Kevin joined McKinsey in July of 2018 as a senior designer in our London office. We caught up with him to understand his journey and meet some of the colleagues who have influenced him along the way.
Why did you decide to join McKinsey?
I leaned into the advice I received: “Follow the people.” At the time I applied to McKinsey, Kwame was one of the design leaders at the firm (he has since left to become Arrival’s chief experience officer). I worked with him previously at a design consultancy, and deeply respected him. Kwame’s leadership style is confident, but not boisterous. He doesn’t impose his views; rather he works with others collaboratively. I really appreciated seeing a Black designer with his level of seniority at a place like McKinsey; there are not that many Black design leaders in the industry to begin with. He inspired me to apply for a senior designer role at the firm.
Why did you come to McKinsey to do work in tech/design?
There are lots of opportunities for designers between in-house product development and design consulting firms (or agencies). However, the benefit of working in a consultancy, especially McKinsey, is the level of interaction and impact I can have with clients’ leadership teams.
Rather than focusing on product features or working behind-the-scenes as one might on an in-house team or at another consulting firm — McKinsey designers help envision the product from the strategy stage, forward. We work alongside other McKinsey consultants and Fortune 500 CXOs from the get-go.
For example, I worked on a project where design expertise was needed to understand the value proposition for a client’s digital product. However, instead of being asked to execute on the user experience and interface for the product, as I might have been at a design firm, I was brought in at the start to think strategically about the product roadmap and customer acquisition strategy, which made the project especially rewarding for me.
Describe your network at the firm.
I also am part of McKinsey’s 450+ person design community, where I’ve built relationships with fellow designers across Europe and abroad, in places like New York (meet a few of them here). The ability to tap a highly specialized designer at a moment’s notice has been tremendously beneficial to my learning and growth. I also regularly collaborate with product managers, designers and full-stack engineers, as well as industry experts and colleagues focusing in other functional areas like Operations.
Over the past two years, I’ve been active in the McKinsey Black Network (MBN) and Equal at McKinsey (LGBTQ+ at McKinsey) community in Europe; and, I have interacted with other members globally across the Americas, Africa and beyond through impactful trainings and firm-sponsored conferences plus one-on-one mentoring or social calls.
I’m proud of my intersectional identity and how it is reflected in my network. I’m a bit of an introvert, so my network has grown organically through interactions on client projects, workshops/trainings, and small social gatherings. While a McKinsey alum drew me to the firm, its the enriching community of designers and colleagues who have made my McKinsey experience so special.
About Kevin
Based in London, Kevin is an interaction designer (specialist) with McKinsey’s digital team. Prior to McKinsey he worked as an interaction designer at DEGW, Native Design and The British Museum; and he is a certified ScrumMaster. Kevin holds a bachelor’s in product-design engineering from Stanford University, and a master’s in innovation design engineering from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.
For more information on McKinsey's design career paths, visit mckinsey.com/TechCareers.