Sandy Fershee: How design thinking is transforming Ford

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/sandy-fershee

The most innovative electric car announced in 2021 was not a Tesla, but a Ford. The new Ford F-150 Lightning, a fully electric version of the best-selling vehicle in America for the past 30 years, is the culmination of thorough user research and fresh thinking on a familiar product.

We were curious to learn how design and innovation are playing a role in Ford’s transformation, so we’re excited to bring Sandy Fershee, lab director at D-Ford Detroit, on to the show. 

Sandy talks about her role at D-Ford, and we also discuss the challenges of doing research and development in a large organization, how her team shares their design and innovation tools with the whole company, and how they approach design at the intersection of hardware and software.

Bio

Sandy Fershee leads a human-centered design team at At D-Ford Detroit, pushing the edge of Ford’s future strategies. They design new products, services, and ventures that customers love and drive business profitability.

Prior to this role, Sandy was the global leader of Experience Design at Ford, transforming Ford’s ways of working through human-centered design and creating new possibilities for future customer and business value.

Sandy was also Managing Director at the agency Punchcut, and Design Manager at Motorola.