We were lucky to have Rachel Zhang visiting from Melbourne for SydDT #112 to share her personal experiences, insight, and advice as she reflected on the tough economic challenges designers have been facing over the past couple of years.
In her honest, vulnerable, and humorous talk – without sugar coating her experience – Rach shared how she navigated staying motivated to put in more effort, to continue giving even in hard times, how to stay top of mind, and how to find supplementary work. A topic that resonated with a lot of the audience.
Gus Jansen shared some market insights and context, and Lucas Mara then led a panel with Rach, Gus, and Steve Brown as they dived into what they’ve been facing over the past couple of years and the ongoing journey.
Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a fun night. Couldn’t make it or just want to relive it? Watch it now.
The graphic recording this month was done by Liam Oxley. This initiative is a collaboration with Sh8peshifters and their Think Visual Morning Meetups community. SydDT is a friendly environment for people to practice their live graphic recording skills.
Lucas was the lead organiser for this one… and the event was brought to you by ThinkPlace, Sh8peshifters, and Dynamic4.
Our next meetup in Sydney is SydDT #113 on Thursday, 15 May.
Meetup Announcement
Thursday, 10 April 2025 @ 6pm. ThinkPlace, Sydney
At our April SydDT meetup, we’ll reflect on the economic challenges faced by designers over the past year. Rachel Zhang will share her personal experiences and insight and provide guidance on how to keep motivated to put in more effort, to continue giving even in hard times, how to stay top of mind, and how to find supplementary work.
Rach also emphasises the need for self-regulation, shaking off entitlement, being grateful for free time, appreciating what you have, allowing yourself a tantrum, and receiving help. She’ll conclude on a positive note, mentioning that 2025 is proving to be more fruitful with more budget for roles and recruiters actively hiring.
Following Rach’s talk, Lucas Mara will host a panel discussion with Rach, Kylie Mageropoulos from Lanson Partners (and SydDT), and Steve Brown.
Speaker & Panellists
Rachel Zhang
Rach is a seasoned experience designer with over 15 years of expertise at some of Australia and UK’s foremost digital enterprises such as Telstra, Google, Accenture, AKQA, Westpac, R/GA – as well as starting her own businesses in design consultancy, team assessments, and education.
Her portfolio spans diverse profit for purpose projects, including the transformative re-design of the Parliament of Victoria experience and spearheading research and strategic design initiatives for the future vision of WorkSafe Victoria’s digital inspector’s tool. Rach’s career has also seen her contributions at RMIT, where she pioneered innovative pathways for career progression through education.
Rach, her fiance, and two cats just moved back to Melbourne in February. All is well in the new household. Her dream is to rebrand the “crazy cat lady” as aspirational.
Steve Brown
Steve came to the design thinking toolkit in 2014 while at CBA. Not wanting to go back to his internal consulting role, he joined the CBA Innovation Lab to hone his new found capabilities. Since then, he has worked on both client and agency side and in businesses ranging from early stages start ups to Qantas during COVID.
He’s used design thinking to explore mundane and complex spaces, solving for shunned farmers and those who can’t speak, to the dying, the broke, the wealthy, the scammed, and (almost) everyone in between.
Lucas Mara
Lucas Mara is passionate about helping organisations, communities, and individuals envision a better future and create pathways to achieve their aspirations.
Lucas has the had the privilege of doing this professionally in his career, having worked in design leadership roles for almost a decade. Lucas is currently leading the Service Design practice at ING Australia and he has also held significant roles at Pegasystems and various financial services organisations. Lucas has led consulting teams and operated in strategic design and advisory capacities. Notably, Lucas was one of the first design thinking practitioners and design coaches at Commonwealth Bank back when the Innovation Lab was first opened.
Beyond his professional work, Lucas is deeply committed to community engagement. He actively supports professional industry bodies, universities, communities, and non-profits. As a co-founder of the Sydney Design Thinking Meetup, Lucas has spent nearly a decade fostering connections, learning from peers, and inspiring others.
Come join us for some fun conversations with interesting people in and around the design thinking community. New members are welcome!
Event Sponsors
This event is brought to you by ThinkPlace, Sh8peshifters, and Dynamic4.
