An insider’s view of working in Design at Shell

First off, let’s get the legal disclaimers out the way.

Yes, I really am a Shell employee but am not speaking on behalf of Shell. These are very much my own personal views and don’t necessarily reflect those of Shell.

To be fair, Shell has far better writers than me so not wanting me to speak for them is totally the right thing to do! Same reason I don't let my son drive my car.

How to lose friends and alienate people

12 months ago (more or less) I joined Shell and hoo-boy a lot of you were not happy about it!

To be fair I expected a lot of the abuse, the derision, the messages of disappointment and even the threats, meh, such is the nature of Social Media. Thankfully I'm old enough to recognise and be able to ignore the Online Disinhibition Effect (its a thing look it up) and some of the messages were even amusing in the creativity of their more biologically unlikely demands.

Now, as a UX I get it, frustration requires a target for release, and as the frustrated person can't confront the business owners they confront who they can. It's poisonous, it's misdirected and it's ineffectual, but it comes with the job (Not just online, either. Hint: There's a reason why hospitals now have warnings against abusing staff on every wall).

I get it. I expected it , and while it sucks to be on the end of it, I gave up giving abusive pillocks my time of day the moment I left school, so if anything it just reinforced my decision.

Truth is I had far more supportive messages and earnest inquiries (bless my network) about what it was like to work in an industry that is so polarising, not exactly famed for its HCD practices, and a company that a huge amount of people regard as the devil incarnate, especially when it comes to climate change.

I promised at the time I'd answer those question when I had enough experience to do so properly. If you're a regular reader or my admittedly rambling articles you would expect no less. However, I haven't, my bad, it’s been a busy year, one with personal and professional challenges I won't bore you with, and I let some things slide because I had to. Social Media engagement was the first, easiest and, honestly, the most beneficial, distraction to let go of – so somewhat belatedly this is in the way of answering that promise, to explain exactly what it is like to be involved with design at Shell.

Let’s deal with the rainbow-polka-dotted, flying, pachyderm in the room

To most people Shell is a Petro-chemical company, and while that’s not actually true (Shell is an Energy Company of which oil plays a significant part) there’s no denying the public perception. It’s also true that they’ve recently decided to reduce the speed of their transition away from fossil-fuels, a decision that’s as popular with the public as a lie-detector in a room full of politicians! Now, I have next to zero control of that perception and direction, no one I work with has control of that, no more than the person you buy a kit-kat from when buying petrol at a service station is.

Guilty by association? Of course, but by the same argument so is anybody that works in the worlds of banking, pharmaceuticals, politics, mining, brewing and distilling, and a host of other industries. You accept it and move on.

The only thing I can change is my little part of the ecosystem, using small changes to join with other people’s small changes to try and make cumulative big changes.

What is my little part? Well, I’m Design Analytics Lead within Shell’s Experience Design Team [EXD].

Who?

Right, I’m going to need to provide a little context here, aren’t I?

EXD is the biggest design capability in Shell, it’s ROI has been proven millions of times (when measured in costs and savings) while still causing barely a blip on the financial records. EXD has directly:

• Shaped over 200 digital projects since 2018
• Saved $30m dollars by keeping design within Shell
• Our projects have generated $23bn in revenue for Shell businesses

There are professional consultancies external to Shell that don’t have the skills and capabilities that EXD offers (or the results). Its practitioners are specialists in every aspect of design you can imagine, from Service Design, through Product Design (digital and physical) to Communication, Engagement, Content (every kind of content) and Visual Design and all backed by qualitative (user research) and quantitative (systems) data and driven by inclusive and accessible user needs.

There are people in this department who have advised the top consultancies, driven design in blue-chip companies, have backgrounds in engineering, ergonomics, education, finance, the sciences, and of course psychology, with proven success in all of them.

It’s a department that has specialists, in research, service, product, accessibility, UX, UI, and a host of generalists that work across them all, as needed. In short it is a department that was designed by a designer Joel Gill , under the guidance of Abhai Bhargava ). EXD exists to enable designers to work to the best of their abilities for the benefits of end users and therefore the benefit of Shell.

Yeah, you’ve never heard of them, have you?

Even if you work in Shell, you’ve probably never heard of EXD. That’s because Shell is a behemoth, to paraphrase Douglas Addams:

“Shell is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to Shell.”

If you were to take all the people who work globally at Shell and put them in one office, you’d need a building the size of a small city. It’s that big. I’ve been here for a year, Joel getting on for five, and neither of us have found the edges of this organisation. So, although EXD is the biggest design capability in Shell it’s like saying you’re the biggest grain of sand on the beach.

Is that a bit overwhelming? All a bit ‘what’s the point?’

No. You see it’s not the size that matters (stop giggling) it’s how effective you are and there is no denying that EXD is effective. Though it wasn’t always.

A brief history of EXD

At this point I’m going to completely fail to shock you. I’m going to tell you things that you already know and probably have encountered a hundred times over in your career if you’ve been involved with design for a decade or more.

Firstly, when EXD started, design was UI/UX (in that order) Shell’s understanding of design was that:

• It was visual.
• Only impacted software.
• Was something that anyone with a bit of creativity could do.

