Throughout my career, many companies I’ve worked for have treated “speed” as a core value. I used to scoff at it. Of course we should move quickly! Did they think we were too slow? I equated speed solely with execution, but over time my perspective changed. Speed isn’t just about how fast you produce, it’s about how quickly you make decisions.

In my experience, the most agile designers are decisive. They are able to make quick calls, take risks, trust their intuition, and draw on their knowledge of the product and users to keep the team moving forward. As long as designers meet core competencies, speed of execution is rarely the issue, and telling them to “work faster” doesn’t drive results. Conversely, the slowest designers often struggle with decision-making, stalling momentum to over-validate, freezing in the face of disagreement, and constantly pivoting even after decisions are made.

Speed in design is about consistently committing to a path forward and adopting a mentality where being blocked is never an option. Driving toward resolution is always the priority. I like to frame speed as decision-making, not just output, because it empowers designers to move quickly without feeling like they need to sacrifice quality. Getting good at this will turn you from a pure producer into a driving force and multiplier for your team.

What is an example of a moment when indecision led to slower results? If you could redo this scenario, what would you have done differently? What does "speed" mean to you?