DesignX Community

Before the year wraps up, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect — not just on what you shipped, but on how you worked with others along the way. We soft-launched our community-designed Design Archetypes as a simple end-of-year reflection exercise, and we’re opening it up to everyone. This is a lightweight version of the Design Leadership Summit Archetypes — adapted for the broader community. It isn’t leadership-only, and it’s not a personality test. It’s practical language for how you tend to show up on a team (IC, manager, or somewhere in between). You’ll receive a Primary + Secondary Archetype, along with a short read on your strengths, shadows, and the collaborators you tend to work best with. Why take it? ◼ Discover your default “driving gear” on a team ◼ Spot areas to grow in 2026 ◼ Identify collaborators who bring out your best ◼ Decide which skills to double-down on (and which to build intentionally) 👉 Find out your Archetype here: /forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdP9oQp2JPJq_exbWtFlS09GpRmAo8ORqV_xCGREYRWZK8XIg/viewform ~10 minutes. Best done in one sitting. 👉Want the deeper read? Explore the Design Archetypes: https://designleadership.io/archetypes

We’re back this year again! We want to celebrate our holiday with you. ✨ This year, we’re closing things out with a warm, low-key evening for the DesignX community — good people, drinks, and your first chance to experience the DLS Archetype system outside the summit. We’re opening the Archetypes to the wider community so you can: • Discover your default “driving gear” on a team (IC or leader) • Spot areas you want to grow in for 2026 • Identify the collaborators who bring out your best • Notice which skills to double down on, and which ones to intentionally build All of that wrapped into a holiday social to celebrate 2025 and get excited for the year ahead. Mark your calendars: ⏱️ When: Wednesday, Dec 17 (5:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST) 📍 Where: Dundas & Ossington 👉 Grab your spot here: /kgkpdf5n

Tis’ the season of DLS - our annual Design Leadership Summit by @wearedesignx ❤️#DLS2025

Old rule: leaders stay out of craft. New rule: Get hands-on. Elevate the team by getting into the details. #DesignLeadership #CraftCentric #EmpowerTeam #DesignFeedback #HandsOnLeadership #DesignProcess

Design Leadership Summit 2025 is evolving. ⚡ New systems. New speakers. New ways to grow as a design leader. This year, we’re introducing The Leadership Archetypes — five instincts that shape how we think, lead, and grow: Anchor, Pathfinder, Cultivator, Architect, Ally. Not a theme. A system you’ll use throughout the summit (and after). You won’t just hear about them — you’ll use them: 🔹 Roundtables grouped by archetype 🔹 Talks that go deep on each instinct 🔹 Post-summit tools to map your style Speaker highlights: 🙌 Jen Cardello (Capital One) returns with fresh insights on operationalizing design and research at scale. ✨Femke van Schoonhoven (Gusto) on influence, strategy, and communication — moving from execution to impact. Explore full speaker line-up here: https://designleadership.io/speakers Community moments > performative hype. More conversation, reflection, and a shared language for how we lead. Also… the DLS sweatshirts are back. 🧥 Two designs. One community vote. Limited pre-purchase, pick up on-site. 👉 Vote by commenting “1” or “2” in the comment section! 🎉 Join us in Toronto Nov 18–19, 2025. A gathering built around systems, not slogans. 🎟️ Get your pass → designleadership.io

Not messy. Iterative. Rebecca Gimenez (Airbnb) on why successive approximation is the real shape of design — and how service design turns chaos into progress. #DesignLeadership #ServiceDesign #UX #ProductDesign #Airbnb #DLS

If you lead design, this November is for you. Come for the playbook, leave with operating rhythm. 🎤 Speaker lineup highlights: • Matt Raw (The New York Times): Making design excellence visible and measurable across a 90-person org. • Jess Greco (Mastercard): Turning design into an organizational capability tied to business priorities. • Alice Quan (GoFundMe): AI Design for Good—ethical, human-centered frameworks leaders can use now. • Sebastian Speier (Perplexity AI): Designing for and with AI, and the rise of the Super IC. • Joann Wu (Uber): From vision to value—operational follow-through at scale. • Chris Avore (Diligent): Bridging hype and reality while adopting AI and leading calmly. • Silke Bochat & Clark Delashmet (SCAD): How AI reshapes discipline, hiring, and the talent pipeline. 🧪 Hands-on workshop with Peter Merholz — Design Leadership Demystified. Reserve your spot: https://designleadership.io/workshops/peter-merholz-design-leadership-demystified Join us in Toronto this November: https://designleadership.io/

