We were thrilled to officially launch our partnership with The Outlook.
Wednesday’s Design Leadership roundtable was the start of ✨something special✨. It was the kind of event where industry leaders meet big thinkers; the rare gathering that makes you put away your phone and wish for more ears.
Ljuba Youngblom from Airwallex set the tone with an elegantly blunt take: designers need to win. Not participate. Not contribute. WIN. 🏆 His playbook? Instigating Design Classes to solve problems (not just critique work), reframing Design Lead roles to support the group rather than manage, and contributing to PRDs like it’s where the real decisions hibernate. 🐻🌳
But it was Brad Alphonso from Bupa who delivered this mic-dropper: “Is it time for a Design re-brand?” 😲 His impassioned plea to stop proving relevance through processes that don’t resonate with business leaders and start speaking the language of market share and growth surely flipped a few process purists. 📈🔄
Among other standouts, Angela Bliss turned the room into a live behavioural science case study. Design Leaders were the guinea pigs 🐹🔬, and from where we stood, they didn’t mind one bit. Stephanie Ransom from ANZ delivered a storytelling masterclass on embedding design maturity through a player-coach model 🏀👩🏫, and Abi Iyer took us through Easygo and Stake‘s hyper-scale growth story with the casual confidence of someone who’s been founding businesses since age 15 (because he has 🤯).
The only downside to days like these? They end. In conclusion, design people are officially rated 10/10 for all-day hangouts.🔥🙌
