Fred Beecher has worked in User Experience since 1998. He is an established contributor in the field, having authored the first official Axure training program in 2007 and having written and spoken extensively on prototyping, design process, design education, and UX career development. In 2013 he designed, implemented, and led a UX apprenticeship program at The Nerdery. From 2015 to 2017, Fred led the 40+ person design team at The Nerdery. Currently, Fred leads Experience Design Operations for Best Buy.

Building engagement is a critical task for design leaders. However, the agile product development processes that many design teams must work within make that difficult. When agile is focused on cranking out features, it becomes a grind. But what if—with a bit of foundational work and a few tweaks to the process—an agile environment could become an environment of continual learning? Learning and development builds engagement and engagement is a design leader’s best defence against attrition. This can help you build your senior designers’ leadership skills and even make productive use of new graduates coming out of bootcamps and universities. Creating a continual learning environment not only builds engagement, it also ensures the sustainability of your team.