Hello 👋 

This week we have Gregor Matheson talking about all things portfolios from a hiring manager perspective, and my quick insights into topics such as “design need a seat" and how to get buy-in based on insights of speaking to people who have done just this.

In this mail:

• Q&A: with Gregor Matheson on portfolios

• 6 conversations: with non-design executives in 2023

• An event: You’re invited to Verified’s first virtual event

Gregor Matheson is a strategic creative leader who believes in thoughtful and holistic design, executed with consideration and craft.

He is currently Head of Design at Osome, who help free entrepreneurs from financial admin, paperwork and back-office distractions through a unique SaaS + human-in-the-loop approach, he’s on the pursuit to creating a world-class design organisation that is adored by customers, revered by the industry, envied by competitors - and feels they are uniquely positioned to do so at Osome.

If not working or with his loved ones you’ll likely find him in the gym doing CrossFit, Olympic Lifting, Swimming, MMA and everything in between.

Right, let’s get stuck in…

1 - Hello Gregor! What has been your journey in design?

What has been your journey in design?

My grandad was the one who introduced design to me at a very young age after spotting a competition to ‘design’ a Kellogg’s cereal box while babysitting me. For the record, this was a long time ago.

It was a pretty innocent ‘keep him distracted’ babysitting activity, but I had no idea people could earn a living doing something that was so much fun.

Unbeknownst to him, it would lead me into a career in design eventually as it gave me a bit of a laser-focus in school on what I wanted to do (despite it not coming naturally to me or being a popular career path at the time) and led me to study Graphic Design at Robert Gordon University, in Aberdeen.

Following university, I spent the first 10 years of my career in agencies of all different shapes and sizes, working across a bunch of different specialisms, sectors and audiences, before making the decision to join iZettle (now Zettle by PayPal), which was my first in-house role.

Did you choose to get into management?

When I was progressing in my career as a designer, there was no such thing as an IC path - you either progressed into management/leadership or you didn’t progress, it was as simple as that.

That said, even today, I still believe your impact as a high-level IC does have a ceiling in comparison to the leadership/management track, but it really comes down to your goals and ambitions.

Do you enjoy it?

I love it. I’m hugely passionate about personal development and through my own personal journey, I’ve discovered that not only do I get huge amounts of reward from developing others, but I’m probably a stronger manager/leader than I was as a hands-on designer

But this is an important question you’ve asked because… if you want to be a great manager or leader, then you have to be passionate about people, know how to get the best out of them and actually want to do the job. Sadly, organisations have the proclivity to put people in leadership positions because of time served, not because they want to be there and are the best person for the job.

2 - Do you think Designers + Leaders should have portfolios? Why?

Absolutely, and I don’t understand where the ‘trend’ of not having one has emerged.

Portfolios are only redundant if you believe a portfolio needs to be solely hands-on output.

Perhaps a controversial opinion, but if you are a designer and/or leader and you are unable to present the impact and value you deliver as a compelling story, then you are probably not a great designer and/or leader.

In my opinion, the notion of not having a portfolio because ‘people are too senior’, ‘their not hands-on anymore’, or my personal favourite, their ‘too busy delivering impact’ is simply a bullshit excuse.

It comes down to effort VS reward, and in my experience, most people in design leadership positions just don’t want to make the time it takes to actually create a portfolio.

It is a lot of hard work and it is really time-consuming to sit down and articulate your value and impact into a story and present it as a portfolio, but it will make you better.

To quote James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) “mastery requires practice, but if you only practice when it’s convenient or exciting, then you’ll never achieve the remarkable.” 

3 - What would you say to those people who say portfolios can contribute to bias?

Your recruitment process can and should be designed to be equitable, inclusive and minimise bias - regardless of your organisation’s size, industry, maturity or resources.

The only bias I think portfolios could contribute to is: the likelihood of being considered when comparing someone with a portfolio VS someone who doesn’t have a portfolio - but that will vary on the hiring manager’s personal philosophy.

4 - What do you look for in design IC portfolios?

Broadly speaking, with any portfolio, I am just looking to have my intrigue sparked, that’s it.

The best portfolios are those where I leave wanting to meet the person and ask them more questions about them and their work.

More specifically, I believe the core skills of all designers/design leaders can fall into 1 of the 6 C’s: Centricity, Capability, Creativity, Character, Communication and Change Agent - and while I never expect to have see all of these skills demonstrated in a portfolio, it should at least send some positive signals

5 - What do you think a Leader should include in their portfolio?

Your philosophy/values

If you listen to or read any book from the best leaders across the world, you will find they all have a philosophy on their domain of expertise - you should too.

I think most leaders will have a philosophy or values, but I don’t think enough leaders sit down to reflect and then actually articulate them.

Your taste

I read an article recently about Rick Rubin that summed this up eloquently for me. Rick has no technical and/or musical ability, but when asked what he gets paid, he responded: “the confidence that I have in my taste and my ability to express what I feel has proven helpful for artists”.

As a design leader, you should confidently demonstrate your taste, whatever it may be. It might not match my taste (which is a bonus as it helps improve diversity of thought) and/or it might not be what we are looking for at that time, but it should be clearly expressed in your folio.

