Today I talk to three design industry luminaries about the current state of design and potential paths forward. They’re all seasoned hands who have ridden out a few downturns in their time and can take a long view on design from their different vantage points.
Robert Fabricant is a Social impact designer based in NYC who specialises in Healthcare and previously worked at Frog. He wrote two much-discussed articles on FastCo earlier this year, which provocatively asked if Business was breaking up with design, which partly prompted my article on Design in the Doldrums.
Sean Carney has a background in ID, and has held various design leadership roles, including being the Chief Design Officer of Philips for 15 years, so gives a highly authoritative corporate design view on the situation.
Warren Hutchinson has moved from ID to UX to digital transformation design, both in-house and as a consultant, including his current consultancy, which he co-founded.
15:00 Symptoms of the Doldrums
25:15 From product to system design?
35:32 Over specialisation?
39:10 Routes out of the Doldrums
ARTICLES MENTIONED
Robert Fabricant, ‘The big design freak-out: A generation of design leaders grapple with their future’, 15 February 2024, FastCompany
Robert Fabricant, ‘Design leaders are in their reinvention era’, 10 April 2024, FastCompany
Kevin McCullagh, ‘Why design is in the doldrums’, 18 September 2024
Kevin McCullagh, DMI keynote deck, 24 September 2024
KEVIN & PLAN
Kevin McCullagh is the founder of Plan, a product strategy consultancy based in London, which helps design and innovation leaders with strategic clarity. He writes and speaks on Foresight, Innovation and Leadership.
Website: www.plan.london
Email: kevin@plan.london
MUSIC
By Nico Delaney
https://www.instagram.com/marksson.music
