I joined McKinsey to strike a balance between owning a product or service design and driving business strategy.
I’ve wanted to be a designer since I was ten years old. I’ve always been into art and creating things with my hands. I carried that passion through to my studies, where I earned my bachelor’s in graphic and industrial design at Carnegie Mellon University and my master’s in interactive telecommunications at New York University.
I began my career in print design, but when the web emerged, I taught myself to design for what was then a ground-breaking medium. I spent more than 20 years in the industry, serving as the creative director at IBM, Apple, Intuit, and frog. I led the NYC office of design agency Hot Studio, which was acquired by Facebook during my tenure.
Why I decided to come to McKinsey
When I worked with product and service companies, I could dig in, understand the target audience, and design products that met market demand. It was exciting.
However, I was craving strategic and large-scale work that blended business, design, and tech to create meaningful, transformational change.
I joined McKinsey as an associate partner to strike a balance between owning a product or service design and driving business strategy. I’ve since been elected partner, and I lead the global McKinsey Experience Design team.
The move from product and service companies to a consultancy was the right decision for me. I now work with a range of clients on cutting-edge products and services. I love how what I do in one industry informs the projects I lead in other areas.
Big believer in people-first design
My team’s goal is to integrate the best business and data practices with forward-thinking, customer-led, transformational design.
The world is in a state of change and business strategy isn’t enough anymore. Organizations need the one-two punch of strategy and human-first design that solves real problems and provides a user experience that builds loyalty. Design enables us to break free from what’s holding an organization back and create a more interesting and promising future.
Increasingly, leaders across business, not for profits, and even governments are seeing the value of design in solving some of the biggest challenges. Design is no longer an afterthought but an integral part of business strategy.
As a designer at McKinsey, you already have business context at the top of your mind when you’re designing, so it’s an ideal place to flex your creative and strategic muscles.