Your impact

Perhaps an obvious one, but demonstrate that you make a difference to an organisation. And remember, it doesn’t always need to be objective business metrics (although they do help). For example, I saw a folio recently that had excerpts from their most recent 360 feedback, as well as internal engagement survey results. Not sure how GDPR-compliant it was, but I liked it.

6 - What is the best portfolio you’ve seen?

While I have come across some seriously impressive and visually/technically stunning examples, I don’t really remember the portfolios, but the people (if I end up meeting them). Like I mentioned, your portfolio is there to spark intrigue - your character is what gets you the job.

What I am looking for in terms of specific content varies on the role I am recruiting for, but the portfolios that make me ‘lean in’ are those which strike the right balance between:

Storytelling

Some people hear the word ‘storytelling’ and think ‘War & Peace’ - please don’t. I can safely say I don’t think I’ve read a single case study cover-to-cover. Keep it punchy, keep it concise.

I always suggest people should treat their portfolio like an actual presentation. For example, you wouldn’t spend 5 or 6 slides in a presentation on process, so there’s no reason to do it in your portfolio.

Consideration & Craft

Whether it is personally important to you or not, I (and a lot of other hiring managers I know) see portfolios as a manifestation of your standards and taste.

I don’t really care how you create your portfolio (bespoke website, templated website, Figma, PDF, Keynote etc.), but your portfolio should exhibit the level of quality, consideration and craft you seek in your actual work as an employee.

If your portfolio is messy and riddled with errors/broken links, then it will make me question your attention to detail. Put your best foot forward and give it the same level of objective scrutiny you would do anything else.

Digestibility

Over the years, I’ve experienced some impenetrable portfolios due a lack of care, structure, or sometimes, the opposite… It’s over-engineered and confusing as hell.

Most hiring managers are short on time when it comes to reviewing portfolios. They are not there to hang around and figure out how to navigate your portfolio, so make it easy and digestible.

This is what gets your foot in the door, so don’t start that relationship by obfuscating your portfolio unnecessarily.

If I had to articulate a portfolio recipe that won’t steer you wrong, I would suggest:

• Keep it to 3-5 strong case studies maximum

• That all follow a punchy, concise structure:

  • Overview - a single-sentence overview of the project

  • Context - to the problem you are solving

  • Solution - how you solved the problem and steps taken

  • Impact - what happened as a result of this work

  • Role - what part did you play (if you are a manager/leader)

• Supported by an engaging About page that demonstrates your philosophy/values/personality

All of which is presented beautifully.

Open Roles

We don’t have any open roles in the design organisation at Osome right now, but I can say that we will be looking for a UX Researcher and a Design System Lead in the not-too-distant future, so feel free to reach out.

6 ideas to get “buy-in” for design

I speak to 3+ non-design executives a week about design.

(Often, CDO's "Digital" working in large 10,000+ people companies) Very few CDOs (Digital) come from design, common backgrounds are business SMEs (especially in large companies), product, eng.

6 similar conversations I've had in 2023:

• They see design as a crucial part of their team.

• 90% tell me Product has more power than Design.

• CEOs do not mention design, it's about shipping products.

• Focusing on business metrics. Design happens to be part of that.

• They believe the wider executive team do not understand design fully.

• The other 10% say Product/Eng is a serious bottleneck for design work.
  
  Ideas on getting-buy in:
  

• Pick a product or service leadership cares about.

• Fix the design of the product or service

• Show the biz impact, distribute results to stakeholders.

• Work to show the impact it could have across the wider business.

• Generate a team to consistently show value.

• Ask to make design part of the business strategy and proper budgets.
  

  P.S. Make your own table, and stop asking for a seat.

Can we stop saying “seat at the table?”

"Design needs a seat at the table"

(Often, people get there and don't know what to do)

Good start: Translate design success → to how business views success.

Stop saying "design". Speak the business language.

Start talking about what CEOs, CPOs, CIOs care for.

Take initiative. Infuse design into business strategy.

Fact: execs don't like spending money. Show them design needs investment.

CEOs want customers, satisfaction, increase in shareholder value.
CIOs care about streamlining processes, saving 5%.
CFOs care about profit, revenue, and savings.

Design can support all of this. Some people just don't know yet.

Fact: Non-designers don't understand design like designers.

Form an internal community. Build internal excitement.

Focus. Create 1-2 cases where design is driving ROI.

Focus on value. Business value > pixel pushing.

Make your work "talk" → Make your stakeholders "listen"

In Other News

• We’re going to host our first virtual community event. We have 1000+ of you who read this per week, time to start putting faces to names!

On 5th October, I’ll host a Q&A with a special guest on any questions you have from:

• Personal Brand

• Positioning yourself in the market

• Portfolios, resumes, cover letters

• How to write effective JDs.

• And more.

More information to come on this in next week’s newsletter edition.

• We’ll also be hosting an invite-only event with David Martin Founder + President of Fantasy one of the world’s most esteemed design studios. We’re planning an event where David and myself will review portfolios live.

See you next week 👋 

Tom