They do not want you at the table

Jose Coronado

Design, Operations and Strategy Executive | Global Speaker on Leadership, Design & Operations | Board Advisor

For the last two decades, we have been arguing that “Design belongs at the table.” However, we feel that we have been excluded or not invited to join. The question is: what do we need to do to earn the right to be there, and to be welcomed?

In the recent conference, Calgary UX , Jeremy Mykola 🇺🇦 Bailey discussed some of the hard truths he has faced in his career. Design leaders across industries may see many similarities with the stories and anecdotes that he described.

Jeremy was the global head of design, reporting to the CEO. He was a relentless advocate of design and the value and impact that it created in the organization. Jeremy had the receipts with clear metrics indicating that design met or exceeded all OKRs. In his many 1:1s with the CEO, he argued that design earned a seat at the table. His boss agreed, however, he shared that Jeremy’s peers did not want him there. His colleagues in the leadership team perceived his approach as assertive and sometimes argumentative.

Was there anything he could have done differently? Probably. Was there something he could do now to change the perception and improve the relationship with his peers? Probably, but it would be hard to change their perception. As the old saying goes, your reputation precedes you. In this case, the best option was to create a new pathway and a different reputation at a different organization.

In the session “Applying a UX Mindset Towards Business,” Murray Thompson shared a candid reflection on things we do to promote UX that end up inhibiting trust and influence, and removing us from the conversation. This sounds familiar, right? Maybe something like this also happens to us.

Murray discussed some possible outcomes:

• Inhibit trust and influence – if the organization is not read: Present Facts, Evangelize, Protest

• Remove you from ownership and power – Evangelize, Protest, Give Up

Both Bailey and Thompson describe situations that designers face daily in different organizations and industries. As design leaders and practitioners, we could use some of our own UX capabilities to tilt the scale in our favor and increase our sphere of influence in the organization.

Here are some key capabilities that we can leverage in our practice:

1. Listen – when I got a new role in a Fortune 50 organization, I made it a point to meet and learn from the leaders across the business units I would work closely with. I learned that in some instances, I could help them alleviate pressure and solve business challenges by, for example, facilitating a strategy workshop with their leadership team. This helped raise the profile of design as a business function.
2. Be empathetic – as designers, we argue we are the champions of empathy to the people we design for; however, we suck at being empathetic towards the people we work with. We need to develop a human connection with “Jane,” the product leader, and “Susie,” the tech leader, as an example. This will help us see each other in a manner that enables a connection of care, respect, and appreciation.
3. Advocating for the Product Team – when we come together and advocate for support as one, we are perceived as a cohesive, collaborative group. If instead, we advocate only for our own functional area, we may end up alienating our partners.
4. Evolve our role as leaders – we are passionate champions of design, and we understand its importance in the success of the products and services we work on. However, we need to become business leaders over “just design leaders” so that we articulate the impact, value and alignment of design with business priorities and outcomes.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together — African Proverb

Related article: Bridging the gap between Business and Design

Please share your perspective and join the conversation.

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