Work & Co prides themselves in being a true product partner to their clients, however, they are really no different from any large design agency in the industry.
The company is extremely top-heavy, which is a point of pride for them, However, this leaves very little autonomy or ownership for the rest of the design team. At least one partner is directly involved on each project, which means they call the shots at the end of the day. Designers are not expected to have any sort of strategic opinion or perspective on what is right for the product, rather they are used to help bring the partners vision to life.
Projects are bloated with design resources, resulting in a lot of duplicative work and wasted time/hours.
At the end of the day, Work & Co just wants something to dazzle the client with and doesn't really care about the strategy, UX approach, or functionality. I can't tell you how many times I've been told not to worry about how something will function or be implemented (just make it pretty!). The process for most projects involves post-rationalizing design. For example, designers will be asked to begin designing without any direction or plan in place. The team will focus on whatever designs are most visually appealing and then find a way to form some sort of concept around that (very backwards if you ask me). There is also an expectation of creating quantity over quality (it has been said outright to me numerous times).
If you are a designer who can churn out design, then this is the place for you.
Alternatively, if you are a designer who is looking to deeply understand a problem space and design solutions that directly address a user or business need, then proceed with caution.
