Design

Trends
Report:
Talent
Trends spotted from
InVision’s unparalleled
global perspective.
At InVision, we interact with organizations that span
all levels of design maturity, including 100% of the
Fortune 100.



The InVision Enterprise Marketing team created this
report to highlight the trends we’ve observed in our
partnership with global design leaders.
Every report
focuses on a theme.
We outline emerging trends and explore the
opportunities and challenges they present.
From here, we distill best practices and
offer insights to spark further discussion.
Start with

The New Design
Frontier report.
Before you dive into the trends
report below, get familiar with the
five levels of design maturity outlined
in The New Design Frontier report.
How can you use
this trends report?
Each trend offers insights around emerging
industry trends and aims to provoke conversation.
With each trend, we recommend an action to take.



We encourage you to discuss the trends with your
peers and teammates, and tell us what you think on
social media or via the Design Leadership Forum.
 Keep an
Start or eye on it.
continue. This trend could be
the next big thing (or
Design-mature it could !ame out).
teams take

Start, watch, advantage of this

trend and you

or stop.
should, too.

As we share these trends and Stop or

insights, we offer simple start/ modify it.
stop/watch recommendations.
This trend will cause
problems, or there's a better
way to solve the problem.
We interviewed
leaders from
these companies
and more.
Stephen Adam

About the
Gates Fry-Pierce authors
Head Design Evangelist Director, Design Community
at InVision at InVision

Global design leader building Maven in the product design

world-class organizations that space, currently connecting
integrate human-centered over 2000 design leaders
design to drive product and worldwide to help solve their
service innovation. most wicked challenges.
Why
talent?
 The landscape

Talent sets design-forward

organizations apart.
How we find, grow, and keep our best people is becoming more difficult due to
record low levels of unemployment, the increasing demand for creative skills, and
the expanding role of design. Let’s start by looking at the current landscape, the
problem we’re up against, and what’s happening as a result.
 The landscape

There is an unprecedented
demand for creative talent.
According to the 2019 In-House Creative Industry Report there's 11% more
creative jobs this year. Additionally, creative professionals and their companies
understand design’s value like never before, which means the old ways of finding
and retaining your best talent aren’t working as well as they used to.
 The landscape

Low unemployment
has a downside.

3.5
We're seeing some of the lowest US
unemployment rates in history, and
the lowest global unemployment rates
in a decade. That gives your people
more options. Today, recruiters reach

% out to employees via email, on social

media, and at networking events —
driving the competition.
 The problem

The old ways of working

don't work for creative
talent anymore.
Many companies struggle because their traditional recruiting methods do not
appeal to today’s creatives, and they move too slowly to address top issues like
work-life balance, career development, and imposter syndrome. This
unresponsiveness causes frustration and retention problems.
84
The problem

According to ADP Research Institute’s

Global Study, employees are unengaged.
Top reasons cited are unhealthy work-life
balance and lack of options for remote

%
work. This results in high turnover for
design teams.

of employees are just

“coming to work.”
 The result

The impact they want seems

unattainable, so people leave.
Many design leaders and designers were hired on the promise of product or
organizational impact. But those same design pros are realizing that what they were
promised in the interview is unrealistic, as most of their organizations are stuck in the
lower levels of design maturity (where design is still treated as a siloed function). As a
result, they're taking advantage of the healthy job market and moving on.
“ They hired me for
a vision that they
couldn't commit Anonymous
to, so I left. ” design leader
Previous employee
at a Fortune 500
company
83
The result

Just 5% of companies have high design

maturity, empowered design teams, and are
getting the greatest business benefits; and
41% are at the lowest maturity level. Having
such a large percentage of middle to low

%
maturity teams means many companies
aren’t getting the most out of their design
teams, which contributes to talent churn.

of design teams are stuck in

the middle to bottom levels
of design maturity.
Third quarter 2019

What’s in
this report?
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

New ways Rethink Make tough

to find the how you decisions about
best talent. work. your team.

