What's next? Graduation and beyond
My mission: advancing the role of the Chief Design Officer and increasing the # of CDOs in public and private companies.
A little more about what’s next..
I graduated 4.0 GPA from SCAD in Nov 2021 with a MA Design Management that included my thesis project on Chief Design Officers and Design Executive Effectiveness.
My research brought together public and private company design executives some of the world’s most influential technology companies to advance our understanding of what exactly a Chief Design Officer is, and their unique value proposition towards corporate success.
I interviewed 16 design executives of public or unicorn companies (CDO/SVPs/VPs/Heads of Design), including 6 public company Chief Design Officers.
As of writing this post, I counted approximately 16 public company Chief Design Officers, and my thesis research covered 6 public CDOs, which represents 38% of the population. I also interviewed 16 design executives in total who all have the potential to become the next wave of Chief Design Officers. There is a lot more work to do to get this number up.
Through my interviews, I learned first-hand what design executives experience and think about to deliver impact, and also what challenges that they face in driving corporate success. I’m excited to lift the lid on this piece of work and share insights with you straight from the source.
My intention with this newsletter is to create a space where topics of design management are discussed in more detail beyond Twitter and to advance the state of the Chief Design Officer. I want to help increase the awareness of what design management is, its history, its capabilities to transform business.
As Thomas J Watson said in a 1966 memo to all IBM employees — “Good design is good business” — these words could not be more true today.
Looking forward, my aim is to share answers and insights to questions about design management through a research-driven and people-focused approach.
You can expect inspiring interviews with movers and shakers of design, and research-backed insights from academia and industry.
Below is a content framework I developed through my research that I’d like to surface looking forward. Anchored in history, definition, understanding, and action — it serves to enrich readers with a variety of data points to better understanding design management.
For more highlight posts or a space to connect with me - find me on Twitter.
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