ABOUT US

Empowering interior designers since 1984.
Trusted by firms everywhere.

Founded in 1984, Design Manager has been serving the needs of interior designers for nearly 40 years. First released on MS-DOS in 1986, Design Manager has progressively added valuable features such as point-of-sale, showroom support, client portal, product clipper, online payments, and iPhone applications.

In 2007, Design Manager became one of the first applications of its kind to move to the cloud. In 2019, Design Manager was acquired by 1stDibs, and subsequently acquired by Performant Capital in 2022.
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Mission

We create software for interior designers to help them manage projects, purchasing, and accounting. We pair our products with industry-specific resources, services, and partnerships that help designers knowledgeably grow their firms. We primarily serve residential interior design firms in the US, from solo designers to full-service, internationally-recognized luxury firms. Thousands of designers, principals, finance teams, and purchasers rely on Design Manager every day.

Values


Our success and our clients’ success are one.
We exist to help design firms succeed, and to do that, we work hard to understand our clients. We need to be active and curious listeners to understand our customers’ problems and goals. We ask why, not just what, to ensure the work we do is impactful to designers. Our products, services, and people are instilled with a sense of pride in creating the best experience for design firms.

Our standards are purposefully very high.
We take pride in creating usable, beautiful, and functional software and fantastic customer experiences. Product quality comes from rigorously understanding customer problems and defining solutions comprehensively. We iterate over ideas and designs until we are confident the solutions we release meet designers’ high standards and move the needle for our customers.

Celebrate open communication.
We are open and honest about the business and our performance. We learn together through successes and failures, and are open about both. Feedback is welcomed at all levels, and can be directed toward individuals, strategies, plans, etc. Transparency and openness facilitate a growth mindset in order to learn and succeed together.firms.

Be a problem eliminator, not just a problem identifier.
We’re never satisfied with the status quo and are always looking to improve and disrupt ourselves. We collaborate to understand root causes in order to make confident decisions and execute without hesitation. Even when we need to address a problem today, ultimately we’re focused on long term solutions.

We are all pushing to make Design Manager awesome, even though each person has a different approach to getting there.
We debate robustly, and when we commit to a solution, we move forward together as a team. Despite competing ideas and varying communications styles, we value each other’s time and talents. Help each other grow and challenge each other to maintain high standards. Remember that we each have something to offer and will achieve more together.

Data Informed = Better Decisions
We make better decisions when we use data, so we actively seek data to support our assumptions. Augmenting our experience with customer data gives us confidence in our decisions and ensures we are making the biggest impact possible with finite resources.

You can be serious without a suit.
Bring your best self to work each day by owning your attitude and finding the best activities to recharge. Keep perspective when the unexpected happens; we can work it out as a team. We’ll do some pretty amazing things as a group, but always remember there is more to life than Design Manager.

Leadership Team

The entire team at Design Manager is dedicated to making the lives of interior designers easier.
Kevin Lee
CEO
With over 25 years of experience in the software industry, Kevin is a seasoned leader and strategist who has driven growth, innovation, and transformation for various SaaS and FinTech companies. He is passionate about creating and delivering value for customers, partners, and investors, and has a proven track record of achieving multiple successful exits.
Joe Kissel
Director of Engineering
He loves carpentry, mountain biking, and the Philadelphia Phillies, and he first programmed DM on a DOS computer—over two decades ago. Because he has programmed our software since a few years after its inception, he’s an expert at designing it to be comprehensive and user-friendly.
Brad Martin
Director of Customer Experience
Our head trainer, he instructs clients on how to correctly use DM, and if you’ve attended one of our webinars, you’ve seen his expertise firsthand. He’s been working with our software for more than fifteen years, his vocabulary is astoundingly vast, and he drinks coffee like it’s nobody’s business. His interests include his kids, listening to his extensive music library, and ending the day with a pint of ale.
Daniel Bernard
Sales and Customer Engagement Manager
Danny brings over 10 years of design industry experience to his role as Head of Sales and Revenue at Design Manager. A graduate of Fordham University and The New York School of Interior Design, Danny brings an intimate awareness of designer’s needs from large to small firms alike.