Book
Author: Emma Carter
Designers: it's time to become DesignedUp and lead in tech
Emma Carter noticed many of the designers she had mentored throughout her career faced challenges when it came to design leadership — particularly when working within a tech-first company where the designers are often in the minority and the true value of design is not properly understood.
This didn’t make sense — not least because research suggests companies driven by design outperform those that are not by 219%. Design has a huge impact: so why weren’t designers being given a seat at the leadership table?
That’s why she wrote DesignedUp — it’s a guide to help designers navigate organizations when they’re in the minority. Featuring insights from a range of experienced design leaders, this book will help you overcome professional obstacles and become a DesignedUp leader who can influence everyone from engineers to C-level execs.
Become an advocate for exceptional design in your organization
Turn execs into design evangelists
Help colleagues understand the value of human-centered design
Manage internal tensions with confidence and professionalism
A useful guide for the modern design practitioner who sits at the intersection of the IT consultancy and agency world... a refreshing antidote to any career doldrums you may have.
About the author
Emma Carter | Thoughtworks alumnus
Emma Carter is a seasoned design leader with more than two decades of experience across various industries. She has witnessed — and adapted to — the evolution of design as it has been increasingly embraced by the fast-paced tech industry and consistently demonstrated its power at helping humans solve problems
Emma successfully led an award-winning design agency in the UK before embarking on a new and rather sunnier chapter in Brisbane, Australia. During her tenure as a Principal Experience Designer at global technology consultancy Thoughtworks, she spent nearly a decade helping clients elevate their design maturity by driving a customer-centric approach to problem-solving and leading cross-functional agile teams to think from the user's perspective.
Emma is the author of the best-selling book, Beyond The Logo, published in 2013, which delves into the profound impact of design on brands. The book urges organizations to embrace the total brand experience. Her latest publication, DesignedUp: A Designer's Guide on How to Lead Inside the Tech Industry delves into her experiences and those of other design leaders into their insights on leading design teams in the tech industry. The publication promises to empower aspiring design leaders with valuable insights and practical advice.
As a regular speaker at conferences and events, Emma shares her expertise and inspires audiences to embrace the power of design. Driven by her unwavering commitment to creating better experiences through design. Emma Carter brings her unique blended experience of branding, visual design, experience design and agile delivery to the forefront. She propels organizations forward, fostering design maturity and ensuring they embrace the full spectrum of design's transformative value.
Emma can be found online on Twitter at @ej_carter and on LinkedIn.
Designers have long asked for a ‘seat at the table.’ What Emma Carter has done is given them the roadmap to not only get that seat, but to redesign the table to fit what tech-driven organizations need to succeed today.
Hear Emma talk about DesignedUp
Emma will be talking all things leadership and design at a special event in Brisbane at 5.30pm on July 18.
With a wider panel discussion featuring Sophia Woods, Product Design Director at Xero, and a chance to win a copy of DesignedUp, it promises to be an evening design practitioners won't want to miss.
Tickets are free and available on EventBrite.