Top 10 artifacts of practicing design strategists — beyond journey maps

Understanding design strategy through the work we produce

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Before I start discussing the work artifacts of a design strategist, let me first talk about my own background in design. Good design practices are timeless and do not come and go with the whims of what app is in style. With over 20 years of experience in the broader field of user research, reflecting on the journey is somewhat overwhelming yet affirming of my expertise in this area. My journey in design commenced at Siemens in Princeton, NJ, where I was instrumental in establishing the first usability lab. Our efforts during that period were primarily centred on promoting user-centered design, historically referred to as human factors.

Subsequently, upon returning home to Canada, I was sought out to set up a usability lab for Research In Motion, presently known as BlackBerry, in Canada. My role involved overseeing the construction of two usability labs and significantly growing the team from a basic intern group to a robust staff of approximately 27 members. Following that role, I joined another global corporation, Autodesk, where I took the lead in…