Design Team Leadership & Process Governance

Internal Design Practice Build (Deloitte Canada AI & Data Practice), 2016 – Present

Objective

Leadership recognized a critical process gap: a sole focus on technical delivery hindered the translation of business requirements into intuitive solutions. This friction frequently impacted client satisfaction and slowed product adoption. I was tasked with institutionalizing User-Centred Design (UCD) as a core part of the delivery process.

The Design Process & Delivery

I championed the necessity of a dedicated design competency, securing cross-functional alignment and investment from leadership across Data, Strategy, and Implementation.

• Advocating for Design Integration: I demonstrated the risk of inaction by incorporating design estimates into proposals and presenting the ROI of design internally.

• Building the Framework: As demand grew, I established a standardized design process—from requirement validation and research to testing and hand-over. This created a formal collaboration framework with technical practitioners and client stakeholders.

• Mentoring from the Ground Up: I recruited and mentored a team of specialized designers, fostering a process-driven approach that bridged the gap between technical constraints and business goals.

Outcome

I successfully scaled a dedicated design team that serves as the unifying capability between technical execution and business requirements. This effort elevated the practice's design maturity, resulting in predictable design quality and a highly collaborative co-creation process that is now standard for the AI and Data Service Line.