Part 4 Part 5

Smarter How to
ways to grow keep your
your talent. best talent.
Part 1

New ways
to find the
best talent.
“ Interviews are the 

first step in a long
road for both sides Cecilia
to establish trust.” Ambros
Head of Global
Creative Studios
 Core insight

It’s about creating

trust right from the
beginning.
If you want to find the best people and keep
them, you need to make your hiring process
a top priority. Leadership should invest in
creating strong emotional bonds among
the team and with potential new employees.
This is the mark of a high-maturity team.
“ Too many hiring
managers keep their
blinders on and do
not understand Raquel
hiring trends. This is Chandler
not a plug-and-play Frank
Senior Design Talent

market anymore.” Duran

Head of Global
Creative Studios
Find the best talent

Rethink
recruiting.
 Observation

Outreach is the
new recruiting.
When a design-mature team expands, they
reach out to the people they would like to
see on their team (or to the person they
would like to see as their new leader).
“ In order to maintain a
pipeline of high-caliber
talent, design leaders
have to spend 15-20%

Bob
of their time doing Baxley
strategic outreach.” Senior VP of 

Design Experience
 Insight

HR departments
have not matured
quickly enough to
land the best people.
Design teams question whether HR understands
what it takes to find and hire great creatives, so
they are getting more involved in the process
through outreach and networking.
 Best practice

Build relationships with

the people you want to
work with.
Even if you don’t have an open position on your
team, you can always work to build a network of
people you want to add to the team in the future.
This way, you can better react to sudden
departures, have a vision for how you can grow
your people, and gain a greater understanding of
what draws people to your team.
“ It’s about human-to-human
connections as the industry
shifts to relationship-driven
recruiting. Hiring managers
and staffers would benefit
Rick
from planting seeds with Johanson
future prospects and building UX Program Manager

trust overtime. This is critical.” and UXCC Lead

 Best practice

Establish design team

hiring standards.
Some Design Leadership Forum members apply the
80/20 rule and claim that you don’t need to build out
a full hiring playbook; instead, you can write up a
one-page doc with candidate personas you’d like to
add to your team. Some call this a "hiring brief.” Work
with your team or recruiting to build and follow the
brief. Many leaders will include a red flag/green flag
list in this doc: things to look for, things to avoid, and
recommended scripts to include in outreach.
“ In this competitive
market, you have to
tell the story of your
team and company Kim
if you want to attract Williams

the best talent.”

Group Manager

UX Core
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
The more engaged your team is in the hiring
process, the more they are going to trust and
bond with the new hire. Give your people a
framework or quota to engage candidates
and support them along the way.
Find the best talent

Portfolios
are dying.
 Observation

Real products are

replacing portfolios.
Portfolios have been a staple of the creative
hiring process forever, but that’s changing.
High-maturity companies search for a product
or experience they admire. Then they track that
work back to the people who created it. These
candidates don’t need up-to-date portfolios
because their work speaks for them.
“ Find a product or
feature that you love,
and then research the
people who created it. Rick
Johanson
Then go hire them.” UX Program Manager
and UXCC Lead
 Insight

Companies need
people who can
launch products.
One of the biggest challenges many
companies face is their inability to launch
products on time or in a state that can impact
the bottom line. As a result, they need people
who can produce results. Hiring people who
have a proven ability to ship products makes
them feel more confident in their choice.
“ I see more senior designers
without live portfolios,
especially as they shift
towards management. It's
difficult in a portfolio to
demonstrate leadership 
 Rick
qualities, the ability to solve Johanson
organizational problems, 
 UX Program Manager
and UXCC Lead
business acumen, etc.”
 Problems and pitfalls

Understand the
difference between
individual and 

team contributions.
No one person is responsible for a product, which
is why you need to understand the candidate’s
role in bringing it to life. You don’t want to hire
someone who merely tells a good story about
their contribution (when who you really want is the
candidate’s leader or one of their teammates).
 Our recommendation

