We had a very full house for SydDT #128 on Wednesday night as we explored a deceptively simple question… When does design become strategic?
We were lucky to have Dr Leanne Sobel, Jaimes Nel, Lize Wordsworth, Paul Merrell, and Dr Laura Kostanski share five different but connected perspectives.
Leanne (by video) grounded the conversation in her research into the different roles design can play in strategy. Her framing of strategy as knowledge and capability was a useful reminder that strategy isn’t just imagining a desired future. It’s also having the power and ability to make it real.
Jaimes focused on the unknown. His provocation was that the need for strategy disappears when everything is within our control. Strategic design isn’t about executing a fixed plan against a fixed world. It’s about coordinating people and work towards an intent while the context, risks, and possibilities keep changing.
Paul explored how strategic designers zoom between an artefact, an interaction, a service, an organisation, and the wider systems they sit within.
Lize brought that into the practical reality of organisations – creating shared objects, language, and data that help people see value differently and turn strategic intent into action.
Laura shared some important progress in making design visible as a profession. Australia now has a dedicated Design Professionals minor group in the new Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, and the 2026 Census will be the first Census coded under it.
Strategic Designer and Service Designer are not standalone recognised occupations yet, but the Design Institute of Australia has proposed both for the 2027 update. Laura shared that 5,000 Australians wrote “service designer” in the last Census even without that recognition.
So, if you are a designer, write your actual discipline and keep “designer” in your occupation on Census Night… Tuesday, 11 August. The tasks you describe matter too. Check out the Write DESIGNER campaign for the details.
Across the talks and panel, the conversation kept coming back to intent, outcomes, uncertainty, and influence. Strategic design isn’t a title, a polished slide deck, or a seat at the strategy table.
It’s a practice of working across perspectives, asking better questions, making possibilities tangible, and helping people navigate complexity towards meaningful change.
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.
Thanks to Li Wang who did the awesome graphic recording this month. This initiative is a collaboration with Shapeshifters and their Think Visual! meetup community. SydDT is a friendly environment for people to practice their live graphic recording skills.
A shout out and thanks to Bex Haar for another great write-up with her reflections and key takeaways.
A massive thanks to Frankie Balfour from Atlassian, Alan Chen and Diana Ayoub from Shapeshifters, and Dynamic4 for making it all happen. And Lucas Mara for being the lead organiser for this one.
Our next meetup is SydDT #129: Community Social on Thursday, 13 August. No formalities or talks, just a good chance to connect with the community and welcome new people. New friends and old.
Meetup Announcement
Wednesday, 22 July 2026 @ 6pm. Atlassian, Sydney
Most designers want to be more strategic.
But what does that actually mean?
Is strategic design about working on bigger problems? Influencing executives? Creating visions and roadmaps? Driving transformation?
Or are we confusing good design with strategic design?
Join us for our July meetup where a panel of experienced strategic design leaders will explore one of the most debated questions in our profession: what makes design strategic?
We’re lucky to have Dr Leanne Sobel, Jaimes Nel, Lize Wordsworth, Paul Merrell, and Dr Laura Kostanski sharing their insights with short lightning talks before we open up a panel discussion and audience conversation.
We’ll explore:
- What strategic design is
- What it isn’t – with common misconceptions and traps
- How strategic design differs from other design disciplines
- Where strategic design is heading
- How designers can increase their strategic influence and impact
Expect diverse perspectives, thoughtful discussions, and practical insights for designers at every stage of their career.
Come join us for some fun conversations with interesting people in and around the design thinking community. New members are welcome!
Speakers
Dr Leanne Sobel
Adjunct Fellow, UTS Business School
Leanne is a strategic designer, researcher, and educator. Her PhD research explored the role of design in strategy, and her work focuses on applying design practices, systems thinking, and participatory approaches to complex organisational challenges.
With experience spanning consulting, academia, and industry, Leanne is a leading voice in the evolving field of strategic design.
Jaimes Nel
Founder, Path Ventures
Jaimes is the founder of Path Ventures, a Sydney-based consultancy helping organisations connect strategy to action through design-led approaches. With more than 20 years of experience spanning service design, digital transformation, and organisational change, Jaimes has worked with organisations including the NHS, BBC, GOV.UK, Westpac, ING, and TAL.
His work focuses on helping organisations “play the long game” by using strategic design to navigate complexity and deliver lasting change.
Paul Merrell
Senior Service Designer, Allianz
Paul is a design leader and strategist with extensive experience applying service design and human-centred approaches to organisational transformation. Currently with Allianz Australia, Paul works at the intersection of customer experience, business strategy and change, helping organisations navigate complexity and deliver meaningful outcomes.
His work is grounded in the belief that meaningful change happens when strategy connects with the realities of people, systems and delivery.
Lize Wordsworth
Group Head of Business Architecture & Design, Westpac Group
Lize is a practical, results-driven leader specialising in bridging the gap between high-level strategy and tangible execution. With extensive global experience spanning financial services, telecommunications, infrastructure, mining, and petrochemicals across Australia, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, she focuses on building organisational capabilities across people, process, culture, and technology.
A trusted advisor across complex global environments, she combines deep expertise in target operating model design, enterprise architecture, and customer journey blueprints to help organisations navigate change and turn strategic intent into operational reality.
Dr Laura Kostanski
Fellow, Design Institute of Australia
Laura is a strategic designer working where science, design, policy, and data meet. She designs and stewards national-scale programs across environmental intelligence, data ecosystems, and multi-agency governance – building the partnerships and capabilities that help science translate into enduring impact.
A Churchill Fellow with a PhD in human geography and public policy, Laura’s focus is towards the systems end of design: what the practice looks like when the brief is a national capability, with multiple products, services, and institutions to be navigated.
Event Sponsors
This event is brought to you by Atlassian, Shapeshifters, and Dynamic4.
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