Business Thinking for Designers

Contents
Chapter 1
Why you need to know business 
Understand the business impact of design
Chapter 2
Explore business concepts
Essential vocabulary, models, and strategies
Chapter 3
Develop your business perspective
Your business partners and you
Chapter 4
Create conditions for design maturity
Gain perspective of how design connects to business
Chapter 5
Communicate the options
How effective communication helps business partners 
understand design
Chapter 6
Put it all together
Ways to incorporate these lessons inside your organization

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7 
Why you need to know business
Chapter 1
Why you need to 
know business 
Understand the business impact of design

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8 
Why you need to know business
Within a week of starting what I thought was a dream job, I was 
overwhelmed. At three months, I was really struggling. After six 
months, I doubted my abilities to fill the role. 
What had worked as a design leader at Apple was not working 
at Electronic Arts (EA). 
In the spring of 2011, I accepted an opportunity to shape a 
new organization called Worldwide Customer Experience 
(WWCE) at EA. After years of paltry customer-satisfaction 
ratings, EA tasked WWCE with supporting a transition to a 
“player-first” organization. In my role as senior manager of 
customer programs, I was responsible for leading a team of UX 
designers, program managers, and front-end developers. 
I was highly motivated for the challenge and expected to excel 
from day one. But it didn’t happen.
While quitting and finding another gig was an option, it didn’t 
feel right. I had taken a big personal risk in leaving Apple to join 
EA. I told my family it was a risk worth taking, and I felt it was 
my responsibility to make it work. 
Choosing to stick it out ended up being the best professional 
decision I’ve ever made. By being uncomfortable, yet 
committed, I opened myself up to learning a new way to 
succeed. I had to adapt to survive and that meant developing 

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9 
Why you need to know business
skills in an area I had previously trusted others to handle: 
business. 
Over the last 10 years, I’ve been able to expand and refine 
these skills while leading design and strategy at companies like 
EA, Nestlé, and USAA. What I’ve learned is if you understand 
the basics of the business model and strategies in which 
you’re working, you’ll be able to spend less time explaining the 
value of design and more time actually designing. It will also 
increase your credibility. Developing this understanding may 
be easier than you think.
In an effort to share best practices with others, I created my 
own company, Second Wave Dive, in 2019. Since then, I’ve 
worked alongside teams large and small to help mature design 
in their organizations. In this book, I'll pass along some of 
what I learned and what I teach, but first let’s talk about why 
designers benefit from fostering business skills.