A story on the intangible elements that make design functional, beyond the tactical assets it can produce.
As the Global Design Manager at STA Travel, I led a centralized multidisciplinary design team across Australia, New Zealand, Romania and UK timezones. Here, I was asked to intentionally create ways to improve the culture for creativity and collaboration.
Ultimately, by enhancing internal processes and design outcomes, we raised design awareness and contributed to the value provided to millions of students and young people eager to explore the world.
Outcomes
• A happier design team, who continued to stay when everyone else was leaving
• Changed the company's mindset from; "Designers are always making mistakes".
To "Let's speak to the designer, they could help us better solve this problem".
• Established trust in the department by keeping team motivated and aligned
What I did
• Mentored and cultivated growth of each team member
• Worked across teams in Marketing, Sales, and Product to advance projects and reach goals
• Helped manage aggressive design project requests and schedule across 8 global marketing divisions
• Hired design talent and managed cross-disciplinary creative team with efforts across design outputs
After identifying gaps and issues, it became evident that the problems wasn't about design or the design team's ability itself,
but the company's mindset towards working with design as a function.
PROBLEM:
The design team had strong talent, but we had the problem of an overwhelming influx of requests from 8 global marketing divisions. We often received 30+ design requests daily spanning event pop-up activations, digital product, retail, social, monthly campaigns, emails, and general design updates or airline deal changes.
Coming from a design-led background, I realized first-hand how design was often perceived as a quick fix, rather than a fundamental function driving strategy or innovation. The Studio Manager was tasked with manually managing an overflowing inbox, sorting through emails, and at times accepting job requests without full project context, leading to high stress levels. The root of the issue was, there was no streamlined process.
SOLUTION:
Having been given the Global Design Manager role, I seized the opportunity to create an internal briefing document to provide transparency, visibility and a repeatability across all divisions and project types.
By implementing this document, the Studio Manager could swiftly prioritize requests with everything captured in one doc. Designers could organize smaller requests by project and flag any potential impacts, and I could engage in more meaningful design discussions about larger cross-disciplinary strategic projects.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The specific steps I took to address this problem included drafting the template with clear timelines & file links and presenting the idea to the Senior Creative Director.
I then advocated for the idea in our monthly management meetings to the Sales & Marketing Division Managers, highlighting the benefits of improved collaboration, communication, efficiency and reducing design mistakes. This was well received, leading to a two-month trial period during which minor adjustments were made.
Eventually, the template gained company-wide acceptance as the standard design briefing tool, enabling smoother workflows and faster results.
PROBLEM:
As the design team continued to produce strong results, the sales team and I observed that our digital emails and other designs, particularly those with animations, had higher engagement and response rates. However, animation, was an identified skill gap within our current team.
While some designers were familiar with the basics, and expressed interests in learning it. Workload demands prevented anyone time in fully developing this skill.
SOLUTION:
Presenting this challenge to the Senior Creative Director, we weighed our options:
• Hire an animation designer
• Outsourcing the work
• Or invest training one designer
Given our workload, training seemed risky, potentially leaving us short-staffed. Outsourcing also presented challenges, with additional management time needed to coordinate with the external freelancer who might not be as invested in our projects as we need.
Ultimately, we chose to hire, adding this skill to our in-house team. I spearheaded the recruitment process with HR from writing the job advert and interviewing candidates, to onboarding and successfully integrated a new member into our multidisciplinary team.
IMPLEMENTATION:
My approach, gained through management training at STA Travel, involved three key steps:
1. Roadmap Talent Analysis
Identifying the talent gaps hindering fast delivery, quality improvement, and enhanced user experience & user growth.
2. Identifying talents internally
Before going outside to recruit, identifying existing talents strengths, weaknesses, motivations. What adds or drains their energy.
3. Build the powerhouse team
Develop talent and add missing pieces. Or, hire based on skill gaps, personality and potential.
Images credit: Jason Mesut
PROBLEM:
During my time in this role a significant business focus was on fostering an environment where design could better thrive, and bridging understanding between departments on the value of design, or at the very least, the stages of a thoughtful design process.
It was a tough journey, but eventually the 8 global marketing divisions we collaborated with began grasping the essence of our design team's approach, its global company involvement, and our project contributions strategically.
Designers from different crafts started collaborating on conceptual ideas before working in Adobe and only doing 'their part'.
SOLUTION:
To do this, I created, monthly design team open days, inviting the Marketing and Sales teams to our work areas for informal gatherings. We shared strategic initiatives we were working on across brand, future retail experiences and the digital customer booking user experience.
Additionally, I implemented a practice of jointly assigning projects to both a print and a digital designer fostering joint accountability and ensuring creative consistency across smaller campaign projects, rather than a handover between skill sets.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The outcome was increased interdepartmental visibility and reduced friction between Design, Sales, and Marketing. Marketing felt more included in the design process, leading to greater openness and familiarity. Designers began seeking early marketing sign-offs at a conceptual level on the direction, allowing for cohesive and predictable designs across digital and print platforms.
PROBLEM:
From undertaking STA Travel's formal management training, I learned the importance of nurturing designers' confidence and enhancing their individual and collective impact.
This was primarily achieved through ongoing mentorship, regular one-on-one sessions, and fostering the development of both technical and interpersonal skills. My focus was on having a thoughtful delegation of projects, team wide design reviews and conversations, and knowing when to get out of their way.
SOLUTION:
To do this, I introduced various rituals and practices. This included holding one-on-one meetings in casual settings like parks or coffee shops to encourage open dialogue. Additionally, I initiated monthly "Non-work, Show, Share & Tell sessions" aimed at inspiring creativity from external sources, and fostering bonding among team members, particularly beneficial for designers in different countries to feel connected.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The outcome of all these combined efforts was trust. Trust in me as a leader, trust among each other, and most importantly in themselves that they were not making mistakes and can voice their opinions.
A rewarding moment was I got to see a designer's huge transformation from hesitancy to confidence. She evolved into a pivotal and reliable team member, actively seeking feedback, driving design reviews, and fearlessly contributing ideas for discussions with marketing and sales managers.
Image credit: Jason Mesut
• There's no such thing as over-communicating when working remotely with your team.
• Designers REALLY love talks on tactical executions, and feeling empowered (or respected) as a creative person. Most of my days were spent on conversations about famous designers, design details, trends & inspiration or, feeling undervalued from other business departments.
• Transitioning from roles where I created the design vision and direction, to leading and absorbing energies and emotions of 8 designers was stressful in the beginning.
• On my final day in the company, the designers expressed their gratitude for the support I provided them individually, particularly in navigating conflicts with Marketing and fears in presenting ideas. It was only then that I grasped the significance of Design Management.
A video capturing the STA's open-minded spirit and ambitious nature