Keep an
eye on it.
If the job market cools down and teams
continue to grow, this trend may become
problematic. It will be harder to track work
back to just one individual.
Find the best talent

Tests and
working files
are the new
interviews.
 Observation

Companies want to see

creative talent in action.
Many design-mature teams ask candidates to
work through a test on their own. Sometimes
the candidate is also asked to work through a
problem with the people they’ll be working with.
The team does this to get a firsthand look at the
candidate’s skills and test team chemistry.
“ We do white-
boarding sessions
with candidates 

to see how they Raquel
think and interact Chandler

with the team.”

Senior Design Talent
Frank
Duran
Head of Global
Creative Studios
 Insight

Teams want to be sure

the talent is real.
Companies have been burned too many times by
candidates who, once they’re hired, don’t live up
to their stories. As a result, they don’t leave hiring
up to chance and ask candidates to prove that
they can deliver on what they say.
 Problems and pitfalls

Not everyone loves this

approach — sometimes,
with good reason.
Some candidates believe that they shouldn’t have
to prove themselves beyond their experience. And
some have had too many run-ins with companies
that use this process to get free ideas.
 Best practice

Use hypothetical or
exaggerated problems.
To overcome this perception, you can ask candidates
to solve problems that have nothing to do with your
industry or could never be used (like redesigning your
homepage using only emojis).
“ Portfolios get you in the
door, but it stops there.
We'll give you a design
challenge to solve with
our team to gauge how Salome
you think, design, and Mortazavi
collaborate .” Design Workstream Lead
 Best practice

Ask them to walk you

through real working files.
This is a great way to understand a candidate’s
work and creative process. You will quickly be able
to understand their role in the project and see the
depth of their thinking.
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
When done correctly and with respect
for the candidate, tests and project
walkthroughs can be an effective way
for both sides to understand the
expectations of the role.
Find the best talent

Social
engineering
in the hiring
process.
 Observation

Companies try to
find talent with
smarts and heart.
In addition to experience, clients, and tools, teams
look for social skills and cultural fit. To do this, they
turn to social engineering experiments to gauge
how a potential candidate may fit into their team’s
culture and values.
 Insight

Emotional intelligence is
important — but hard —
to measure.
Traditional interview processes don’t work when it
comes to understanding cultural fit and personal
motivations, so companies look for new ways to test
whether a candidate will be a good fit for their team.
“ We always make sure
candidates get a hot drink or
glass of water. Then we take
that back, have our interview,
and one of the things I’m always
looking for at the end of the Anonymous
interview is, does the person design leader
doing the interview want to Previous employee
at a Fortune 500
take that empty cup back?” company
 Problems and pitfalls

Experiments hurt
your team by limiting
diversity of thought.
It’s important to find people who are a cultural fit,
but you don’t want to place too much of the hiring
decision on arbitrary behaviors. Experiments can
wrongly eliminate talented candidates and
undermine diversity.
 Best practice

Use emotional and

cultural value scorecards.
Instead of social engineering experiments, ask
questions that will tell you how a candidate might align
with your company or team values. This also helps the
candidate understand what your company looks for,
which will help them decide if it’s a good fit for them.
 Best practice

Create detailed job

descriptions.
Include details like the type of work the role will involve,
the metrics the role will be evaluated against, and your
company’s values. When you lay this groundwork,
you’re more likely to bring in the candidates you want.
“ You have to invest in job
descriptions. Add your
mission, what someone
could expect to accomplish Kim
in the first year, etc.” Williams
Group Manager

UX Core
 Our recommendation

Stop or
modify it.
If you are using social engineering
experiments as the sole indicator of cultural
fit, then we recommend that you stop. This
practice can disqualify good candidates.
Focus on the role requirements and
company values to get results.
Part 2

