Positioning Design & Building Community
Part of UX Capability Build
Ecclesiastical – Specialist Insurance and Financial Services
Objective
Establish design as a strategic contributor within the organisation, not just a delivery layer and build a sustainable internal design culture that fosters connection, learning and shared values.
Context
Design was not clearly understood or valued at a leadership level. There were no design roles in place, and product teams lacked a shared language or framework for what “good” design meant.
To create lasting change, we needed to:
- Position design as essential to business and product outcomes.
- Build visibility and alignment around the value of design.
- Cultivate an internal community of practice to embed design thinking across functions.
My role
Engage senior leaders to advocate for the role of design.
Define foundational frameworks and principles to clarify what ‘good’ looks like.
Initiate and facilitate the creation of a design community of practice.
What I did
Design Positioning at Leadership Level
- Ran 1:1 sessions and strategic workshops with Group Directors, Enterprise Architects, and Senior Stakeholders.
- Framed design in language aligned to business value: reduced rework, improved customer experience, product confidence and team performance.
- Delivered vision decks outlining how design could mature alongside delivery and architecture practices.
Creating Shared Language & Frameworks
Defined UX principles that reflected both user needs and company values.
Introduced a “Good Design” framework: a set of simple, actionable criteria that teams could use to evaluate design quality and consistency.
Launching a Design Community of Practice
1
Designed and facilitated monthly “Show & Tell” sessions where teams could present work-in-progress, share methods and give peer feedback.
2
Set up a community workspace for reusable resources, templates and guidance.
3
Encouraged cross-team collaboration by highlighting wins, inviting guest speakers and creating space for reflection.
Reflections
What went well
- Framing design in terms of value and outcomes, not tools or process, helped shift mindsets at the top.
- Giving teams a platform to share their work created energy and pride that pushed the community forward.
- Creating just enough structure without over-engineering made the community accessible and lasting.
Next steps
- Further discussions with senior leadership to make decisions on team shape
- Onboard in-house Lead Designer and work together to create a team structure drawing on the foundations we have laid
Sam Long – 2025