I told you I was going to fail to shock you.

In this regard Shell was (emphasis on the word ‘was’) like a million other places in the world when it came to understanding design. This was when Joel played the first of what I consider a blinding set of cards; he gave business exactly what they asked for.

The first designs were met with great joy by the business, right up until those designs fell flat on their faces, at which point joy packed its bags and left the room.

When the business demanded to know why the design had failed, Joel suggested that perhaps design wasn’t in fact “something that anyone with a bit of creativity could do” and perhaps they should let a designer actually design. He then provided the designs they needed, not the ones they wanted and, surprise surprise, they worked.

Now, as a rule of thumb designers are impatient, we see a problem and we want to fix it, now! The scale of the problem doesn’t daunt us (often that’s the thing that excites us) the speed in which we can correct the problem does. If the problem is the lack of design maturity, we want to fix it today, we want to make a huge impact, disrupt poor ways of working, hammer home design ROI, we want to make everyone understand the value of UCD and we want to do it yesterday!!!

Yeah, that doesn’t work, does it?

This was Joel’s second brilliantly played card. He knew that trying to quickly change a system as large and unwieldy as Shell's ways of working was back then was a quick way to failure, so he set a pattern, give the business what it wanted, wait for it to fail, provide the solution, and let them learn while enjoying the success and grow organically. Don't lecture, don't throw tantrums, let them learn at their own pace.

Gradually the lesson was learned, business started to bring in design sooner, it understood that processes could be designed, that solutions that involved end users in the discovery phase produced better results, and more than that, business understood that they didn’t know design and it was best left to those who did to produce it.

EXD grew simply because it followed the pattern of HCD. Discover user needs (even when the user doesn’t know them) design a solution to meet those needs. Test it. Deliver it. The end user here was the business, EXD increased user/business happiness and therefore increased user demand and was forced to grow to meet that demand. Win/win.

EXD operated (still does) a Servant Leader Model. Find the very best most talented people you can, empower them, direct them, then get out the damn way and let them deliver what you ask of them, which, five years later, means that EXD now provides:

Design-ops: the UCD approach to building stronger design teams that support the arrangement of individuals, processes, and tools to empower creativity and provide impact at scale.

User Research: The process of identifying and understanding user behaviours, needs, and motivations through proven psychological methodology. It measures and reports the impact of design on end users.

Service Design: The planning and arranging of people, infrastructure, communication, and material components within a service to improve the quality of interactions between a service provider and its end users.

Product Design: The creation of a product from a business perspective which aims to meet both users’ needs and business goals.

User Experience Design (UX): The design of product from a usability and usefulness perspective. It aims to ensure that the product, service, or system fulfils users’ needs.

Content Creation: The design of copy, imagery, video, and sound, tailoring them so that users are fully engaged and informed by useful content.

Visual Design: The use of colour and form and interaction patterns that maximises the impact of content delivery.

Design Analytics: The process of identifying, supplying, and maximising the impact of qualitative and quantitative data to fully inform the design process.

Accessibility Design: The concept of ensuring that a product or service can be used by everyone, regardless of ability. It’s not just a legal requirement it provides huge benefits to business, from SEO, through increasing customer numbers, to enhanced public image for the brand.

Innovation: Identifying and creating new ways of working utilising emerging tech and processes to ensure progress.

I don’t care what your unit of measurement is, to achieve that, in just five years, from nothing, without any real executive sponsorship, is extraordinary.

Last year, Joel managed to play one last blinder of a card. He had the entire User Centred Design Process written into Compliance. Bypass the process and your project is no longer compliant (explain that one to legal and budget control). Ignore the design process and you don’t get a designer (explain that to your manager when your project fails to deliver).

Simply put, design is owned by designers.

Now, whatever your thoughts are of Shell and the entire industry, as a designer isn’t that a model you’d love to see everywhere?

So where does that leave us?

All good right, design Nirvana?

Well yes and no.

Yes, because EXD is possibly the most design-friendly working environment I’ve ever worked in.

• Collaboration is explicit, no designer works alone, ask a question and a dozen people respond immediately. Ask for help and it’s there.
• The design leadership have all come through the design ranks, some taking the technical route, some the creative, so they value and understand good design and are ready to fight for those who can provide it.
• Every aspect of design has a champion, from research and discovery, through planning and operations, to design and delivery. Not sure about something? There’s somebody there to explain, support and provide everything you need.
• There is a clear career path from junior to leadership, based on clearly measurable competencies and skills (atomic design FTW).
• EXD has the smallest employee attrition rate in the company. It’s amazing how effective a strategy that enables designers to design and build on their skills and knowledge to advance in their career can be. Who knew? Oh right, every designer in the world!
• There is a compliance code that ensures that design is not ignored or overridden.
• We’re breaking silo’s, we have a dedicated team that engages with the business to evangelise and teach good design.
• We’re global. We have team members in the UK, the US, the Netherlands and the biggest team is India. EXD is the most diverse working environment I’ve ever encountered, it embraces neuro-diversity, physical ability, gender, sexuality, race, religion, and not to meet quotas but because different people bring different perspectives, and you need that when dealing with a global audience. Who you are doesn’t matter one iota, as long as you’re good at your job and bring the passion. Ethnographic insight? It’s built into the team not just the process.

