Design Leadership Unplugged: Leading Teams, Shaping Futures

Top design leaders share insights on guiding creative teams, fostering innovation, and driving impactful change in the dynamic world of design leadership.

September 19, 2024
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12:00 am
-
1:00 am
PST
TRACKS:
Groundbreaking Work
ALL SPEAKERS
Kevin Hawkins
Kevin Hawkins
Director, Head of Design & Research, Amenitiz

Kevin Hawkins is a Product Design & Research Director based in Barcelona after living & working across the USA, Europe, and Asia. With over 17 years of experience in product design, UI engineering, and data visualization, he leads multidisciplinary teams of designers, researchers, front-end engineers, and product marketers to deliver intuitive, high-converting solutions. Previously, Kevin was the Global UX Director at Glovo, Director of Product Design at BookClub, and UX Team Lead at Booking.com, where he managed award-winning design teams of up to 105, launched innovative products, and scaled customer-centric strategies. He is also a seasoned instructor and global public speaker with courses at GrowthTribe, General Assembly, and Georgetown University. As a gay, Liberian-American, he is passionate about building diverse and inclusive teams, and he enjoys traveling to learn from different cultures.

Wolfgang Bremer
Wolfgang Bremer
Design Executive, Fortune 500s & Global Startups

Wolfgang Bremer is a German-Canadian award-winning design veteran with over 20 years of experience and a rare combination of design and product knowledge. As a design leader in multiple Fortune 500 companies and highly funded startups, Wolfgang has managed global design teams and worked on products used by tens of millions of users in 190+ countries. Equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset, creative problem solving skills, and an excellent eye for detail, he drives product design & development and creates outstanding consumer & business products. In short, Wolfgang likes building products and simplifying people’s lives.

Carlsson Chee
Carlsson Chee
VP/Digital Solutions UX Lead, Standard Chartered

Carlsson Chee is a seasoned design leader and technologist with over 17 years of international professional experience. He specialises in connecting business strategies with human behavior, cultural considerations, and research-driven design. Carlsson is known for his ability to design scalable and innovative award-winning products and services, where his work has contributed significantly to sustainable growth and enhanced customer experiences—in both past and present roles. Currently, Carlsson is with Standard Chartered, where he collaborates closely with engineers and business stakeholders to consolidate and improve user experience with more inclusive processes that drive engineering efficiency and bank growth. Additionally, he is active in mentoring and sharing his insights on design and technology through newsletters, podcasts and occasional articles on various platforms.

Mario Van der Meulen
Mario Van der Meulen
Design Innovation Consultant, mvdm designs

With nearly three decades in design, Mario Van der Meulen [mvdm] is a visionary leader, crafting human-centric strategies for forward-thinking companies to deliver real business impact.

Megan Dell
Megan Dell
Senior Director of UX, Vista

Megan has been in the design industry for close to 20 years. She stumbled upon the field of user experience after being rejected for many graphic design roles because she wanted to create work that was intuitive, rather than just good-looking. She started out her UX career specialising in form design, and has worked for many of Australia’s tech giants over the years. Megan lead the Design and UX Research team at 99designs for 6 years, up until their acquisition where she joined the Vista UX Leadership team as a Senior Director of UX.

MORE SESSIONS
Don't make the same mistakes as me
In this session I will talk through some of the mistakes I've made throughout my career, and what I've learned from them - to help you avoid them, or gain a new insight into the leadership journey.
Megan Dell
Megan Dell
Senior Director of UX, Vista
See details
Groundbreaking Work
The Accidental Entrepreneur: And yes, it could happen to you!
1hr
Since 2022, Jared has been on a mission to bring actionable, integrated insights with immediate results to competitive golfers of all skill levels around the world with his patented wearable golf technology, SmartGrip. What started as a passion project to improve his own golf game, has quickly become a growing global phenomenon. In this session, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look into the unexpected journey of bringing an idea from concept to reality, while delivering immediate value and successful outcomes to customers around the world. Jared will share his story of SmartGrip's evolution, the highs and lows, pivots and breakthroughs, and a glimpse into where his company, Umbrella Sports, is going next.
Jared Lewandowski
Jared Lewandowski
Founder, Umbrella Sports & Product Design Director, IQVIA
See details
Entrepreneurship
How to get your first B2B Product Design role
1hr
From resume, to website, to nailing your interviews. Glen will help you differentiate and get more offers in this tough climate. This session is targeted at B2B product design roles.
Glen Lipka
Glen Lipka
VP, Product Design, Crowdstrike
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Career Growth & Leadership
So, you've decided to become a Data Analyst?
1hr
Based on hundreds of meetings with beginners in Data Analytics, I'll try to summarize the main tips I give. What is worth learning? What are the pros and cons of the analytics profession? What do I do all day? I will try to answer these and other questions during the session.
Roman Povzyk
Roman Povzyk
Product Analyst, Bini Games
See details
Career Growth & Leadership