Margie Levinson

I’ve been reflecting on the difference between Design leaders (capital D) and design leaders (lowercase d). One scales vision, people, and impact across an org. The other guards craft and keeps the pixels tight. Both matter, but if we mistake the second for the first, we limit what design can actually do. I just unpacked these archetypes (and how to grow beyond it) in my latest piece. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to lead with a capital D, give it a read. https://lnkd.in/gQSNcCyb

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If your personas describe users in isolation, you’re limiting impact. Real work is collaborative, constrained, and increasingly shaped by automated systems. Our design artifacts need to reflect that reality. This piece explores what it means to expand personas beyond the single user, and why relationships between actors matter just as much as the actors themselves. https://lnkd.in/g4dxrrHx #designexcellence #designleadership #userpersona #AIintegration

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Flexibility versus prescriptiveness. It's the age-old debate in design systems. Don't expect that debate to stop anytime soon because there's right answer. No matter what you choose, you'll be gifted with a grab bag of good and bad. In our latest episode, Davy Fung and I cover this topic in detail. We talk about our approach to this in our work and how we try to thread the need between complete chaos and stifling control. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gCuCskJx #designsystems #design #podcast

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Headings seem simple, until they are not. David Swallow breaks down when headings fail WCAG, why visual structure is not enough, and how misusing headings undermines accessibility and usability. This article challenges common assumptions and is a must-read for designers, developers, and accessibility practitioners. What heading mistakes do you see most often? https://buff.ly/mO7Yj8H #Accessibility #WCAG #WebAccessibility #InclusiveDesign #UX #A11y #DigitalAccessibility

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corporate titles are long impact is short "executive principal design director of product and user experience" means nothing if you can’t ↳ teach what you know   ↳ listen before you lead   ↳ advocate without ego   ↳ create clarity in chaos   ↳ lift others as you climb  ↳ say no when it matters   ↳ ship instead of showcase   ↳ drive measurable revenue   ↳ simplify the life of your users  ↳ grow your people meaningfully   ↳ turn complexity into confidence ↳ support your cross-functional peers   ↳ and leave the ego at the login screen   ↳ align design with business outcomes 

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Design leadership isn’t about control—it’s about clarity that compounds. In complex product environments, design doesn’t slow teams down. Unclean decisions do. This post reflects on why absorbing ambiguity, framing decisions, and protecting teams from unnecessary confusion is one of the most important leadership skills as design scales. #leadership #decisionmaking #ambiguity #uxdaily

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No roadmap. No direct authority. High expectations to raise the bar without slowing anyone down. Design leadership isn’t “softer” leadership. It’s leadership without the levers, and most design leaders are not really prepared for influencing decisions they don’t own through systems they didn’t design. I wrote more about it here: https://lnkd.in/eVdvsfWG

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🌱 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP WARNING 🌱 As a design systems leader who’s build high-craft libraries at scale, I knew I had to disrupt my own learning methodology. After months of stakeholder alignment sessions and design token frameworks, I made a bold strategic decision. I would take my expertise to the ultimate testing ground. Nature’s original design system. I’m talking about touching grass. Actual grass. With my hands. The insights were transformational. Here are 5 design system lessons I learned from this unconventional user research: 1️⃣ Consistency doesn’t mean identical Every blade of grass follows the same growth pattern, but no two are exactly alike. Your components can share DNA without being carbon copies. 2️⃣ Scalability happens naturally A lawn doesn’t need a roadmap to grow. It just needs the right conditions. Stop over-engineering your system’s future and focus on healthy foundations. 3️⃣ Maintenance beats perfection Grass doesn’t grow in straight lines, but regular mowing keeps it functional. Your design system needs consistent care, not perfect documentation. 4️⃣ Adaptation is survival Grass grows differently in shade vs sun, wet vs dry. Your components should flex for different contexts instead of breaking. 5️⃣ Root systems matter more than what’s visible The real work happens underground. Your design tokens and naming conventions are more important than your Figma library looking pretty. Side effect: I can now identify 12 different grass species and my Vitamin D levels are no longer concerning my doctor. 10/10 would recommend this UX research method. #DesignSystems #TouchGrass #ModelHopping

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Great design isn’t enough—if no one understands it. In this video, I break down 5 powerful habits that help you communicate your design decisions, build trust with stakeholders, and grow your influence as a designer or design leader. https://lnkd.in/g2UEmzfB

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The Foundation Principle As a UX leader, I’ve learned that the best products aren’t built from brilliant ideas—they’re built from deep understanding of real problems. When your team obsesses over your users’ struggles, celebrates their wins, and designs every feature as if you’re solving for someone you care about, something remarkable happens: adoption becomes effortless. This means every interaction in our platform—from onboarding to daily workflows—should feel intuitive, not instructional. User-centricity isn’t a design phase; it’s the foundation that determines whether your product becomes indispensable or gets replaced. #DesignPrinciple #DoTheRightThing #UX

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The secret to growing as a design leader? Build awareness around your gaps, and then learn by doing. It's part of the process, failing is learning that one method will not work. For me, it was always around influence, and business acumen. I'm fortunate enough to be saying that I'm currently pursuing my MBA, but I know that isn't accessible to everyone. Here's a hack that I've learned from my mentors through the years. 4 easy ways to deliver value - if you're not measuring your success, TAKE NOTES. 1. It makes money. 2. It saves time. 3. It prevents something bad from happening. 4. It makes us look good. What you deliver doesn't have to make money, but it does have to deliver value. Use this framework to build credibility and respect. Be known as the designer who gets it, and gets work done. Deliver with urgency, and customer service (meaning recognize that you are helping people). Influence gets you into the room, business acumen keeps you there.

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