Transforming Design into Business Strategy: A Practical Guide for Middle Managers and Senior ICs
The real fight for design influence is in middle management. To drive impact, tie design to KPIs, revenue, and efficiency—positioning it as a business driver, not just a service or usability layer.
Pruning for Growth: The Art and Discipline of Critique in a Remote World
Excellent critique is like pruning a bonsai—careful, intentional, and growth-focused. Learn how to give structured, inclusive feedback and build a thriving critique culture in remote design teams.
Balancing Speed and Safety: Building Trust in Expansion Mode
In high-growth orgs, psychological safety fuels innovation. Explore five ways to build trust—curiosity, guardrails, feedback, shared ownership & pauses—so teams take risks, learn, and drive real impact.
Building Bridges to Make an Impact as a New Leader
Starting a new design leadership role? Learn how to align design with business goals, foster collaboration, and empower teams to drive lasting impact. Build bridges that set the stage for success.
Your Career Is a Recipe: The Design of Mastery, Balance, and Growth
Growing up in India, kitchens taught me resilience and creativity. Like cooking, design leadership blends vision, adaptability, and care to turn simple ingredients into lasting impact.
Designers: The Cost-Effective Consultants Hiding in Plain Sight
Parenting has been one of my greatest teachers in design leadership. It’s shown me how to navigate complexity, foster resilience, and balance empathy with structure. Much like guiding teams, parenting is about understanding context, building trust, and embracing imperfection as part of growth. These lessons continue to shape how I lead with purpose and design impactful solutions in an ever-changing world.
Unlocking Talent Excellence - Tips for Senior Managers to Hire the Best Talent
Learn how senior managers can hire with empathy and strategy—from defining roles to onboarding. Explore inclusive job posts, witty interviews, and offers that attract top talent and drive success.
The Superpower of a Strong Design Team: Driving Growth and Transformation
Design isn’t just visuals—it’s a growth engine. Strong teams unite silos, simplify complexity, and drive faster, human-centered decisions that boost retention, brand equity, and business impact.
What Design Leaders Can Learn from Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK wasn’t a designer, but his vision, empathy, and systemic thinking offer timeless lessons. Design leaders can honor his legacy by leading with purpose, inclusivity, and a drive for lasting impact.
Cultivating Leadership Through Key Meetings
Three must-have meetings for design leaders: Daily Design Reviews, Skip-Level 1:1s, and Cross-Functional Reviews. They drive alignment, feedback, and leadership across teams for lasting impact.
Embedding Customer-Centricity into the DNA of Your Organization
Organizations must adopt a holistic view of the customer journey to embed customer-centricity. Design leaders align teams around a shared vision, integrating feedback and fostering collaboration. This approach drives growth, enhances brand loyalty, and reduces operational costs by proactively addressing issues across touchpoints, creating long-term value for customers and the business.
Harnessing Diversity: Lessons from a Design Leader
Resilience is built through challenge and identity. As an immigrant and design leader, adapting to new cultures taught me empathy, shaped my leadership, and helped me build stronger, inclusive teams.
Lessons on Leadership I learned from my first manager
Jean Cattell, my first design manager, shaped my path with fierce advocacy and heart. This tribute shares 3 timeless lessons she taught me—on autonomy, contribution, and leading with integrity.
Gaining credit - Our design journey into expanding Venmo
Go behind the scenes of the Venmo Credit Card launch—see how user insights, cross-team alignment, and innovative design turned complexity into simplicity and redefined how users engage with their finances.