# Design Leadership in the Age of Systems **URL:** \ **Category:** Growing your career\ **Created:** [October 29, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/design-leadership-in-the-age-of-systems/315 "2025-10-29T22:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/design-leadership-in-the-age-of-systems/315/1 "2025-10-29T22:46:10Z")
The word designer doesn’t mean what it used to. Designers used to solely craft. Now they’re shaping systems, behaviors, and even algorithms. Design has become an operating system for how organizations think and make decisions. For emerging designers, learning to build in these areas might be as important as learning how to design within them. **I’m curious how Seniors / Leaders might be encouraging their teams to take these leaps?** 💡 One initial thought I have is giving designers visibility into how decisions actually get made. It seems when designers understand the system around their work, they can influence it more effectively. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/design-leadership-in-the-age-of-systems/315/2 "2025-10-30T02:26:07Z")
Ah, the classic debate…Capital D Design vs design craft. It’s always been a thing, but when teams retract and scale down, those old patterns come right back too. What’s old feels new again. > **[\#productdiscovery #productdesign | Bryan Zmijewski | 23 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanzmijewski_productdiscovery-productdesign-activity-7141104970271035392-4FHf)** > > I come from the capital D design camp. > > Design thinking is a well-known concept, but its origins and evolution are less commonly understood. > > Engineers primarily developed the methods that underpin design thinking as we know it today. David Kelley... ![capital-d-design-vs-design](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/helio/original/1X/cb204e4916118b03ad6925ea598d160b6c632490.png) We’re seeing a split in how people approach design today. Some are doubling down on the craft (pushing the edges with motion, layers, and immersive visuals like liquid), and it’s got that same energy Flash (dating myself) once gave designers, a playground to explore and experiment. Others are taking a different path, realizing that design impact comes from influence…which requires working across systems, technology, and people to make change. Both paths matter, but it’s how they connect that will shape where design goes next. > **[Design creates business impact. How design influences a business can vary,...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryanzmijewski_design-creates-business-impact-how-design-activity-7295890022979776512-PQVB)** > > Design creates business impact. > > How design influences a business can vary, though. Over the years, I’ve seen many ways organizations try to bring design into their work. > > Some ways are better than others. > > Becoming truly user-centric isn’t just... ![design-influence-business](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/helio/original/1X/57af6afcecfbbedb0089cd9105035a7830d846f9.png) ---
**Author:** ![Raul\_Jimenez](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/raul_jimenez/32/291_2.png) [@Raul\_Jimenez](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Raul_Jimenez)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/design-leadership-in-the-age-of-systems/315/3 "2025-10-30T21:47:29Z")
> [@nathaliesmith](#): > > Now they’re shaping systems, behaviors, and even algorithms Could you share some examples? ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/design-leadership-in-the-age-of-systems/315/4 "2025-10-31T00:11:22Z")
@Raul_Jimenez of course! For context, I’m coming from an Ops perspective 🙂 I think there can be obvious nuance (org maturity, etc) but here are some examples that come to mind: In our world, our team (designer included) are actively creating AI system prompts / structures to ensure a strong data output based on the parameters we want for our product. Additionally, leveraging systems, review processes, and design delivery “standards” creating guardrails (if you will) that guide how design is implemented across the organization. (The expectation IMO has shifted to the idea that every designer should be able to uphold these vs just a Lead) Hope this makes sense!