The other day, I was deep into my normal morning routine of drinking coffee while reading all of the day’s news, world, tech, design, etc. When I came across Rex Woodbury’s latest article, In the Costco Era of Software, Design Is the Differentiator, I put my coffee down and dug in…smiling and nodding and exclaiming, “YES! You’re so right, Rex!”

The gist of this excellent article is this…

Woodbury’s words are both clever and a signal of a tectonic shift. When code becomes a commodity and templates proliferate, the only real edge left is taste (which Mario wrote about a few weeks ago), clarity, and that ineffable sense of human intent behind the interface. Software may be mass-produced, but the products that resonate will be those that evoke meaning…not just function.

We’re seeing the tectonic shift ripple through the tech industry. Just a few months ago, in April 2025, Shopify's CEO, Tobias Lütke, released an internal memo he'd sent to employees with the subject, “AI usage is now a baseline expectation.” In his company-wide memo, Lütke laid out five AI-related pillars that everyone, including him, must follow in order to keep their jobs at Shopify.

At the time, this was viewed by some as a shot across the bow to anyone with human-centered sensibilities (and positions). However, when you consider Shopify’s recent acquisition of Brooklyn-based creative studio Molly, it would seem that Lütke and Shopify are doubling down on both AI + Design.

This is echoed by Carl Rivera, Shopify’s new Chief Design Officer...

But And…this is NOT just about designers carving out leadership positions and cementing their positions at the “strategic table”. This is about designers AND design leaders becoming savvy business people*. This is about design leaders evolving to move beyond the pixel parade and flashy presentations, to a place where they (i.e., we) are an integral part of creating, delivering, and capturing value…and can talk business, and tell stories that tie design to dollars, outcomes, and strategy. When we do that successfully, we (designers) change the future.

Oh…and lest you think this is a new way of thinking/doing, it is most definitely not. And as you’ll see, the leaders who have succeeded in this translation—from Brian Chesky to Dylan Field to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive—have mastered the Design as Strategy skills. Read on to see how.

— Justin Lokitz

*This is EXACTLY what we teach and do in the Design MBA.

Design Deep Dive

The Pixel Trap

As I discussed with the amazing Nick Cawthon, far too many design leaders still default to the comfortable: sleek mockups, polished UI, clever animations. As he asked so adeptly, “Everybody’s in the pool now. How do we find the definition of what design does?”

What’s more, while many design leaders still lean heavily on Figma mockups, the rest of the world just vibe codes and moves on. The challenge here is that increasingly, executives and product leaders aren’t buying visuals; they’re buying value creation, delivery, and capture as well as the impact of these (conversion, retention, efficiency). Without that translation, good design can sound like background noise. Nice, but not strategic.

So…what can should must design leaders do to become more strategic and think like business leaders?

To become more strategic, designers and design leaders must stop obsessing over how their work looks and start showing how it creates value for customers, which in turn, creates (i.e., captures) value for the organization. Strategic leaders sell outcomes…that come from both having a finely tuned sense of the market and customers, along with great taste.

As I mentioned above, this is a well-worn path. When you think about some of the biggest, most valuable products/services ever created, behind those products/services were savvy designers and design leaders who understood business and strategy deeply. From Brian Chesky to Dylan Field to the dynamic duo of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, one thing these designers/leaders all have in common is how they employ design as strategy.

Here’s what we can take away from these examples…and how we all can be part of design as strategy…

Brian Chesky: Designing for Growth

Airbnb’s early years were shaky. The idea of staying in a stranger’s home was already a leap of faith, and the website did little to inspire confidence. Listings were grainy, dimly lit photos snapped on old cameras or phones. Guests weren’t just unsure of what they were booking; they were wondering if Airbnb was even safe.

Most founders would have asked the design team to fix the upload interface or add filters. Brian Chesky, a RISD-trained designer himself, reframed the problem: the issue wasn’t the UI, it was trust. And trust had to be built visually, with clarity and quality. This was a HUGE realization!

So Chesky and his co-founders grabbed a camera, drove to hosts’ apartments, and took professional photographs themselves. Within weeks, the difference was stark. Listings looked polished, inviting, and aspirational. Guests booked more confidently, hosts earned more money, and Airbnb’s revenue line began to bend upward.

