A year ago, I joined McKinsey as a digital design specialist with extensive experience as a creative director at large digital design agencies like VBAT and LBI Lostboys in Amsterdam, and as a creative lead at Philips Design.
Meeting McKinsey
I worked in digital UX and service design at Philips for almost seven years. I took part in product and service innovations, redesigned the entire Philips internet platform twice and, together with the team, created a design language system and new brand identity for the company. I also worked on new digital propositions, product and service combinations. For example, I helped develop apps to accompany products like coffee machines or electric razors.
We did a lot of future thinking at Philips. Along with colleagues in digital design, product and packaging, we imagined how the personal care category would develop over the next five years and set a vision for the future of the category. It was at Philips that I first encountered McKinsey through the McKinsey model for the Consumer Decision Journey, which offered a new view on the marketing funnel and changing customer journey.
What’s different here
Working as a McKinsey Associate Design Director is special because you can work in almost any sector and with top client leaders and C-level executives on nearly every project. That’s not the experience at most design agencies. This gives McKinsey designers like me the opportunity to really grow and have impact.
On one exciting project, I worked with a Stockholm-based startup helping create a proposition around their AI capabilities. We helped take their algorithm for a very high-definition image recognition tool from low-fidelity wireframes to a fully designed clickable prototype that served as the basis for their development team. In the end, the startup successfully reached funding goals, further developed their prototype using the framework we developed, and positioned themselves well in a competitive market.
Another interesting project was when we were tasked with helping build a family of digitally-enabled fitness brands, and we created a virtual data platform to help customers reach their health goals. This personalized digital platform allowed members and staff to build health recommendations based on their personal goals, exercise and adapt their healthy habits from the bottom up.
Just before that, I finished a big design engagement in Bucharest where we digitized a traditional Romanian bank. I worked with McKinsey developers, designers and business consultants to create a digital lending platform to streamline the loan application process for customers and the bank’s employees. We mapped out the customer journey, created prototypes using Sketch, and tested the platform weekly with users. Along with platform development, we held digital skills trainings for the client and assisted in recruiting technologists and UX designers to create lasting organizational change.
McKinsey’s teams are very diverse, bringing together UX designers with amazing professionals from more than 30 areas of specialization, including generalist consultants, data scientists, agile coaches and tech experts. This powerful combination enables McKinsey teams to deliver the most relevant and innovative product service combinations in the shortest amount of time.
Advice for recruits
One of the coolest things about McKinsey is our 4,500+ international tech community. I work with people from all over the world. I’m based in Amsterdam, but I also feel connected to my colleagues across Europe, including in the Stockholm design office and the Berlin and London design hubs.
About Melchior
Melchior is a service and digital design specialist (associate design director) based in Amsterdam. Prior to joining McKinsey, Melchior was a creative lead at Philips Design, and a creative director at design agencies like LBI Lostboys, VBAT, and Essense. Melchior studied at Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands. In his free time, Melchior enjoys sports, drawing and playing bass guitar.
For more information on McKinsey's design career paths, visit mckinsey.com/TechCareers