When I speak at workshops or mentor emerging leaders, I’m often asked: "What is the secret to becoming a top designer in a big organisation?" It’s rarely about who has the best Figma skills or the trendiest UI style. The designers who have the biggest reputations, the ones with the most influence and the "seat at the table"–all share three specific superpowers.
I like to call them your Design BFFs: Communication, Collaboration, and Commercial Thinking.
If you want to move from "production mode" to "influence mode," these are the three areas you need to master.
1. Communication: Demystifying the Mystery
As a designer, you are often the only creative in the room. To everyone else, our process can feel like a bit of a mystery. Good communication is the tool you use to shine a light on that mystery.
It’s not just about giving updates; it’s about tailoring the message.
The Visual Stakeholder: Don't just talk; show. Use visuals to build influence.
The Numbers Stakeholder: Bring the data. Show them you know the figures.
The Remote Reality: In a hybrid world, silence is a project killer. Communicate your status, your blockers, and your delivery dates proactively.
Mindset Shift: Communication isn't an "extra" task; it is the work. If people don't know what you're doing or why, then it doesn't matter how good the design is.
2. Collaboration: Seeking the Unexpected
If you want people to know who you are, you have to step outside the design bubble. True influence comes from collaborating with "unexpected" partners – the departments that are often the backbone of the company but are rarely seen in a Figma file.
Customer Service & Support: These teams know exactly where the journey is falling apart. Use your service design skills here not just to fix the product, but to improve their internal processes. When you help Support, you help the user.
Customer Success: Success teams live in the onboarding world. Ask yourself: How can design support that first-time experience? Can we build in-app pointers or indicators that make their job of "retaining" the customer easier?
Sales: This is your superpower. Sales can tell you what the market sentiment is and exactly why we lost a deal. This isn't just "feedback":it’s data that helps you assess how big a new opportunity actually is.
The Goal: Use these collaborations to gather intelligence. The information you get from the "front lines" becomes the ammunition you use for your next big presentation.
3. Commercial Thinking: Connecting Pixels to Profit
I know, "commercial thinking" sounds scary. It sounds like spreadsheets and high finance. But at its core, it’s just about understanding success metrics.
Before you start any project, you need to ask: “How do we know this is successful?”
What are the company's North Star objectives?
How does this specific feature ladder up to those goals?
If Sales says we lost X amount of revenue because of a friction point, can you connect your design solution directly to recovering that money?
When you speak the language of "commercials," stakeholders stop seeing you as a "cost" and start seeing you as a "revenue generator."
The Secret Sauce
When you nail these three elements–Communication, Collaboration, and Commercial Thinking–you’ll find that "getting buy-in" stops being a battle.
You won’t have to fight for your designs because you’ve already aligned them with the business's goals, validated them with data, and communicated the value to the right people.
My advice? If you’re struggling to get your ideas across the line, stop looking at your Figma file. Look at your 3 Cs instead. Which one needs a little more love this month?
