Design Project Management.

Welcome back to our Design at Scale — Academy series, focusing on the design practice in a team of ten. Today, we dive deep into how designers manage projects and impact overall design delivery. Understanding your role within the team ecosystem is key to maximising your contribution. Effective output management leads to tangible impact, and time management awareness positions you as a thought leader.

Disclaimer: The following article focuses predominantly on managing one’s creation. We are not debating, challenging or disputing the product management role. Our ambition is to provide a guide for designers who are willing to grow into better designers, let alone design managers — which should be a natural progression.

Reflection of Design Management.

Remember the “Mad Men” era, where design directors held immense power? Fast forward three decades, design management has evolved from director-driven campaigns to distributed team functions. The core managerial aspects have shifted from centralised to redistributed functions. Modern design directors may not directly create but guide and integrate with the team. Big ideas are now small and iterative. Parts of daily…