Rethink
how you
work.
 Core insight

Technology has freed

us from our desks, and
there’s no going back.
We’re seeing a rise in remote work and
alternate ways of working. People want
better work-life balance and are rethinking
traditional work constructs.
73
Companies are becoming more
global and employees are demanding
better work-life balance. According
to UpWork’s 2019 Future Workforce

%
Report, 73% of all teams will have
remote employees by 2028.

of all teams will have remote

employees by 2028.
 Observation

The traditional agency

model is struggling.
As creative talent continues to migrate towards
in-house teams, agencies are struggling to find
business models that keep people on board as
strategic partners, instead of treating them as
staff augmentation or creative product.
 Insight

The gig economy and the

digital nomad lifestyle
impacts how we work.
Creatives don’t want to work 14-hour days anymore.
They want to have flexibility in their hours and
diversity in their clients. And they don’t love the idea
of being tied to just one company. Technology has
freed them from their desks and given them the
global reach that lets them work anywhere, anytime.
 Example

Group of Humans
Group of Humans project teams are small, !exible,
and adaptable. Each team is selected from our global
network for their project-speci"c skills, processes,
and experiences.

Learn more at groupofhumans.com

 Our recommendation

Keep an
eye on it.
This trend lets companies work with the
best talent (and keep that talent pool
fresh). Only time will tell if it will provide
them with the stability they need.
Part 3

Make tough
decisions
about your
team.
 Core insight

A leader must grow

their team’s skills
to stay ahead.
This growth sets the standard for the team —
and presents a new challenge for its leader.
 Observation

The people who got us

here may not be the
ones who can take us
where we need to go.
As design teams mature, they’re expected to take
on bigger and bigger challenges. This means that
the skills they needed in the past are not the skills
they need now. Leaders must regularly review their
teams to ensure that they can succeed.
 Insight

Visual design is now

product design.
Product design is done by a diverse set of teams
and incorporates product roadmaps, research, data,
and design systems. This, in turn, impacts what the
design team is asked to do. But most teams have not
taken the time to look at their team’s skillsets and
plan how they will evolve them to meet the new
demands of the business.
“ Your team needs to
see that you will kill
the dead weight.” Abigail
Hart-Gray
Director UX
 Best practice

Set standards and let

everyone decide if they
will rise or fall.
The worst changes are the ones that feel arbitrary or
lack transparency around how they were made. You need
to create clear standards that all roles are evaluated
against, and communicate the timeline for evaluation, so
everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
Leadership and success continually
evolve, so you need to ensure that your
team evolves, too. But you need to do it
with structure, clarity, and humanity, so
everyone knows they can have a long
future on the team (if they work for it).
Part 4

Smarter
ways to grow
your talent.
 Core insight

Create new training

methods, career
paths, and concepts
of leadership.
To mature, design teams need to develop their own
values and culture within their company. The silos,
politics, and old ways of approaching problems kill
innovation and drive away the best talent.
Grow your talent

Look beyond
your project
roadmap.
 Observation

Teams can fall into

the project roadmap
innovation “trap.”
Too many teams bind their thinking to the scope,
time, or requirements of a project — and fail to
see the big picture. This can lead them to create
weak products that don’t consider the broader
customer experience.
“ We encourage our people to
take on side projects that
focus on business problems.
It lets them develop their
skills, get visibility inside the Danny
organization; and helps us Brosche
solve business problems.” User Experience
Manager (UX) of Apps
 Insight

Designers want to be
seen differently. They
want the ability to
influence their work.
Designers work hard to make an experience better
and can get frustrated when they feel like they
aren’t solving the “real” problem. They like to be
seen as problem-solvers who can help any team
create better ideas. If they are told to just “make it
pretty” they will find other ways of being creative or
they’ll simply leave your company.
 Problems and pitfalls

