Working with design-driven methods such as design thinking means actively and iteratively involving users and continuous learning from your insights. As a design leader, it should be your priority to advocate user-centred solutions and show how they can benefit your business by bringing happier and more loyal customers. Conducting a single survey or occasional user testing is just not enough to get you to the top - user data and feedback need to be a natural part of the organisation's everyday decision making. 

Find a way to communicate user needs, drives, and frustrations by being transparent about your insights from your collected data. Invite cross-functional team members to listen in on user testing or share video recordings with stakeholders. It can be a real eye-opener and an excellent way to get everyone to empathize with users’ pain points in your products or services.

1. Inspire your team through insights and empathy

To spark innovation and empower the team to experiment towards the best solution, you need to provide a psychologically safe space where people feel comfortable taking risks, being creative, sharing ideas, embracing diversity, and having fun. Make them feel that it is okay to test, fail, and learn from the experience. 

Spreading an experimental culture and mindset to the rest of the organization might result in new innovative business offerings and a more rapid adaptation to the market. Facilitate your cross-functional team through brainstorming sessions, design sprints, and feedback loops, the result might take them by surprise!

2. Provide a safe space for innovation

To position design as a strategic asset within your organisation, you must consistently demonstrate the value of a design-driven approach. You will need to sharpen your communication skills and be prepared to continually explain your design process, deliveries, and how they align with the overall vision and goals to team members and stakeholders. Actively seek feedback from others and lead by example by demonstrating how to receive the feedback constructively and gracefully.

Also, remember to use your design skills to empathize not only with your users but also with your stakeholders to understand their challenges and motivations. It will help you determine the best way to advocate for your strategic design decisions to gain their trust and mandate. In that way, you and your team can continue using design-driven methods to create innovative and highly engaging products in the future.

Three hands-on tips for becoming a great design leader