Taking the Leap: Rising from Designer to Design Leader

Topics
You’ve proven yourself as a designer. And you’ve come to understand not only what your users, but your organization needs. But does becoming a leader mean you have to stop designing? Absolutely not. As a leader, you apply your established skills and processes toward solving a new variety of complex problems. These new challenges require new insight into your organization and how it operates, so you can bring everyone together and solve user needs while also meeting business objectives.

This session examines the varying contexts and challenges of being a design leader. You’ll learn how to lead no matter where you are in your career, and gain practical takeaways for advancing design within your organization and understanding your role in making it happen.

Attendees will learn to:
• Identify and understand different types of leaders and your own leadership style
• Learn how to lead based on your experience level and personal goals
• Develop empathy for your boss and other leaders in your organization
• Understand how the complexity of design problems increases as you continue to advance as a leader

About the Speaker
Andy Vitale is a design leader and educator who instills the importance of a human-centered approach to solve problems, grow revenue, and achieve far-reaching goals.

He has solved problems for organizations ranging from startups to Fortune-ranked companies. Andy is a relentless design evangelist, with a passion for cognitive thinking and making technology more human. He's driven by a user-centered passion that transforms teams from capable to difference-making.

Andy is an adjunct professor for Kent State University’s User Experience Design graduate program, and serves on the advisory board for multiple professional organizations and educational institutions. He is also the co-author, along with Lisa Welchman, of the upcoming book Designing for Safety (Early 2021).