Don’t become the problem

you're trying to solve.
Your team can’t work in a vacuum; they need strong
partnerships with teams like engineering, data, and
marketing. Work with them on the best way to go about
your team’s initiatives. This will make them feel included
and ensure that your team’s work can actually launch.
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
Keep your team motivated, get them
exposure, and solve key problems —
without losing the trust of product,
engineering, and marketing.
Grow your talent

The rise of the

introverted
designer.
 Observation

Not every leader has

an alpha personality.
That’s a good thing.
For a long time, people thought “good” leaders
needed to be extroverts. However, we're finding
that's not true. While some describe introverts as
shy, or even weak, introverts merely have a style of
working that many are not used to.
 Insight

People are tired of

poor leadership, so
they are stepping up.
This is happening because leadership can
be the biggest champion or the biggest
blocker to creativity. More people are
jumping into leadership roles, regardless of
whether they are extroverted or introverted,
because they feel the problems of poor
leadership more than anyone.
 Best practice

Teach new skills on how

to work with introverts.
What makes introverts who they are is also what makes
them valuable. High-maturity teams give their
introverted teammates context in meetings, alone time,
and more — so they can do their best work, the best
way they know how.
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
All leaders need to know they have a
voice and can succeed on your team.
Open a broader view of what leadership
looks like and let each person bring
their own unique style to the table.
Part 5

How to keep
your best
talent.
 Core insight

Focus on cultural
innovation — as much
as product innovation.
Many companies try to improve their work
processes in the hopes that it will fix their
team culture — but it’s actually the other way
around. When you have a strong culture, the
team (and their work) progresses.
Keep your best talent

Culture
matters more
than ever.
 Observation

Talent gravitates
towards a great culture.
To attract and keep talent, more and more leaders
are investing in culture amplification projects.
Employees want to feel that they’re creating
exciting, impactful work at a culture-forward
company. We’re seeing an increase in teams
producing non-product specific work and sharing
that work on different platforms like design field
guides, special events, and podcasts.
 Best practice

Tell your team's story

everywhere you can.
To bring in the best talent, you need to share
what makes your team unique, from the
challenges you’re tackling to the culture you’re
building. Get your team’s story out there: your
website, social media channels, conferences,
and design field guides are great places to start.
“ Our design field guide
was meant to support
our clients and internal
partners. We ended up
unifying our team Salome
along the way." Mortazavi
Design Workstream Lead
 Observation

Most company cultures

do not promote or
support creativity.
As in-house design teams continue to grow,
designers look to have bigger impact, get closer to
problems, and play a role in the company’s
direction. However, many designers find that their
company’s culture can hinder (and even kill)
creativity through excessive process, internal
politics, and bad leadership.
“ Career development
conversations are about
personal fulfillment.
Corporations are not good
at personal fulfillment. 

They work in a competitive, Cecilia
Ambros
unemotional, linear way that Head of Global
doesn’t induce creativity.” Creative Studios
 Insight

Invest in cultural
innovation — like you do
in product innovation.
Most teams focus their energy on solving problems
in their work, but spend very little time addressing
the emotional or cultural issues on their teams.
Those problems are harder to solve. But as
designers continue to be asked to contribute more,
they need to feel like their creative processes and
emotional well-being are also being looked after.
 Best practice

Build your team’s

culture and values.
To keep creativity from getting lost in the larger
corporate culture, you must have a robust
culture and strong values. This foundation will
help retain your talent. It’s also important to
recruiting; creatives don’t want to work on a
team that lacks an identity.
“ You can't be a successful
unicorn hunter if you’re going
to bring people into a horrible
culture. You have to create an
environment that creatives Rachel
Kobetz
want to be a part of.” SVP Head of
Experience Design
 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
Make sure your team’s values
are grounded in your company’s
values, so your team doesn’t get
conflicting messages.
Keep your best talent

Private
creative
support
groups.
 Observation

Creatives need support

and community outside
of work.
Feelings aren’t always welcome or appropriate at work,
so creatives need outside groups to lean on.
 Insight

