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This Is A Prototype

This Is A Prototype

De : Doug Powell
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 We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in the history of the design profession. Businesses are investing in design at rates never before seen—building scaled design teams of hundreds and even thousands of designers, and hiring design leaders into executive roles giving them influence and access at the highest levels.

As an executive design leader myself, I’m fascinated by the experience of designers moving into these new leadership roles. For most of us this is completely uncharted territory, the jobs are often undefined and there is rarely a roadmap or playbook to help us succeed, so most of us have had to learn on the job.

In each episode of This is a Prototype, I invite two design leaders who have traveled very different life and career journeys to share their stories, compare notes, and talk about what it takes to be a leader in this new era of design.Copyright Doug Powell 2023 Art Economie Management Management et direction Réussite personnelle
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    Épisodes
    • S3•E6 Arianne Miller + Sean Baker

      S3•E6 Arianne Miller + Sean Baker
      Jan 7 2026
      Throughout season 3 of this series, I’ve been speaking with leaders in the practice of civic design; designers who have dedicated their careers to improving the everyday experience we, as citizens, have when we interact with our government.

      My guests for this episode are two of the most respected leaders in the global civic design community: Arianne Miller and Sean Baker. For more than a decade, Arianne and Sean worked side by side as leaders of The Lab at OPM, a pioneering human-centered design team embedded within the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Arianne served as Managing Director, and Sean as Director of Design Strategy and Operations.

      The Lab at OPM was dissolved in early 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to U.S. federal government staffing. Since then, Arianne and Sean founded Civic Design Collaborative, with a mission to help government and civic-minded organizations create services that are easier to use, more equitable, and more effective.

      In our conversation, I was struck by how their approach to driving sustainable change in government is actually transferable to other complex, scaled organizations, especially in the private sector. We touched on themes that come up again and again on this podcast: the importance of building trust and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders, and approaching complex problems with deep curiosity and humility.


      Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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      53 min
    • S3•E5 Phil Gilbert

      S3•E5 Phil Gilbert
      Dec 4 2025
      One of the core principles of my leadership courses and coaching engagements is that, as design leaders, we are always agents of change in complex, scaled organizations, always challenging entrenched ways of working and cultural norms, especially in legacy enterprises. But here’s the thing: transforming a company is far easier said than done.

      In his new book Irresistible Change: A Blueprint for Earning Buy-in and Breakout Success, Phil Gilbert provides an actionable playbook for leaders across disciplines to drive durable, sustainable, and scalable change by turning change itself into a product, and by managing it as you would an early stage startup.

      Phil was the General Manager of Design at IBM between 2012-2021, and the book documents the design-driven transformation he architected at that historic global technology company during those years, a transformation that included adding more than 3,000 practicing designers to the company globally, and training more than 200,000 IBMers as design thinkers.

      Last month, I sat down with Phil at the State Theatre in downtown Austin, Texas—the home base for the IBM Design program and its flagship studio—for an evening of stories from our IBM days, and insights from the new book.

      Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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      1 h
    • S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios

      S3•E4 Ashleigh Axios
      Oct 30 2025
      The practice of civic design is increasingly in the spotlight in the U.S. as dramatic cuts to federal agency staffing and funding resulted in the abrupt elimination of thousands of design jobs earlier this year.

      My guest this episode is Ashleigh Axios, one of the top leaders in the global civic design community. Ashleigh is the founder of Public Servants, a consultancy that partners with government and civic organizations across the US to design equitable, effective, and human-centered experiences. Ashleigh served as Creative Director and Digital Strategist in the Obama White House, and has held numerous leadership roles, including as president and board chair of AIGA, the professional association for design in the US.

      Recently Ashleigh authored an excellent essay titled Not Just Another Chess Set: What the U.S. Chief Design Officer Must Deliver, following the launch last August of America by Design, a new National Design Studio that will work out of the executive branch of the US government—and the announcement that AirBnB co-founder Joe Gebbia will lead this initiative as the US Chief Design Officer.

      Here is a list of resources and initiatives that we reference in our discussion:
      • DotGov Design initiative (AIGA DC)
      • DotGov Design Conference
      • Dori Tunstall: “The current regime’s America by Design announcement misses the mark” (Archpaper)
      • Jesse Gardner’s accessibility check of America by Design site (LinkedIn post)
      • Rachael Dietkus: “America by Design, Harm by Default” (LinkedIn article)
      • Fast Company: “Nixon, NASA, And How The Federal Government Got Design” (2017)
      • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.gov)
      • “From Airbnb to America’s ‘Chief Design Officer’” — New York Times, Aug 27, 2025 (nytimes.com)
      • e-Estonia


      Doug Powell is an award-winning designer and executive design leader with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of design disciplines. Learn more about Doug's practice as a consultant, educator, and coach at his website dougpowell.design.
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      57 min
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