Service Design Show

Why Your Best Work Goes Unnoticed (and What to Do About It) / Kat Thackray /Ep 229

Jun 5, 2025
Kat Thackray, a seasoned service designer with over ten years of experience, discusses the often-unseen yet critical aspects of service design that drive team success. She emphasizes how much of this vital work remains unrecognized, akin to a car's cooling fluid. Kat shares insights on improving team dynamics, the importance of soft skills, and the impact of COVID-19 on design practices. Dive into actionable strategies for gaining recognition and the role of team coaching in fostering collaboration, all while navigating the complex power dynamics in design teams.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

The Invisible Work Behind Success

  • Kat Thackray spent eight weeks helping a conflicted team find common ground before delivering a prototype.
  • The unseen work of facilitating difficult conversations was the key to the project's success.
INSIGHT

Every Problem Is A People Problem

  • Most organizational problems trace back to people issues despite appearing technical.
  • Addressing relational tensions unlocks team effectiveness and accelerates better outcomes.
INSIGHT

Designing Team Environments Matters

  • Teams thrown together without support often struggle, causing slow, painful progress.
  • Creating safe spaces where teams coalesce speeds problem-solving and decision-making.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app