When Ross Mawdsley started work as Skyscanner\u2019s global head of design in 2022, he soon realised the scale of the challenge he faced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came in, half the design team couldn\u2019t design,\u201d he says. \u201cIt sounds mad, but they actually couldn\u2019t design.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only that, but brand wasn\u2019t held in very high regard at the tech company. So Mawdsley set to work reshaping the team, bringing in new faces and developing those who got what he was trying to build.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people were incredibly creative, but they were just doing banners and stuff,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it was about taking the shackles off, and showing them that design is a big part of what we do here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross Mawdsley on stage at Paradigms<\/p>\n
He was joined a few months later by Carla Sandhu, now Skyscanner\u2019s global head of design ops, and together the pair redesigned the brand team\u2019s org structure, focusing on skillsets and ensuring the team worked on the most interesting briefs (which had previously often been outsourced).<\/p>\n
But they also set about building a new design culture.<\/p>\n
It started, Mawdsley says, with getting everyone on the same page, and feeling a sense of ownership over the tech company\u2019s brand.<\/p>\n
Skyscanner has about 1,500 employees, about a tenth of its competitors like Expedia and Booking.com. The brand team is only about 40 people, with ten full-time designers and seven producers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a challenger brand compared to others, so we have a bit of an \u2018us against them\u2019 attitude,\u201d Mawdsley says. \u201cI think that\u2019s rubbed off into the whole department, in a way that everyone feels this ownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our brand \u2013 we built it together. And everyone feels like they are propelling it forward, which I think makes a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another part of building that sense of ownership is to make sure people across the team feel empowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAutonomy is a big thing in our team,\u201d Sandhu explains. \u201cWe allow people the space to make mistakes and to grow, but we are always there to support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got enough experience to know that if you give people a target, and you leave them to it, they\u2019ll probably get there. And it might not be the way you would do it, but that\u2019s ok.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carla Sandhu on stage at Paradigms<\/p>\n
Mawdsley agrees this is a crucial plank in their culture. \u201cWe\u2019re empowering different people, at all levels, to lead projects,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd so they don\u2019t feel they\u2019re just part of a production line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tension, Sandhu and Mawdsley admit, sometimes comes around questions of \u201ctaste and personal preference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the hardest bit, because ultimately, someone does have to sign it off,\u201d Mawdsley says. \u201cThere\u2019s subjectivity in what is my taste, as opposed to what is right for Skyscanner.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who come from the agency world, like I did, are used to being taste-makers. But we have to try and take away our taste, and apply it to the brand that we\u2019re trying to build.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandu agrees. \u201cSubjectivity doesn\u2019t really scale that well,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery year we\u2019re doing more, and we can\u2019t control every tiny thing that goes out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu<\/p>\n
Unlike some leaders, neither Sandhu nor Mawdsley are big believers in rituals to bring their team together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fun part is the work,\u201d Sandhu says. \u201cThe bonding experience is that we\u2019re all on this project together, rather than we do an icebreaker every morning, or we go to the pub every Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly despite all the talk about change across the design industry, both also believe that while many of the challenges feel new, the core role of design leaders remains consistent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m steering the team through, that\u2019s changing, but the principles of leadership are the same,\u201d Sandhu says. Transparency, for example, is key, especially as Skyscanner \u2013 like every company \u2013 grapples with how to use AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are challenged with finding AI solutions versus hiring more people,\u201d Sandhu says. \u201cSo we\u2019re not replacing roles, but we\u2019re not going to add new heads in. And I think we\u2019re at a point in time right now where we don\u2019t really know if AI is actually going to deliver all these wonderful solutions that allow us to scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu<\/p>\n
That willingness to embrace and acknowledge uncertainty feels like a common characteristic in this generation of design leaders. And that\u2019s perhaps in contrast to some of those who came before.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because you\u2019re the leader, doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re the expert,\u201d Mawdsley says. \u201cI\u2019ve come across many people in my career who led in that way. And you become indoctrinated into thinking that\u2019s what leaders look like.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when you step out of it, you suddenly go, \u2018Christ, that was 20 years of being absolutely hammered.\u2019 And that didn\u2019t get the best out of me, because I was doing things out of fear, not through wanting to make the design work better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu<\/p>\n
Good leadership, he says, is about empathy, respect and trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone puts their faith in you, you\u2019re going to do a better job,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to understand people\u2019s nuances, when someone wants an arm around the shoulder, and when someone else wants to be pushed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to learn to read people, and not have a one-size-fits-all approach, banging your fist on the table and telling everyone, \u2018This is rubbish\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n
And he says, good leaders maintain a constant sense of self-awareness, alongside a willingness to improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to keep learning, because no-one ever tells you how to be a leader,\u201d Mawdsley says. \u201cNever think you\u2019re the finished article.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu on stage at Paradigms<\/p>\n
It\u2019s particularly important, Sandhu adds, to understand how designers think, and communicate in a way that is both clear and meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about learning to speak the team\u2019s language,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been at the coal face of difficult situations in companies, and you have to understand how to translate what\u2019s going on in a way that resonates with creative people, without unsettling them, or taking their focus away too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another challenge is to ensure that in-house creative teams understand that other areas of the business may come at things in a very different way. This can even happen within wider design teams, Mawdsley explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI run the visual design of the brand and there\u2019s an equivalent of me who runs the product design,\u201d he says. \u201cThey come from a CX angle, with a very right brain, scientific approach. Whereas I come from a left brain, very fluid, very creative starting point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the same things, but we come at things from very different angles. Their ideas are backed by science and data, while our team can be like, \u2018Go out and watch a film, or take a walk in the park, you might get an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, Sandhu explains, this culture clash can also be felt across the wider company, which is dominated by software engineers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey work iteratively, as product people do, so it\u2019s good to spend time talking to other leaders about how we set up our team, and help them understand why it is the way it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are never going to find your place in the culture, or have a culturally relevant brand, doing user research, and that\u2019s ok,\u201d she laughs. \u201cWe can respect each other\u2019s differences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu<\/p>\n
Some Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu
\nSome Skyscanner brand work overseen by Ross Mawdsley and Carla Sandhu<\/p>\n