AT SCALE Director+ (DLSD) online course ➔ For whom: Design Director, Sr Design Manager or Design Program Manager who have been recently impacted by a Layoff This is Post 2 of a series of 3 ➔ For each post we'll draw one beneficiary to receive a sponsored seat Interested? Then... → Repost this post → Add a comment under this post with "I am interested" DESIGN LEADERSHIP AT SCALE Director+ is an online course for established design leaders positioning themselves for future executive roles and career advancement: → Dates: Nov 11-21, 2024 → 2-week session, roughly 18-20 hour total time commitment → All sessions are recorded → including: live zoom discussions, breakout sessions, activities, asynchronous readings, video lectures, lightweight projects What you will learn: • Identify core leadership qualities & superpowers • Map your org & key cross-functional relationships • Learn the signals of mature design orgs • Measure & articulate the value of design • Increase your impact & influence across the enterprise One of the highlights? Fireside Chats with top executive design leaders. In the Q4 Cohort our guests will be Kristin Skinner, Bob Baxley, Kevin Bethune, and Jenna Date! More information about the DLSD course: https://bit.ly/3wqqt32 We are so excited about this news and hope you will join us and help us spread the word! *2 seats sponsored by Silke Bochat in collaboration with Wix Studio, 1 seat sponsored by Doug Powell #payfwd #wixstudiopartner

What does it take to create a design team that doesn’t just deliver but consistently redefines success? Many companies underestimate the complexities involved in building a high-performing design team from scratch. It’s not just about hiring talented individuals — it’s about fostering collaboration, clarity, and continuous growth. ✨ Starting with a clear vision ✨ Hiring for collaboration, not just skill ✨ Building a culture of continuous learning ✨ Structuring teams for both speed and quality ✨ Investing in onboarding and beyond Design teams are more than a department—they’re a strategic driver of innovation and growth. Whether you’re scaling an existing team or starting from scratch, the lessons in this article will guide you toward lasting success. 📖 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dhxjRqxh Have thoughts or experiences to share about building your own design team? We’d love to hear them! Let’s keep the conversation going. #DesignLeadership #ScaleCoach #DesignTeams

Bouncing back from recently being laid off from Smart Design, alongside nine other fantastic individuals. Looking on the bright side: I'm enthusiastic about the fresh opportunities, career growth, and leadership guidance ahead. If you're aware of any openings or simply want to connect, don't hesitate to schedule a chat -https://lnkd.in/eGANbArP Let's hold off on "I'm sorry" messages, as I'm looking to forge on with positivity & active support! Hopefully, more updates soon! #designresearch #userresearch #designthinking #openforwork

Are you Adding or Scaling your Design Operations? Here are some Ops Managers You Should Consider Hiring: - Lisa de Larios-Heiman - David M. - Scott Purcell - Jason Armstrong - Dana Bruschi - Bill Townsley - Jen Nordhem - Alexis Bussa This was a cursory search on LI for green badges in DesignOps. These and other exceptional leaders can make a meaningful and lasting positive impact on your operational excellence. Did I miss you? Add yourself to the list in the comments - share with hiring managers. #hiringdesignops #opentowork #amplifydesign #designleadership

This!!! ✨ Having had the privilege of collaborating with the Rubrik design team, I've been part of an extraordinary 2.5-year journey where leadership played a pivotal role in fostering a culture deeply rooted in User-Centered Design. This journey wasn't just about advocating for a mature design process but also about embedding the essence of design thinking across the organization. However, in the past, I'd also been in a position where I played as the only advocator for the value of user experience in a company, shifting product value and processes one step at a time for a better collab framework. ---- The challenge for design leadership often lies in advocacy of the alignment between the design impact and the overarching success of the product. This nuanced role distinguishes design leaders from design managers, and is crucial for gaining a strategic seat at the decision-making table. Unfortunately, the absence of such advocacy often leads to not just personnel layoffs within design teams but also inexplicable dips in product conversions. --- The emergence of a new wave of mission-aware designers who possess a profound comprehension of human-centered thinking is at a high! As IC designers, It's crucial at a time like this for us to secure our career advancement by looking for these identifiers of visionary design leadership. As design leaders, our mandate extends beyond mere execution; it's about challenging the status quo, reimagining pre-established norms, and advocating for the intrinsic value of design. This approach is not just vital for organizational growth but is essential for the advancement of today's society at large. ❤️ #uxdesign #productdesign #productdesigner #design #humancentereddesign #designcommunity #uxleadership #layoff #layoffsupport

