Our Mission

Design Culture Signals exists to make design culture more transparent. Too often, designers rely on guesswork or word of mouth to figure out which companies actually value design. Our goal is to highlight signals of strong design culture so you can make better career decisions — and so companies that invest in design get the recognition they deserve.

What We Look At

We track public signals that suggest a company takes design seriously:

 

  • Leadership: Who’s setting the direction for design?
  • Team ratios: How many designers compared to product and engineering?
  • Hiring: Is the company actively growing its design team?
  • Content & visibility: Are they sharing design thinking publicly?
  • Design maturity: Evidence of systems, research, or process investment.

 

These aren’t perfect measures — but they’re better than guesswork, and they get stronger as the community contributes.

Built by the Community

This is a community-driven project. Every company you submit, every signal you share, makes the resource stronger. Together, we can create a clearer map of where design thrives — and help each other find the environments where designers do their best work.

Why I Started This

I started Design Culture Signals because I wanted the same thing many designers want: a better way to understand where design is truly valued. Having worked across different environments, I saw how design culture could make or break both the work and the people doing it. This project is my attempt to make those insights more visible, so designers can make better choices and companies can learn from each other.

Get in Touch

This is still a work in progress, and I’d love your feedback. If you have ideas, questions, or just want to chat about design culture, you can reach me at: 1cianobrien@gmail.com

About DesignWell

Our Mission

Design Culture Signals exists to make design culture more transparent. Too often, designers rely on guesswork or word of mouth to figure out which companies actually value design. Our goal is to highlight signals of strong design culture so you can make better career decisions — and so companies that invest in design get the recognition they deserve.

What We Look At

We track public signals that suggest a company takes design seriously:

 

  • Leadership: Who’s setting the direction for design?
  • Team ratios: How many designers compared to product and engineering?
  • Hiring: Is the company actively growing its design team?
  • Content & visibility: Are they sharing design thinking publicly?
  • Design maturity: Evidence of systems, research, or process investment.

 

These aren’t perfect measures — but they’re better than guesswork, and they get stronger as the community contributes.

Built by the Community

This is a community-driven project. Every company you submit, every signal you share, makes the resource stronger. Together, we can create a clearer map of where design thrives — and help each other find the environments where designers do their best work.

Why I Started This

I started Design Culture Signals because I wanted the same thing many designers want: a better way to understand where design is truly valued. Having worked across different environments, I saw how design culture could make or break both the work and the people doing it. This project is my attempt to make those insights more visible, so designers can make better choices and companies can learn from each other.

Get in Touch

This is still a work in progress, and I’d love your feedback. If you have ideas, questions, or just want to chat about design culture, you can reach me at: 1cianobrien@gmail.com