Building Bridges Across Organizational Silos
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Riders often receive inaccurate or overly broad alerts due to disconnected internal and public-facing teams.
-
•
Transit agencies’ products and information channels are fragmented, complicating a consistent user experience.
-
•
Operations staff and riders have different perspectives, priorities, and information needs.
-
•
Organizational structures and siloed teams unintentionally create barriers and confusion for users.
-
•
No transit trip or disruption is alike, increasing complexity in designing effective communications.
-
•
Embedding product-agnostic roles can help connect dots across teams and user journeys.
-
•
Leaders must give teams permission to address problems holistically beyond their product slice.
-
•
Frequent, transparent connection rituals (e.g., design standups, onboarding coffee chats) improve cross-team awareness.
-
•
Accurate real-time information remains the most critical and challenging aspect to improve for transit riders.
-
•
Systemic change requires patience, experimentation, and willingness to tackle organizational norms, not just products.
Notable Quotes
"The alert Julie received didn’t apply to her and didn’t affect her morning commute."
"No two transit riders are alike. No two transit trips are alike. No two service disruptions are alike."
"A service must not unnecessarily expose a user to the internal structures of the organization providing the service."
"Teams are structured around products instead of experiences or processes, which makes delivering a consistent service difficult."
"If we avoid how we work together, we create disjointed experiences and cause confusion and frustration for riders."
"Being a formal leader is harder in many ways, but you have more leverage to make change."
"Make a case to hire people who are product agnostic to connect where products intersect in the rider journey."
"Give teams permission to think about the whole service and solve the problem holistically."
"We have to look at how we are organized and ask if that is causing an unnecessary burden to the public."
"Approach organizational challenges with the same design process you would apply to a product: research, iterate, align, and adjust."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Change is a constant in design, but at USAA it often felt like change within change — inception-like change."
Erin HauberDesign is Not the Frosting on the Scaled Agile Layer Cake
October 24, 2019
"Supporting authenticity in the workplace lets people be themselves, which naturally boosts confidence."
Megan KiersteadYou Are a Badass at UX: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
March 10, 2021
"We created a self-service UXR hub to empower teammates with research fundamentals amid downsized research teams."
Maggie DieringerCreating Consistency Through Constant Change
January 8, 2024
"Change management is not just announcements—it starts with user research and goes through to release and beyond."
Meaghan Waters Fotina KoutropoulousLack of Product Thinking will Doom Your Legacy Modernization
June 9, 2021
"User researchers still feel like they’re in a precarious position and want to be part of the pack but they’re just not there yet."
Jemma AhmedBringing together market and user research
October 17, 2019
"Start small by delivering the minimum amount of useful information, like a UX glossary or a single community of practice."
Maria TaylorKnowledge is Power: Managing the Lifeblood of the Design Org
October 3, 2023
"Auto-complete absolutely is an accessibility feature because it helps reduce typing effort for screen reader users."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
June 6, 2023
"We threw out the team structure and started to commission work based on the multiple skills needed for each project."
Catherine BlizzardUsing Integrated Insight to Drive Growth
March 10, 2022
"I put down my question guide and just talked with Carol."
Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
March 30, 2020
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What alternative decision-making structures support more equitable power sharing beyond majority voting?
Why is the emerging AI integration in healthcare seen as a major opportunity for UX professionals?
How effective are AI-generated follow-up questions in usability testing compared to human moderators?