Hello 👋 

This week we have Andrea Pilutti talking about his experience from IC to Head of Design. To finish off with I will brain-dump some thoughts on how to create job descriptions for designers.

In this mail:

• Interview with Andrea Pilutti on becoming a Head of Design

• How to write a JD for Designers

Becoming a Head of Design

Andrea has 20 years of design experience under his belt working for a variety of agencies, as an entrepreneur, in-house and in the last 8 years leading design teams. He’s worked in Italy, France, Switzerland and now Spain currently as Head of Digital Experience at Nespresso, leading a cross-functional team of 40 across Product Design, Design Systems, Research, Marketing Design and Front-end Dev.

Right, let’s get stuck in…

Andrea, hello! What has been your journey in design?

I started working in design in 2002 – when websites were built with <table></table> and web 2.0 seemed like the next big thing. I entered the design industry through the visual angle, working in a small and very dynamic agency in Torino, Italy. However, I quickly realised that visuals had to be complemented by functionality in order to be valuable to both people and businesses. That conscious consideration paired with my natural curiosity led me to deepen my knowledge of both technology and user experience. I started studying and reading about front-end technologies, usability, psychology, and business.

I could put all of that into practice when I was running my own design studio business for 7 years. Back then I didn’t know, but it was a perfect playground for growth. When you are the one putting your face on it with clients you have no right to disappoint. And you develop a “service mindset” very useful in corporate environments as well.

All of those experiences have ultimately been very useful for landing and succeeding in my current role as Head of Digital Experience.

Did you choose to get into management?

However, I got into management by accident. I was not asking for it nor expecting it to happen, while I was enjoying the ride as a designer/individual contributor.

My first experience as a manager was while I was running my own business. I was lucky enough to get a lot of projects coming from people I had previously worked with. Building trust by being reliable and delivering on the promise helped me get a stable stream of incoming business. When the volume became unsustainable to manage by myself, I had to look for support. First, I looked into freelance options, then I insourced a permanent position. In retrospect, I can see how a terrible manager I was (Fabrizio G. if you read these lines, I am sure you’ll smile)... I was so used to doing everything myself that having to delegate all the details of the execution was not natural at all for me. I suppose it was a necessary struggle to go through to improve and grow.

Fast forward four years, 2015, I moved to Switzerland, where I had the opportunity to join Nespresso as the sole designer. It was a step back in terms of role – considering my entrepreneurial experience, not the size of the business – but to jump further. Luckily, I hadn’t been alone for long. With the support of my great managers, we started insourcing the UX/UI design not only for marketing campaigns but also for the evolution of our website and mobile app, our core digital products selling for billions every year. One week I was improving our checkout, the next one designing the Black Friday campaign, and the following week we started discussing our Design System. Just six months after I joined, the volume of work was so big that we had to start scaling the team.

Do you enjoy it?

Since then, I have progressively and happily moved into design leadership roles, and I couldn't have done it without the trust, support, and guidance of all the great managers (A special mention to Jerôme N., Mathieu C., Cyril L., and Nicole C.) I encountered on the way. I consider myself lucky to have met all these inspiring senior leaders, and each of them taught me something valuable and influenced the way I manage teams today, placing humans at the core of the interaction. I will always remember the very first management advice I received from Mathieu C. on my second day with him: "Andrea, you need to hire people (in your team) that can take your place…".

Managing managers

On the path to becoming a head of design, there’s a milestone that could be tricky to pass, and I personally struggled with it at first. Moving from directly managed teams to managing managers. You get one step further from where the work is done, hence you have to rely on a line of direct reports who are great at communicating. It’s your responsibility to filter and distil that information to frame your decisions and actions. In the same way, you need them to cascade messages and orient the teams in the desired direction. Needless to say, you need to establish a trusting relationship with them, as they need to be able to represent your broader team in any circumstances.

What is the key difference between IC + Management apart from the obvious?

The transition from an individual contributor to a design management position requires a complementary set of skills that not all designers possess or cultivate in the first years of their careers. Many senior product designers demonstrate strong leadership skills, even without occupying formal management positions.