New speakers. Same standard: what works in the real world. We’re curating for operating leverage, measurable CX, and where AI genuinely helps. Meet the latest additions to the lineup 👇 🔷 Alice Quan (GoFundMe) — AI Design for Good: ethical, human-centered frameworks leaders can apply now. 🔷 Sebastian Speier (Perplexity AI) — Designing for and with AI, and the rise of the Super IC. 🔷 Joann Wu (Uber) — From vision to value: operational follow-through at scale (where AI truly helps). Also joining: 🔷 Chris Avore (Diligent) — Practical strategies to bridge hype and reality: align exec expectations, steady anxious teams, and adopt AI across new + legacy work—plus using AI to automate ops so designers have more time for outcomes. 🔷 Silke Bochat & Clark DeLashmet (SCAD) — Joint talk on how AI-era shifts reshape discipline, hiring, and the pipeline—what to expect from emerging talent and how to upskill now. Thanks to Peter Merholz for co-curating this year’s program. He’s also hosting the Design Leadership Demystified workshop — Nov 17, 1:00 PM at Spaces Toronto. 👉 Join the workshop: https://designleadership.io/workshops/peter-merholz-design-leadership-demystified Grab your summit pass: https://designleadership.io/ 🎟️ Use code TEAMPASS to save 15% on 6+ tickets when you register your group at the same time.

Designers: Ditch Explainer Videos, Show Your Work! At DLS 2024, Levon Sharrow, Director of Experience Design at Patagonia, shared how his team stopped over-explaining and instead showed up as designers — creating a self-made vehicle for creativity, ownership, and collaboration. What started as a simple brainstorm became a quarterly practice: producing editions that weren’t tied to deliverables, but to connection, fun, and cross-team creativity. It’s a powerful reminder: some of the most meaningful design work isn’t what ships, but what we choose to build for ourselves. 🎥 Clip from #DLS2024 #DesignLeadershipSummit

Ricardo Vazquez (Dir. Product Design, Dropbox): Closing the quality vs. performance gap requires transparency, not complexity. A few memorable principles are more effective than endless documentation. Define quality based on desired behaviors. #ProductQuality #Leadership #ProductManagement #Innovation #Teamwork #ProductDevelopment #Dropbox #Shopify #Observe #HolisticQuality

🚀 First look at DLS 2025 speakers! ▪️ 👤 Chris Avore (Diligent) — Practical strategies to bridge hype and reality: how to align exec expectations, steady anxious teams, and adopt AI across both new and legacy work. Chris will also share how to use AI to automate ops so design teams can spend more time on outcomes, not overhead. ▪️ 👥 Silke Bochat & Clark DeLashmet (SCAD) — A joint talk exploring how AI-era shifts are reshaping the discipline, hiring, and the talent pipeline. What should leaders expect from emerging talent, and where should they upskill now? ✨ Programming is once again co-curated with Peter Merholz, who’s also leading a hands-on workshop: 🛠 Design Leadership Demystified — a practical masterclass on navigating change, coaching with clarity, and building resilient teams. 📅 Monday, November 17 at 1:00 PM 📍 Spaces Toronto ✍️ Reserve your spot → https://designleadership.io/workshops/peter-merholz-design-leadership-demystified 📩 The first look at speakers went out in our newsletter — along with community highlights, fresh jobs, and design resources. Catch the full issue here: /a3y4s4w9h1 🎟 100+ design leaders are already confirmed for Toronto this November. Join us: designleadership.io

New look, same ethos: people > pixels. We tightened our positioning—now the visuals catch up. The system in this video foregrounds people and conversations, not shiny effects. 🧠 What doesn’t change: • Small, unscripted roundtables — real progress starts in real conversation • Talks from practitioners — leaders thinking out loud • Practical patterns you can use right away (plus peers to sanity-check them) • Space to be honest about constraints—and leave with clarity What we protect: no posturing, no performative panels, no “thought leadership” theatre. Our give-back to the community that built us—by leaders, for leaders. 📍 In-person only • Nov 18–19 • Toronto 🎟️ Tickets now open → designleadership.io