What does it mean to be the Chief Design Officer at Zoom
Mark Kawano, Chief Design Officer at Zoom, shared his thoughts on why not every company requires a CDO and highlighted the importance of influencing design beyond the design organisation.
Here is the third episode of our Chief Design Officer Series, where we talk to Chief Design Officers from the most forward-thinking companies.
After 25 years shaping design at tech giants like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, Slack, and Zendesk, Mark Kawano steps into his biggest role yet as Zoom's first-ever Chief Design Officer. In this candid conversation, we dive deep into Mark's extraordinary journey and unpack the leadership insights that have defined his success.
What we covered:
The real truth about C-suite design roles - when they matter and when they don't
Building and scaling world-class design teams
Why the best design feedback often comes from unexpected places
Mark brings raw honesty and hard-earned wisdom to this conversation, sharing the kind of insights you can only gain from leading design at some of the world's most innovative companies.
A must-watch for anyone interested in design leadership, team building, and driving innovation at scale. 👇 Watch the video below or
Here are our favourite highlights from the interview:
1. How to know that you need a Chief Design Officer position in your company
'Titles are both unimportant and important. I look at some of the best companies that I respect. Their products are really well-designed. Many of them don't have Chief Design Officers, because the C-suite already values design in a strong way and knows where design fits in.
With my conversations at Zoom, it was very clear. We are trying all together, as an executive team, to figure out where design will fit into Zoom for the next five to ten years of our company. With those conversations, it made a lot of sense to have the Chief Design Officer title so that I could properly be recognised for that position.'
2. Mistakes designers make thinking about getting to C-level
'A lot of designers have an assumption that once you get to C-level and you have a seat at the table, that you're bringing the same conversations that designers are having today to the boardroom. It's not true at all.
I don't think most people want to work at a company where an executive team is just talking about design all the time. I don't think that business will last very long. They need to be talking about the business mostly. A lot of those meetings are dry, but they're super important. I do have to spend a lot of time thinking about the business side of things. What is our strategy? Do I understand it clearly? Where does design fit into each of these areas? What matters to me is how I can help them win as a business. That's what a lot of people should be thinking about when they're at that most senior head of design role.'
3. Why does a Chief Design Officer need to influence design outside of the design organisation
'One of the things that I learned early on at Apple was that great design can come from anywhere. I was the lead designer on the project and one of the engineers sent me an idea and said: “Hey, I saw the UI that you had for this feature. What do you think about this?” His file was better than most of the files that I created. And I could have done a couple of different things. One is: “Hey, this is my job. Why are you going onto my turf? This is inappropriate.” But I went the other direction and said: “This is a way better design than what I shared. Yes, let's go in that direction.”
A lot of designers think: “This is the part of the product-building experience that I own.” That is ultimately the wrong way to think about it. It doesn't matter where the ideas come from. It can come from interns, from different people in sales or marketing. Chief Design Officer needs to influence design outside of the design organisation so that more ideas can come from so many of the people in that diverse team that you've built.'
To learn more about the role of a Chief Design Officer, check out our website.