Online communities and

small meet-ups offer
what conferences don’t.
Creatives find that Slack and in-person meetups give
them the community they need. The on-demand feel
of Slack communities and the personal bonds that
form in small meet-ups are winning out over large, in-
personal conferences.
 Best practice

Connect talent to
communities.
We’re seeing a rise in product, design, and tech
communities (made up of experienced leaders
who are excited to share their knowledge). Take
time to introduce your team to groups that
reflect their aspirations.
 Example

Design Leadership
Forum (DLF)
DLF is one of the largest design leadership
communities in the world with 2000+ members from
40+ countries. All members are people leaders (most
are directors or above). DLF’s mission is to advance
the practice of design leadership by fostering a
community where the world’s best can learn from
one another.

Learn more at designleadership.com

 Example

Within
Within is a leadership community for women in
design. It exists to challenge the status quo in design
and technology, create environments where all
people thrive, and amplify stories of diverse leaders.

Learn more at gowithin.co

 Example

Design Leadership Camp

Design Leadership Camp brings design leaders
together to share stories and learn new methods
for running e#ective design teams. Unscripted and
refreshingly honest, it goes beyond the familiar to
uncover the insights and connections you need to
grow and evolve as a design leader.

Learn more at bureauofdigital.com

 Our recommendation

Start or
continue it.
Creative work can be challenging
and isolating at times. We highly
recommend that you check out one
of these groups to make connections
and broaden your perspectives.
Top
takeaways
from this
report.
 The opportunity

Talent is going to be
critical in the next wave
of experience design.
Product design is in a maturation period as VR, AR,
AI, wearables, voice, and other new technologies
take hold. Teams need to focus on talent to
prepare for the future.
 Top takeaways

1
Outreach is the
new recruiting.
HR departments have not matured quickly
enough to consistently "nd the best people, so
you have to reach out to build relationships with
the people you want to work with. It’s about
human-to-human connections as the industry
shifts to relationship-driven recruiting.
 Top takeaways

2
Products, tests, and
working files are
replacing portfolios.
Today, teams see a product or digital experience
they like, and then try to recruit the person who
created it. Candidates don’t need up-to-date
portfolios as their online work speaks for them.
 Top takeaways

3
Companies want talent
with smarts and heart.
Traditional interview processes can’t always gauge
cultural "t and personal motivations, so companies
look for new ways to test whether a candidate will be a
good match for their team.
 Top takeaways

4
The gig economy and the
digital nomad lifestyle
impacts how we work.
We’re seeing a huge increase in remote work and
alternate ways of working. People want better work-
life balance and unconventional work environments.
 Top takeaways

5
Teams can fall into
the project roadmap
innovation “trap.”
Too many teams bind their thinking to the scope,
time, or requirements of a project — and fail to
see the big picture. This can lead them to create
weak products that don’t consider the broader
customer experience.
 Top takeaways

6
Learn to value and
support introverts.
What makes introverts who they are is also what
makes them valuable. High-maturity teams give their
introverted teammates context in meetings, alone
time, and more — so they can do their best work, the
best way they know how.
 Top takeaways

7
Talent gravitates
towards a great culture.
To attract and keep talent, more and more leaders are
investing in culture ampli"cation projects. Employees
want to feel that they’re creating exciting, impactful
work at a culture-forward company. We’re seeing an
increase in teams producing non-product speci"c
work and sharing that work on di#erent platforms like
design "eld guides, special events, and podcasts.
 Top takeaways

8
Online communities and
small meet-ups offer
what conferences don’t.
Creatives "nd that Slack and in-person meet-ups
give them the community they need. The on-demand
feel of Slack communities and the personal bonds
that form in small meet-ups are winning out over
large, in-personal conferences.
Want more insights? Check
out The New Design Frontier,
our recent industry-spanning
report that redefines design
maturity today.

Go deeper
Thank
you!