This Is A Prototype
We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in the history of the design profession. Businesses are investing in design at rates never before seen—building scaled design teams of hundreds and even thousands of designers, and hiring design leaders into executive roles giving them influence and access at the highest levels. As an executive design leader myself, I’m fascinated by the experience of designers moving into these new leadership roles. For most of us this is completely uncharted territory, the jobs are often undefined and there is rarely a roadmap or playbook to help us succeed, so most of us have had to learn on the job. In each episode of This is a Prototype, I invite two design leaders who have traveled very different life and career journeys to share their stories, compare notes, and talk about what it takes to be a leader in this new era of design.
Episodes
Kevin’s remarkably divergent career spans engineering, business and design over more than 25 years. He’s worked as a nuclear engineer at Westinghouse Nuclear, designed sneakers at Nike, and consulted with global enterprises at BCG. Kevin currently leads Dreams • Design + Life, a think tank that delivers design & inn...
As we’ve discussed throughout Season 2 of this series, we’re in the midst of a challenging time for the global design industry that is causing many established design leaders to face unexpected change and uncertainty — many for the first time in their career.
My guest for this episode, Jenna Date...
In 1988 Richard founded CO:LAB as a design consultancy with a focus on brand design and product launches. Over time the firm moved from its original home in Boston, to Hartford, Connecticut, and has shif...
Based in Portugal, Daniela, is a self-described “pracademic”, fluidly straddling the line between design practice and design education. Daniela is fluent in 7 languages, and puts many of those languages to use i...
Throughout this season of the series I’ve been looking at the impact of AI and other emerging technology on the future of design and design leadership, and I’ve been particularly interested in examining this through the lens of some of the top academic design programs in the US. I find that looking at how students are learning design in the classroom can be a...
In this episode I look at how AI is showing up in the academic design environment. How are stu...
Throughout Season 2 of this series, host Doug Powell is speaking with guests who have established themselves as leaders in design and then have become leaders in a completely different space. Nobody embodies this leadership journey more than Doug's guest for this episode, Bill Grant. Bill is the founder and pre...
In part two, we dig deeply into a pair of articles written by Robert for Fast Company about the state of design leadership by examining the wave of contraction that has happened across the tech industry, and the emergence of grass-roots communities of designers seeking connection and guidance.
In part 1, we dig into Kate’s and Robert’s design backstories, and discuss the growth and expansion of design as a practice and a profession in the last two decades, including the important issue of leadershi...
The practice and profession of design in scaled companies continues to evolve in unexpected ways, and the role of the design leader in that evolution is more important than ever to the success of our teams and organizations.
In Season 2 of This is a prototype, host Doug Powell continues to speak to the top design leaders in the industry about their life ...
Doreen Lorenzo is a pioneering design leader who is the Assistant Dean of the School of Design and Creative Technology at University of Texas, a role she started in 2016. Prior to joining UT, Doreen was the longtime President of Frog Design, one of the largest and most established global design consultancies in the world. Doreen is a columnist for Fa...
Ann Willoughby is an AIGA Medalist who has been a leading voice in design for over five decades. In 1978 she founded Willoughby Design, one of the first woman-owned design firms in the US. In addition to her leadership of this award-winning firm, Ann has been an advocate for countless community organizations and academic programs throughout...
Tom and I discuss the reasons design leadership roles are often not se...
—Nicole Gull-McElroy
What are the central stories in the design industry today, and how is the business media covering them?
In this POV Edition, I speak with journalist Nicole Gull-McElroy, who reports on the intersection of business and design for Fortune, Fast Company, and Wired, among other publications. Nicole was the lead ed...
Throughout Season 1 of the series, we’ve been digging deeply into the hidden, and often surprising characteristics of leadership. Those leadership qualities—actually those hu...
Among the core themes that is emerging in Season 1 is the importance of mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship for design leaders. That’s one of the topics I explore in this wide-ranging discussion with my guests, Heidi Munc and Gus Granger.
Heidi Munc is a user experien...
In episode 3 of This is a Prototype, I take a slightly different approach to the format with the first of what I’m calling “POV Editions.” Here I look at design leadership through a more analytical lens with the help of a single guest who has a distinctive…point of view on the field.
In this first POV Edition, I spe...
In the second episode, I speak to Ashleigh Axios, Chief Experience Officer and an owner of Coforma and previous Creative Director and Digital Strategist in the Obama White House, and Chris Hacker, Chief Design Officer of Hacker Design Gr...
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