1 minute read

To get started as a design leader at a new role a few things to look out for.

People

Goal: understand your team, members, place in their organisation.

Todos:

  • Ramp up over time to 50% of direct coaching:
    • Establish 1-1s
    • Establish design dialogues
    • Do a project retro with each person
  • Understand career ladder, each person’s place on it
  • Start career coaching
  • Establish team rituals
  • Plan first team event
  • Talk to senior stakeholders to understand performance and staffing challenges
  • Establish team brand
  • Establish role definitions

Practice

Goal: understand design maturity, establish program level goals.

Todos:

  • Run maturity assessment
  • Talk to senior stakeholders to understand challenges and positives
  • Establish program roadmap
  • Establish planning participation
  • Establish ethics, accessibility, GDPR standards

Platforms

Goal: understand supporting systems

  • Understand design system, establish working group
  • Understand content strategy, establish working group
  • Establish measurement plans around design team and product UX

Product

Goal: understand where the product is, where it could go, and how to get there

  • Understand plans, visions, purposes in place
  • Establish insight repository
  • Establish design debt log
  • Run product health check exercise with teams
  • Create insight atlas
  • Create experience vision
  • Figure out how to be part of planning
  • Establish design quality practice

Personal

Goal: set yourself up for success

  • Transparent weekly housekeeping
  • Set personal goals
  • Set weekly rhythm
  • 10% time on writing

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