Other designers naturally turn to them for guidance and support, and their names come up frequently in conversations. They are proactive in seeking to understand the problem, the business, and its context; they have a bias for action, often finding unconventional solutions and challenging the status quo. They get things done and help others, quickly becoming a reference for the organisation.

While a focus on crafting skills can help you advance in your individual contributor role, helping the organisation and others succeed is key to succeeding in a design management position.

What are the key behaviours required to embark on a design leadership journey?

• Have a long-term vision and a purpose
  Depending on the stage of the company, the vision can be cascaded from the top management. However, it is important to establish a clear vision and purpose for the design function. Ultimately, our goal is to design solutions that generate outcomes and bring value to the organisation. Clarifying this will unite the team towards a common destination.

• Delegate and empower
  Delegating tasks and empowering team members are key success factors for a design manager. Establishing a culture of trust, fostering ownership, and psychological safety to encourage diverse perspectives is paramount to achieving collective success.

• Communicate and collaborate
  Communication and collaboration are fundamental for a Product Designer, but they are even more crucial for a design leader. Nothing impactful in an organisation can be achieved by a single individual or team working in isolation. Learn to facilitate conversations to guide towards effective solutions.
  

• Pitch and sell
  Learn to speak the same language as the business to raise design credibility throughout the organisation. It's easier to do so with data and facts at hand. Conduct research and use all available data sources, both qualitative and quantitative, to build a case to defend the idea you believe in.

• Mentor & coach
  Your primary goal is to make your team successful. To do so, you need to mentor and coach your team members. Providing guidance, feedback, and support will help them develop their skills and grow in their careers. Their success is your team’s success.
  

• Decision-making and risk assessment
  As a design manager, you are often responsible for making critical decisions that will impact projects and team direction. Assessing risks, and making well-informed choices are part of your day-to-day life.
  

• Evaluate performance
  Evaluating the team's performance and providing support with constructive feedback is essential for continuous team development. It is important to understand how to measure success and address areas for improvement. Praise in public, correct in private.
  

• Manage conflict
  99% of the tensions you will be facing, will likely come from personal situations. Conflict resolution is an unavoidable aspect of leading a team. Learning how to handle disagreements and foster a positive team culture is crucial for maintaining a productive and harmonious working environment.
  

• Manage resources and budget
  As a design manager, you'll need to manage resources effectively, including budgets, project timelines, and team capacity. Balancing multiple moving parts while sticking to aligned priorities becomes a core aspect of your role.
  
  Also, remember the quote from my former manager “You need to hire people (in your team) that can take your place…”? Well, you will learn how to hire and you will make mistakes. A tip? Hire for the attitude. A great designer (hard-skill wise) who doesn’t know how to collaborate is less valuable than a slightly less good designer with a collaborative attitude. A great designer is one who can deliver thanks to the great bonds they can create with stakeholders and cross-functional peers.

• Evangelize Design

  Design managers must act as advocates for design within the organisation, promoting its value and impact on business outcomes. You'll need to articulate the ROI of design investments and gain buy-in from stakeholders.

  However… don't be overwhelmed by the journey – it's not a straight line! We all make mistakes, and that's how we learn and grow over time.

It's been an honour to share my experience, and I can't wait to hear from the community! If you're a young design leader stepping into a managerial role, feel free to reach out – I'd be happy to offer support.

Before we wrap up, I want to recommend an awesome read: "The Making of a Manager" by Julie Zhuo. This book is packed with inspiring stories and valuable insights that will surely resonate with you.

How to write JDs aimed at Designers

To attract the best designers, write to them directly.

A lot of the JD’s I look at are vague and full of corporate jargon. The best designers do not care about this stuff, they want specifics, they want to know what are they going to be working on and detailed expectations.

I don’t need someone to tell me a Product Designer role will include prototyping for example.

Things to include when writing to designers:

• Why is the role live?

• How big is the team?

• What can they be fired for?

• Who’s going to be their boss?

• Where does design report into?

• How efficiently do they operate?

• What’s their expected deliverables?

• What does the first 100 days look like?

• How mature is the design organisation?

• How does design work with engineering?

• Who’s the highest exec sponsor for design?

Write to one person, that person being your perfect candidate. Filter out the noise. Attract the few. The right few.

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Until next time!

Tom