I recently read an excellent essay by Matej Latin about the numerous issues designers will face in 2023 and beyond, and I couldn't agree more with the points made. Our sector is clearly evolving, presenting both opportunities and challenges, from layoffs to career progression. In his research, Matej explored the reasons for designer layoffs and provided deeper insights into the underlying causes by conducting a comprehensive poll with nearly double the participation from the previous year. His key findings include: 1️⃣ Impact of Layoffs:14.3% of respondents reported being laid off, indicating a serious problem in the IT industry. This increased vulnerability has shifted many designers' objectives. 2️⃣ Career Progression: Promotion prospects for intermediate and senior designers are restricted. This highlights the importance of companies providing growth opportunities to retain top talent. 3️⃣ Lack of UX/Design Maturity: 8.9% of employees cited this as a reason for quitting their business. This highlights a persistent gap in understanding and valuing design's strategic importance. 4️⃣ Managerial Relationships: Only 25% of respondents were pleased with managerial support. Cultivating supportive leadership could significantly improve retention rates. 5️⃣ Remote Work Dynamics: While 70% of designers have remote work freedom, only 3.1% cited its absence as a cause for leaving. This demonstrates its growing relevance without being the primary departure factor. The findings point to a top-heavy market, with senior and leadership roles dominating, presenting both opportunities and obstacles for career growth. As we evaluate these findings, it's evident that resolving these challenges can result in a more robust and dynamic design environment. Let's continue the conversation. What are your thoughts on these insights? How can we collaborate to foster a more supportive and progressive design environment? Please share your suggestions below! This is why I have a community focused on growth and development in the design industry for designers. #DesignIndustry #UIDesign #CareerDevelopment #TechTrends #DesignLeadership

A week in design leadership - #13 In this week’s post, I share: 1/5: Picking up hiring We had to cut down hiring drastically in the last 18 months. We had a swelled up team and business opportunities were a few. As we pick up hiring again, there are few things we are overly cautious about: A. We must hire for long term fitment. B. We must utalise the clarity of skills and their importance which we have developed now. C. And lastly, hire for a good cultural fit. We are hiring in the brackets of 2 to 4 and 4+ years of experience. If you or someone who fits, please reach out! 2/5: Prospect meetings What an excellent sight it was to watch Monu Kumari, Damini Parihar, and Parul Sharma blow it out of the park, as they went about presenting their design research findings and proposed design approach in front of a prospect. Specially considering the timeline under which this had to be accomplished. Proud of the team I have! 3/5: Visual designers Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to hire people with a very strong visual design skills. As a community, have we made a mistake of overly emphasising one aspect of our deliverable over the other? As we work on amping up our hiring, I hope to onboard designers with equally strong visual design talent. 4/5: Are design processes too long? The old question came to bite again! Now a days, design teams design processes based on multiple factors, such as: A. What’s the current stage of the product? B. What are the immediate priorities? C. What are the long term goals? Each of these, and many more, factors have influence on how design can deliver the most. Since there is often a dependency on designers to reach a stage where development teams can pick up, we found ourselves trying to walk a tight rope. Last week was a reminder of the same. 5/5: Bad project management and designers One of our core belief is giving and expecting respect. Since we are an agency, we do end up coming across people who aren’t culturally aligned. Unfortunately, last few months were tough on one of the teams. I can’t thank Coditas enough to always, unconditionally, back it’s people. And we could finally put an end to the problem without impacting the client and the work. #uxdesign #designthinking #startupstories #designleadership

A week in design leadership - #8 In this week’s post, I share: 1/4: Cooking a Design Meetup We are working on re-starting our community engagement activities at Coditas starting in April. The goal is to assemble designers from various skills and backgrounds, have a nice chat, share contacts, and discuss opportunities, experiences, and tips. We’ll start rolling out invitations soon. Very excited to get going again. 2/4: Continuous interviews Finally, I gathered the bandwidth to start the continuous interview plan I designed last year! Through this process, we plan to look for great designers to join our team in the coming quarters. Another focus will be on improving gaps in our candidate experience side of things. Lucky to have a really solid recruitment team who understands how to adopt a human-first approach in our work. We plan to continue making improvements in our process. The hiring bar will be high. We’ll be selective. But we’ll ensure the implementation of a transparent process. And learn from feedback. 3/4: Lost opportunities Lost opportunities teach you a lot. But only if you’re willing to learn. Last week, we lost an opportunity we had been chasing for months. 4/4: A running list of challenges I have this habit of maintaining a running list of problems to solve. The list has items across personal as well as professional challenges. The majority have no deadlines but are essential. This allows me to utilize any available bandwidth in the right direction and for the right things. Last week, I brought the same process to document a running list of problems to be solved, hoping to open it up to the rest of the team and encourage people to pick a problem they would want to solve. These problems are generally identified via on-floor surveys (1:1s and feedback sessions), client feedback, process improvements, culture improvements, and quality improvements. #uxdesign #designthinking #startupstories #designleadership