No, because there is still much to change and like I said, being the largest grain of sand on the beach means you’re not as visible as you’d like, plus:

• There are still ‘discussions’ with those who try to pigeonhole design or can’t see any benefit to it (but they are now open to discussions, which they weren’t before).
• EXD is still largely reactionary rather than being proactive (to be fair so is the whole of Shell as it adjusts to market forces and changes in corporate strategy).
• The speed of work is always a variable. Change is required either in 6 months, a year or just ‘later’ or, conversely, is required to have been delivered a month before you hear about it. (Again, that’s not unusual or unique to Shell, it’s frustrating but it doesn’t stop EXD defining what is quality design and delivering it).
• We’re still largely seen as something that only software needs (Though that is changing rapidly).
• When it comes to budget, we’re the last in line. (We’ll that’s no different to design anywhere else and we still deliver over and above our means).

Working in Design is often as frustrating as it is rewarding. EXD is much the same, but the balance is much more towards rewarding than frustrating. It’s certainly not perfect but its culture and ability to deliver is equal to any other design organisation I’ve worked in, and the newly expanded leadership team is determined to make it better.

The design community is guilty of repeating the demand for a seat at the table, with little or no results. What EXD has done is built it's own table and invited others to join them and slowly they are.

Back to the brightly decorated elephant bouncing off the ceiling

Shell and oil are tied together in the public mind and no matter how much I, or anyone else, points out that it’s an energy company, the public perception is that Shell = oil and oil is the big-bad, right? It’s a finite resource that is being squandered and a pollutant that is crippling the world. Some will disagree, some will argue as to the impact, but that’s the overwhelming consensus. So how do I reconcile my own personal feelings about the legacy and world I'm leaving for my kids, to working here and being part of that.

Well, first of all, we need to talk about the things that don’t make the headlines.

Do you think that Shell is unaware of these issues? Do you think they really haven’t made contingency plans for future success? Shell is transitioning, wanting to be one of the biggest green-energy suppliers in the world. Now you can argue that they’re having to do that for commercial reasons rather than ethical reasons, but the fact remains they are doing so. Could it do it more? Yes, so could every government, business and organisation in the world and why don’t they? Because they’re all based on supply and demand, if the demand is there – from consumers, that’s you and me – then the supply will continue until it can’t anymore.

Now, can I have more influence over that transition by adding my voice and knowledge to others inside Shell than those sending angry letters to the Guardian and/or pouring orange paint over themselves in sporting events? I think I can, most especially by championing what I'm good at, HCD.

That brings me on to the second thing you don’t read in the news. The voices inside of Shell, the ones that aren’t in any strategic role but are affected by those who are. You won’t find any calls of ‘Drill baby drill” here, you will find everybody talking about change, about energy-transition, and driving evolving low-carbon markets, while openly challenging business decisions that go against that. Yes, that does happen, you may even have seen the news about the open letter that our colleagues in Shell's low-carbon division posted on Shell’s yammer forum.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/shell-ceo-comes-under-pressure-within-renewables-shift-2023-09-27/

Stop for a moment and let that sink in.

Shell not only has a low-carbon division it also encourages dialogue between C-Suite and every level of employee when it comes to these decisions. That’s not a bad working environment, right?

How do I reconcile working here with my desire to make the world a better place for people? Simple, I can be more of an agent of change (albeit a small one) working with like minds inside Shell than I could outside. All HCD is about change, why wouldn’t I want to be where I can make the most change?

One Year after joining

So, if I knew a year ago what I do now would I have still joined Shell?

Absolutely right, I would.

Is it perfect? No. Then again, what would be the point, there would be no problems to solve, and I’d be bored senseless. Change is slow, stakeholders can be intransigent, POs still think that usable is the same as useful, (even that they are the users), MVP and Agile are… well let’s say they’re a work in progress. But the fact is that working in EXD has been a revelation and being surrounded by a team of people totally focused on experience design is just joyous. Having the tools, processes and regulations in place to ensure that design process has to be adhered to, even more so,

For an old cynic like me, watching this team produce what they do, well it means I can sleep at night far easier than I'm used to. For any of EXD reading this, I publicly want to thank you, not just for what you do for Shell but for you do for the team and me personally.

Next year's, what will happen?

For the last year EXD has been in a process of quiet redevelopment, the Leadership Team has been increased and Design-ops has been optimising the processes to improve scope, quality, and the reach of experience design in all its forms, the last pieces of the puzzle are now falling into place. EXD is now at a tipping point. If it tips the way we want it to, the potential for design standards across the business is unimaginable.

Shell too is at a tipping point, and for sound business reasons it has to tip the right way (just not as soon as everybody would like) and we can help with that, we can make design part of that.

The mark of success for a designer isn’t in how many books you sell, how much money you make or generate, it’s not in your title or position, it’s in how much of a difference you make to the end user.

I and EXD make a difference to our end users and are positioned to do more. Will we succeed? No idea, but the tools we need to do so are here and so are the people, that's a good place to be.