EMPOWERED

CHAPTER 40Leader Profile: Audrey Crane

Path to Leadership

I first met Audrey in 1996 at Netscape, where she was, even then, establishing a reputation as someone very smart who knew how to get things done. I remember being struck by her unusual mind, and she shared with me that in college she had studied pure mathematics and theater.

Audrey was working at the nexus of product and design when much of the internet was just emerging.

She was very fortunate to be able to learn from one of the pioneers of modern product design, Hugh Dubberly, when Hugh ran design for Netscape (before that, Hugh ran design for Apple).

After Netscape, Audrey joined Hugh's design firm, getting a front‐row seat on many of the industry's most difficult design challenges.

For the past decade, Audrey has been a partner at the DesignMap design firm where she's hired, coached, and worked with several hundred product designers over the years. She has helped in the design of literally hundreds of applications of all types.

Audrey recently published the book What CEOs Need to Know about Design.¹

Leadership in Action

Audrey's leadership style is best explained in her own words:

My earliest experiences managing and being managed were in theater, and much of my management style grew out of that.

Most people can't even start summer jobs until they're 15 or so, but I started acting in plays when I was around 10 ...