Leading Design Like Choreographing a Dance

Under the soft glow of the stage lights, an eight-year-old boy stood alone in the center, looking down, quiet auditorium. The audience held their breath for a few tense seconds, waiting in anticipation. Then the music began, and a tall, graceful dancer emerged from the shadows, moving elegantly toward the boy with an effortless grace that captivated everyone.

Phoenix Boys performing on Britain’s Got Talent stage.

As the dancer reached the boy, he gently placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and they began to move in perfect harmony. Their dance was soon joined by eight more dancers, then eight more, and finally seven more until the stage held a breathtaking ensemble of twenty-four. They twirled and leaped across the stage, each step flowing seamlessly into the next. The group performed stunning backflips and side flips, drawing gasps from the audience. The performance was a testament to the power of teamwork, each movement rhythmic and perfectly timed.

Photo: BGT/ITV.

A great dance performance is a lot like a great design team. Just as the dancers worked together to create something beautiful, a design team brings together its members’ unique skills to deliver outstanding work. Each designer brings something unique to the table, whether it’s creating stunning visuals, crafting intuitive user experiences, or telling compelling stories through graphics. Even a production team can apply what’s been designed differently to create outstanding visuals, adding another layer of dimension and creativity to the project.

Having diverse skills in a design team is crucial; it’s like having different dancers who each bring their own strengths to the performance. But just as a dance performance needs one choreographer to guide the vision and keep everyone in sync, a design team needs to be anchored in the same place: within one division, with a clear leader. That leadership is the backbone of the team, coordinating all the moving parts and blending creativity with functionality so that every member understands their role and how it complements the others.

Understanding the choreography of the team is essential. It ensures that every design element aligns with the overall goals and vision. This understanding fosters collaboration and trust, empowering the team to explore new creative avenues. Like dancers who must be aware of each other’s movements to maintain rhythm and grace, designers must be attuned to their fellow designers’ work to deliver a project that resonates as a unified whole. In this way, a well-led design team can create a result that is not only visually stunning but also deeply meaningful, much like the captivating dance that began with a boy standing solo on stage.