What do UX leaders lead?

Given the right context and corporate culture, User Experience leaders can do amazing things for any company. Much like Design Leaders, here is a snapshot of what the best UX leaders lead, and it goes far beyond usability. Process UX is about making new experiences, services and products, and this requires process discipline and methods […]

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Ten characteristics of great design leaders

After interviewing hundreds of design leaders in my recruiting business for the last three and a half years, sitting thru about 350 speeches by design leaders whilst running DMI for six years, reading about 350 articles by design leaders as the publisher of the DMI Review and the DMI Journal, and co-editing/writing four anthology books […]

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The Anatomy of a Great UX Design Leader

Fast Company recently asked me – What makes a great UX design leader? Here is my response – Seven key traits the best UX design leaders share. The job market for user experience designers is booming, and academic programs at companies like Google have sprung up to meet demand. Missing from most discussions about the […]

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How to hire great design leaders

Let’s face it, every business must innovate for the future, and innovation requires creativity. Not just creativity, but appropriately focused and managed creativity. But this kind of creativity doesn’t just pop up on demand, and you can’t just click on it; it takes savvy Design, UX and Innovation leaders that know how to nurture and […]

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Interview tip: Replace the resume with a whiteboard.

Need a more innovative workforce? Then start with how you use the resume. How long has the resume concept been around, forever? How much have they evolved? While reviewing the listing of job experiences on paper or online is still important, if you need a more innovative workforce, it’s time to take a look at […]

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Ten recruiting predictions for 2016 – and the role of design

General Electric, the nations largest industrial company, just announced it is moving it’s headquarters from Connecticut to Boston. Of their 360,000 G.E. employees globally, only 800 will go to the new HQ in Boston. What I find most interesting is that the New York Times reports that of the 800 going to headquarters only 200 will […]

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Interview tip by Thomas Edison

Interview tip – no salt! Here is a story I heard about how Thomas Edison conducted interviews. His technique goes like this: Back in his day, people often had soup for lunch. So when Edison met a potential hire, he would invite them to lunch, and order soup. The candidates most often ordered soup too. […]

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How to critique product design portfolios

Here are seven tips to evaluate product design portfolios Lets be honest, critiquing design portfolios can be difficult. And for the untrained reviewer, even daunting. It’s easy to get swept away by beautiful renderings and snappy concept sketches. And its even more difficult if you are looking for design leaders. To evaluate a design candidates […]

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Design Leadership: What’s Next?

I just wrote an interesting post for FastCo Design about the future of design leadership. Read the full article here – Design Leadership: What’s Next? It’s based on interviews I conducted with the heads of design from 3M, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Pepsico, Philips and REI. There are seven areas of focus: Remain driven […]

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