CHRIS JACKSON - WELLINGTON, NZ
I work with Heads of Design and design leaders to improve how design teams operate inside complex organisations.
Most design teams don’t struggle with talent. They struggle with system clarity — how work flows, how decisions are made, how design is understood, and how strategy connects to execution.
That gap is where performance is lost.
THE STORY
How I got here.
I started in furniture and product design, working between studio practice, exhibitions, and early design consultancy work across London, New York, Barcelona, and Milan.
Over time, I became less interested in what design produced, and more interested in what design made possible inside organisations.
That shift took me into service design, strategy, foresight, and eventually into working directly with design leaders inside government, financial services, energy, transport, and technology organisations.
The same pattern kept appearing:
Strong teams.
Unclear systems.
Under-leveraged design capability.
What I do now.
Today my work sits across three connected areas:
Design Team Reset
A structured engagement helping design leaders diagnose and improve how their teams operate, from culture and capability through to strategic visibility and system design.
Strategic design advisory
Working with organisations on complex change, operating models, and how design functions as part of broader organisational systems.
Futures and foresight practice
Helping teams think beyond immediate delivery pressures and build capability to anticipate change, not just respond to it.
Across all of it, the focus is the same:
How design operates as a system inside organisations, not just a function that produces outputs.
The work.
The teams I work with are usually already strong.
The work is good. The people are capable. But something between the design studio and the boardroom isn’t working as it should.
Design gets pulled in too late. Teams become overloaded with delivery. Strategic influence stays inconsistent.
And leaders are left holding accountability for impact they don’t fully control.
Over time, the problem stops looking like a skills issue.
It becomes a systems issue. That’s the work I focus on.
NOT A CV
Selected Experience
Over 20 years of practice across government, financial services, technology, and design education.
Lecturer and speaker across design institutions globally
Former Service Design Director (DNA, Wellington)
Former Principal Advisor (Ministry of Justice, NZ)
Creator of Futures of Design 2045 scenarios (500+ downloads)
23 design awards (DINZ Purple & Gold Pins included)
IFTF Strategic Foresight Practitioner
MA Furniture Design & Technology, Bucks New University
BA (Hons) Furniture & Product Design, Nottingham Trent
I also teach and speak on design leadership, strategic foresight, and system-level design practice.
A note on my approach.
Most design conversations focus on output.
My focus is on the system that produces the output. Because in most organisations, the constraint is not talent. It’s how design is structured, understood, and embedded in decision-making.
When that changes, performance follows.
If any of this resonates — let's talk.
If you’re leading a design team and feel that your people are capable of more, but the system around them is limiting their impact, I’m always open to a conversation.
No pitch. No pressure. Just a discussion about what’s actually going on in your team.