speak

With a technology landscape that is increasingly relying on design and customer experience as a value proposition to both its shareholders and its customers, I’m baffled by the scarcity of executive level Design leadership. Advertising continues to be the most prolific sector with roles such as VP of Design, Executive Creative Director, Chief Experience Officer, but what about the software companies, the product companies, the startups? Why are they so obviously devoid of creative leadership? At most, roles like Design Director, Interactive Lead, and Sr. User Experience Manager dot the job boards. All of which typically report to the VP of Product Management, or SVP of Marketing or sometimes the Chief Technology Officer. This continued subordination guarantees that Design has much weaker voice (and by implication role) than these companies would like to believe. Read more…