- Artwork by Cesar Lemus
Pek Pongpaet teaches us how to be business-minded designers. He reveals how designers with business knowledge and more tools in their tool belt will get hired more often than ones without and with less. He shows us how to get a seat at the table while challenging us to count the costs of actually having one. He motivates us to measure and quantify our designs. He also inspires us to get out of our comfort zones and talk to other disciplines and become consumers of information in the area(s) we desire growth in.
Pek Pongpaet is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based studio imPekable. He crafts outstanding mobile and web products for clients that include Google, HP, Motorola and Groupon to name a few. He’s quite the ninja…literally. He’s an actual motion capture model in the Mortal Kombat games. He’s one of the rare and coveted breeds we would call a unicorn, but he would call a Diviner (Developer/Designer). One of the things you may not see on his resume is his experience working as a stock photography model.
- Why Should We Listen to Pek? (05:04)
- Why Should Designers Understand Business More? (7:07)
- How Do I Begin to Care More About Business? (11:05)
- How Do I Learn More About the Business Model? Who Do I Talk To? (14:22)
- How Can Designers Influence Product/Business Strategy and Quantify Their Work? (16:52)
- How Do I Know That Something I Designed Achieved Its Business Goal? (20:18)
- What Do You Look For In a Designer When Hiring? (24:50)
- Why You Should be Best Friends with Your Analytics Person/Team (26:20)
- How Can Designers do a Better Job Communicating the Business Value of Design to Non-Believing Stakeholders? (30:21)
- How Does a Designer Get a Seat at the Round Table? (33:29)
- What’s Your Best Advice for Designers Wanting to Grow in Business Side of Design? (40:45)
- Best Way to Connect and Keep Up? (45:45)
Continue reading 074: Designers, Mind Your Business with Pek Pongpaet
