What Is My Value? Two Takes and Some Mistakes
Summary
Have you ever wondered, “what is the value of design?” In this talk, Shahrzad will not answer that question. Instead, she’ll share the mistakes she made while chasing the question of value across both consulting and in-house design. Through these embarrassing stories, she’ll share lessons learned for how designers and design leaders can own and deliver on their value.
Key Insights
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Designers often play a small, pawn-like role within larger business games, but this role can still decisively impact outcomes if embraced.
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Clients sometimes hire design for investor optics rather than genuine strategic value, making the designer a pawn in a political game.
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Lack of a clear champion, purpose, or alignment can render even expert design work ineffective and demoralizing.
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Persistent contradictions in stakeholder requests signal a dysfunctional decision-making environment often impossible to rescue.
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Designers uniquely can create value before fully understanding their business context by making ideas tangible early.
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Spending excessive time in meetings without producing work diminishes design’s perceived value and morale.
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Operational improvements, such as optimizing meeting cadence, can protect design teams from overload and unclear priorities.
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Personal relationships with cross-functional peers are crucial to overcoming misunderstandings about design’s role and impact.
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Trying to prove design’s value to skeptics can backfire, wasting energy and weakening a designer’s influence.
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Knowing when to exit unproductive or unsupportive environments safeguards a designer’s personal value and growth.
Notable Quotes
"If the game is chess and you're playing darts, no one is going to think you have any value."
"We were a pawn. And a pawn can still win the game."
"Some situations are not worth saving. If you have no champion, no clarity, and no purpose, is it worth it to continue?"
"Designers create value by making artifacts and experiences before fully understanding the space."
"If we aren't making, we actually have no value at all."
"Proving the value of design is a fool's errand. What matters is your value."
"Don't fight invisible enemies. Find the people who support and appreciate you."
"Knowing your value as a person means not giving everything to situations that don't give back."
"The size of your role doesn't determine your impact; it's how your role fits into the bigger picture."
"Building relationships beyond roles, as people, makes everything else fall into place."
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