“Design isn’t just making screens. It is making decisions.” That was a quote Niall O’Kelly shared at UXDX EMEA 2025, reframing chaos as ambition in motion and showing how impact comes not from controlling complexity but from navigating it with clarity, trust and timing.

When Niall O’Kelly, Head Experience Design for Adidas, began his talk, he could have filled the stage with stories of platforms, personalisation, and building at global scale. But instead of focusing on the mechanics of delivery, he spoke about something more universal: how to make your work matter inside large organisations without burning out. For him, the challenge of design leadership is not just creating products but surviving and influencing within complexity.

The surprise of chaos

Niall described the lived reality of working inside ambitious companies: it often feels like “building a rocket ship while you’re riding it, while it’s on fire.” Targets are bold, ideas move fast, but the systems, tools and people needed to deliver them often lag behind. That gap can feel overwhelming, but chaos does not always equal dysfunction. More often, it signals ambition searching for structure. The danger is to retreat into busyness. Staying heads down may feel safe, but it rarely shifts the system. Impact requires focus, placing attention deliberately on what matters most and ensuring the right people see it.

Focus as leadership

Attention Niall argued, is political. Where you look, others look. Focus is not only a personal skill but an organisational signal that creates momentum. The real question is not just whether the work is good, but whether it is timely and visible to those who can move it forward. In this sense, design decisions and leadership decisions operate on the same principle: they are choices about what matters.

Stakeholders as users

The instinct to understand people is the superpower of design, yet it is often applied only to customers. Niall urged the audience to turn that lens inward. Stakeholders, he reminded us, are users too. They carry KPIs, political pressures and fears that often remain invisible. To influence them, you have to learn their language and goals. Sometimes that begins with a simple human question “How are you doing?” and the willingness to listen. Politics, in his words, is just trust on a deadline.

The rhythm of influence

Another theme was the importance of timing. Practitioners think in sprints, leaders in quarters, boards in years. Influence comes from connecting today’s progress to tomorrow’s outcomes in the right timeframe. Deliver now, frame it in the language of your stakeholders, and show how it ladders up to longer-term strategy. Credibility is built by doing what you said you would do, making it tangible, and tying it back to their success. That credibility, once earned, becomes the currency that buys you greater influence.

Niall spoke candidly about a personal lesson. He once developed a bold strategy to automate adidas’ marketing operations and deliver personalised experiences at scale. It was ambitious, beautifully designed, and widely praised. Leadership approved it enthusiastically. Yet the vision stalled. The tech foundations were not ready, the operational readiness was lacking, and the timing was off. Pushing harder only burned trust and credibility. Two years later, with changes in leadership, systems and structures, the same vision is finally becoming reality. The lesson was simple: timing matters. Persist with purpose, but don’t burn the system or yourself in the process.

Culture as a prototype

Culture is not a static inheritance, he said. It is created moment by moment in how we show up. Every catch-up, proposal or negotiation is a cultural prototype. Sharing a rough draft early signals collaboration. Turning abstract strategy into a tangible artefact demonstrates clarity. Designers have a unique role here: their ability to make ideas concrete helps build alignment. In this sense, design outputs, whether journey maps, rollout plans or strategy decks, are not just deliverables but tools to create shared commitment.

Choosing the right artefact

Not every artefact fits every moment. A journey map shows care for context. A vision deck is a pitch for alignment. A strategy is a cultural prototype of where you want to go together. The point is not to produce everything but to choose the right artefact for the alignment you need now. Behind it all is one simple question that should frame every meeting: what are we doing now, and why are we doing it now?

The quiet power of introverts

Niall also addressed the personal side of influence. As someone who considers himself introverted, he recognised that visibility can feel easier for extroverts. But influence does not require volume. For introverts, it may look like carefully prepared pre-reads, thoughtful follow-ups, and small-group conversations that surface real concerns. Visibility is not about being loud; it is about consistently moving things forward in ways others can see.

From chaos to clarity

The talk ended with a shift in perspective. Chaos is not something to eliminate but something to channel. “Chaos equals opportunity,” he reminded the audience. The job is not to fix the chaos but to navigate it with intent: focus where it matters, build trust deliberately, and persist with purpose. When the system is ready, your vision will finally have its moment. What looks like luck is often just patience, preparation and belief.

Conclusions

Niall O’Kelly’s message was not a neat playbook but a recognition of the messy human reality of complex organisations. Chaos is part of the deal. What matters is how you move through it. With clarity, empathy, timing and persistence. His reminder was simple but powerful: design is not only about the screens we create. It is about the decisions we make, the trust we earn, and the culture we shape. In the end, impact without despair is not an accident. It is a discipline.

Want to watch the full talk?

You can find it here on UXDX: https://uxdx.com/session/impact-without-the-despair-navigating-complexity-with-intent/

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