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Design Leadership 2022 was a nourishing and insightful experience. From the opening forum day to the final talks!

Day 1 - 15 November

Leadership forum - Matt Fenwick and Steve Baty

Greatly appreciated by all who attended, the forum covered relevant leadership topics and practical frameworks. Attendees shared the challenges they’ve faced for the year and those they’re predicting for 2023, including;

• Influencing leaders who do not work in design
• Morale in hybrid environments
• Living the role of a “leader”
• Supporting teams and business needs
• Influencing roadmaps and measuring input

Sitting in groups of 4-5, all were able to discuss and hear what others might do, or have done in a similar situation. The afternoon session concluded with some drinks and nibbles in anticipation for the next days conference.

Day 2 - 16 November

Wise design leadership is closer than you think - Sarah Stokes

We kicked off the day with Sarah Stokes, who spoke about wisdom. What it is, what it’s not, and where to use it to the best effect. Wisdom helps us be more human, as it requires self-reflection and a recognition of our limitations. 

Leading with empathy: Learn more by speaking less - Ibrahim Ayub

Encouraging empathetic leadership, Ibrahim Ayub asked us to be curious and create space to cultivate and iterate stronger relationships, by changing our mental models and reframing how we think of ourselves at work. Just like the things we design, we are always changing and have the potential to evolve.

Leading with feelings - Carolyn Pearce

Carolyn Pearce shared her internal struggles with acknowledging feelings and the lingering perception that we really should leave them at home. But how can we bring our whole selves to work without them? Carolyn suggests we create space for them, sit with them, accept them as part of our working selves. 

Transparent recruiting: A better way to hire - Jonathon Colman

Projecting from midnight somewhere else, Jonathan Colman’s voice reminded us that when we recruit, we are not trying to test a candidate’s ability to pass our tests, or to make it hard to join our company. The opposite is true and we need to make it easier by being transparent about money and conditions, and supporting the process for everyone properly.

Building and scaling empowered and engaged teams - Michelle Cabanela

Next, Michelle Cabanela talked about the kinds of things a team needs to thrive, including psychological safety, opportunities for personal growth, care, and of course, fun. Teams are made up of real people with real feelings, lives, and complexities. Avoid the toxic positivity and just make space for people to be real.

Is money the only way to recruit and retain staff? - Mags Hanley

Taking us into the lunch break, the always compelling Mags Hanley talked through what people want besides money, including things like flexibility, benefits, conferences and training, flexible leave, but also the one we think matters less - the right job title. Do your homework on salaries, package things well, be honest, make sure your senior people are valued.

‘Scientific design methods’ and ‘applied creativity’: a lost history - Zoe Rose

Zoe Rose took our brains into the afternoon talking about lost history, starting with origins of the double-diamond and other models that have shaped the way we approach design. She guided us on a trip through psychology, creativity, individualism, space, ideo-politics, patent patterns, and sanskrit, teaching us a lesson about context, and how we must never forget we need it for everything we do.

Designing business systems to support flexible and hybrid work - Anita Gisch

Next up, introvert Anita Gisch to talk extrovertedly about her journey through changing work cultures, interactions, office design, systems (eeek TRIM!), presenteeism, and the impact of cubicle on our psyches. Cloud technology enabled remoteness and then Covid made it necessary. But office or home is not the issue, the tech and the conditions are what really makes a productive workplace.

Establishing a kick ass design-led innovation practice - Nathan Baird

We laughed, we nodded, and we cringed, as Nathan Baird took us through the strategic and business realities of being a designer. From eating our kills to kissing enough frogs, he familiarised us with some necessary selling approaches we can use in our own work. Plus he gave us a link to his Innovator’s Playbook.  

Reimagining leadership teams - Jane Nguyen & Aron Tucker

Presentation duo Jane Nguyen and Aron Tucker from Pretzel Lab, talking about how to prepare design leaders to be leaders, before they are leaders. They talked about being humans who fail and succeed, get frustrated, experience challenges, and how their model of non-persistent leadership creates distributed accountability and better communication. They also showed us how a pretzel is an edible venn diagram. 

Leading creative teams into the new normal - Naomi Schofield

Naomi Schofield delivered the penultimate talk about leading teams into the ‘new normal’. Her talk highlighted the importance of empathy and thinking more creatively about how to support flexible working, without replicating some of the limitations of the office. Spend your own time and use other people’s time well, and get confident innovating.

SEVA leadership: A decolonised perspective - Cheri Flewell-Smith

Last talk of the day was from proud Sikh woman Cheri Flewel-Smith talking to us about SEVA leadership and peas. SEVA means selfless service, and as a leadership style, it means ‘service with, and not for’. Pillars of SEVA include generosity, community, courage, humility, and equality. As a holistic leadership approach it supports physical, emotional and material well-being.

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That’s the last event for 2022. Women in UX is finished for the year, but returns in February.

You still have time to submit a talk or workshop proposal for Design Research 2023.

Hope to see you all there.