The Design Leadership Framework Book
The essential guide to design leadership. Understand what the role demands, in 30 topics, with proven business concepts, best practices and templates you can put to work in your own team.
Stop Reacting. Start Leading.
Most design leaders come to their roles through talent and craft. They are strong designers. Then, one day, they find themselves in charge of a team, a function, or an organization. What often comes as a surprise is how multifaceted that leadership work is, and how little their design education and previous work experience have prepared them for it.
This book was written to fill that gap. Based on research and experience, The Design Leadership Framework goes beyond design craft and expertise to describe what the role actually entails.
Organized around 30 essential topics in design leadership, it provides one of the most comprehensive practical views of the field. It covers everything from leading and developing a team to setting direction, ensuring quality, improving design operations, and strengthening design’s influence at the executive table.
For each topic, you will find proven leadership concepts and best practices to help you shape your approach. This book is both a guide to developing your leadership practice and a reference you can return to as your role evolves. The framework can also be used as a practical tool: to assess your organization, sharpen your strategy, and clarify leadership roles.
Whether you are new to the role or experienced, whether you lead a small team or a large design organization, this book will help you lead with more clarity, structure, and intent.
The Book at a Glance
01
Grounded in research
The framework and the book are based on a literature review of 200+ books and articles. It was refined over several years through feedback and work with design teams.
02
Read it your way
Read the book in order for the full picture of the role, or use it as a reference. Each aspect works on its own, so you can go straight to the topic that matters most to you right now.
03
A learning compass
Every section ends with recommended books, articles, and tools. A full literature list in the appendix shows the sources behind the book. Let it be your learning compass.
04
Made to be used
The book is a handy paperback with 300+ pages in full color, including many diagrams, overviews, and templates. Make it yours: underline what sticks and work directly with the templates.
A Look Inside the Book
The book uses many diagrams and tables to make leadership topics tangible. Here is a look inside, and a reading sample to go further.
About the Author
Katharina Koberdamm
Katharina Koberdamm is a design leadership consultant with nearly two decades of experience. As a user experience designer and design strategist, she has worked in a variety of industries. Her work spans digital products and services, cross-functional team leadership, and broader strategic initiatives. She coaches design leaders individually, teaches at universities, and hosts her own annual leadership retreat.
20 Years
at the intersection of business and experience design.
17.000+ Views
of the Design Leadership Framework Keynote
200+ Designers
trained personally in workshops and classes
Frequently asked questions
Short answers about the framework and the book.
The Framework maps the focus areas and topics design leaders need to address to build and lead a design team and organization.
It organizes them into 30 aspects across five dimensions: Strategy, Experience, Operations, Team, and Enterprise.
The DLF aims to make sense of a complex job. It serves as both a guide and a tool for self-assessment, strategic planning, and role clarification.
The book is valuable for design leaders at any level: people who lead a design team, a design function, or design across an organization.
For designers stepping into their first leadership role it can be a comprehensive guide to the overall range of responsibilities.
For more experienced design leaders it can offer insights for specific leadership challenges and topics they did not have on their radar yet.
The book offers both an approach and a tool to lead design with more clarity and intent.
The book walks through all 30 aspects of the Framework. For each aspect, it explains what the topic is about, what the Key Focus Areas are, and who to collaborate with across the wider organization.
It also shows various ways to work with the Framework as a tool and offers templates for team assessment, professional development, and strategy work.
The book is currently available on Amazon as a paperback. Further editions as an e-book and an audio book are in the making. Subscribe to my updates to be notified about future releases.