The insight was deceptively simple: better design could unlock growth by reducing friction in customer trust. Chesky didn’t present this as “cleaner photos.” He presented it as more bookings, more hosts, and more liquidity in Airbnb’s two-sided marketplace. In short, he spoke the language of business…through the lens of trust via taste.

Dylan Field: From Pixels to Platform

When Dylan Field launched Figma, the design software space was already crowded. Sketch dominated the independent design world, and Adobe was the entrenched incumbent. To succeed, Field had to solve a bigger, more expensive problem than simply making another pixel-perfect tool… of which there were many.

That problem was collaboration. Design teams were working in silos, exporting files, emailing screenshots, and passing giant .sketch files back and forth. Engineers had to wait for handoffs. Product managers were left out of the loop. Deadlines slipped. The hidden cost was enormous: lost time-to-market.

Field reframed Figma as more than a design tool. In Rex Woodbury’s words, “Figma didn’t just replace Sketch… It collapsed five disconnected tools into a single multiplayer canvas… It wasn’t just a tool; it was the connective layer between teams.” By enabling designers, engineers, and product managers to collaborate in real-time—like Google Docs for design—Figma wasn’t selling UI polish. It was selling speed, alignment, and reduced friction across product development.

That value proposition resonated at the executive level. CIOs and CTOs could justify paying for Figma not because it made prettier screens, but because it shortened cycles, saved millions in coordination costs, and helped companies ship faster. Adobe’s $20B acquisition attempt in 2022, as well as Figma’s valuation during its IPO this year (about $65B!), were a testament to how Field positioned Figma: as critical business infrastructure, not just a design tool.

Steve Jobs & Jony Ive: Rewriting the Business of Design

Apple’s resurgence under Steve Jobs and Jony Ive was a masterclass in making design inseparable from strategy. Jobs had always believed in the power of design to differentiate, but it was his partnership with Ive that translated this philosophy into world-shaping products.

Take the iPod. MP3 players existed long before Apple entered the market. But they were clunky, confusing, and poorly designed. Apple reframed the category not around specs, but around a business promise: “1,000 songs in your pocket.” The design was the enabler—the sleek click wheel, the intuitive interface, the minimalist form factor—but the outcome was market dominance. Apple captured massive margins by selling not a gadget, but a lifestyle.

Then came the iPhone. Jobs didn’t present it as a beautiful touchscreen. He presented it as three revolutionary devices in one: a phone, a music player, and an internet communicator. That framing turned design into business disruption. Apple didn’t just launch a product; they rewrote the economics of telecom, media, and consumer electronics.

Ive once said, “We’re only interested in getting things right.” But at Apple, “right” didn’t mean aesthetic perfection; it meant products that people would pay a premium for, stay loyal to, and evangelize. Design became the DNA of Apple’s business model, allowing it to command industry-leading margins and grow into a $3+ trillion company.

The Jobs/Ive partnership remains the clearest proof that design, when elevated to strategy, doesn’t just support the business—it becomes the business.

Together, Chesky, Field, Jobs, and Ive illustrate the full climb up the Design as Strategy pyramid. 

Chesky showed how design choices can build trust and directly unlock growth. Field reframed design as operational infrastructure, collapsing silos and accelerating speed to market. Jobs and Ive proved that design, when elevated to strategy, can differentiate a company so profoundly that it becomes the foundation of brand, margins, and market dominance. Each step, from trust to efficiency to strategy, shows how design leaders move beyond pixels and prove their value in the language executives understand: outcomes.

The message is clear: design is no longer just an artifact; it’s a clear lever of strategy. In the Costco era of software, where code is cheap and sameness is everywhere, differentiation comes from clarity, trust, and resonance. That’s the power of design when it’s tied to outcomes. The challenge (and the opportunity) for every designer and design leader today is to make that leap: stop talking pixels, start talking business. Anchor your work in growth, efficiency, and competitive advantage. The companies that thrive in the next decade will be those that employ design not as decoration, but as strategy. The only question is: will you be one of the leaders who make that shift?

Subscribe to Design Shift for more conversations that help creative professionals grow into strategic leaders.