Systemic Design in Action
Leanne Sobel, Director, Strategic Design at Snowmelt, is passionate about applying design practices to unpack complex organizational problems and articulate innovation opportunities. She has developed a unique perspective to address organizational challenges over her 20+ years of practice across agency, consulting, academic and industry positions. Leanne holds a PhD in management exploring the role of design in strategy at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) where she is now an Adjunct Fellow. She has taught extensively across business and design programs at leading Australian universities.
Tim Tompson, Co-founder of Snowmelt, enjoys helping leaders to find practical solutions to complex challenges. With experience in a broad range of organizations and contexts, he has developed novel expertise in design-led and systems approaches to strategy. Tim has a PhD in Planning & Urban Development and lectures at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the University of NSW. With earlier training in Industrial Design and International Studies at UTS, and study in Italy and the Netherlands, he continues to write and guest lecture on design, management, and social policy at institutions including University of California Los Angeles, UTS and University of NSW.
Snowmelt is a systemic design consultancy that partners with organizations and communities to make sense of the systems they are a part of. Their approach to strategic consulting blends participatory approaches with reflection and learning to build the capabilities, relationships, and practices needed to start and sustain change. For more about see: snowmelt.io
In this session, Snowmelt’s will share case studies and reflections on the patterns of practice that support effective systemic design. Systemic design is the intentional work of integrating design practices with systems thinking. Snowmelt has been translating how systemic design works most effectively in organizations and with diverse multi-stakeholder groups. A focus of the presentation will be sharing how Snowmelt embeds participatory and material design approaches to better navigate the complexity of organizational life and contend with the challenges of our time.
