Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Building Community and Common Trends to Look for in 2021
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Design operations roles vary widely based on organizational size, needs, and individual backgrounds, making a single definition elusive.
-
•
Many successful design Ops practitioners come from non-design backgrounds, including program management, agency work, and administrative roles.
-
•
Building and nurturing a community like Design Ops Assembly enables practitioners to avoid isolation and share best practices.
-
•
Empathy and understanding others’ priorities are critical to gaining organizational buy-in for design processes.
-
•
Remote work has shifted key challenges to onboarding, offboarding, maintaining culture, and facilitating informal social interactions.
-
•
Tooling is a hot topic, with many organizations embracing Figma but also grappling with how best to utilize vendor tools and measure outcomes.
-
•
Leadership in design Ops involves fostering psychological safety and modeling healthy work behaviors to combat burnout.
-
•
There is growing demand for learning and development programs within design Ops to keep teams engaged and growing.
-
•
The future of design Ops includes focusing on senior leadership development, global inclusivity, and cross-functional integration.
-
•
Effective design Ops practitioners often act as translators between business and design languages, bridging gaps within organizations.
Notable Quotes
"I don’t come from a design background at all. It’s like my dirty secret."
"When we first started, we didn’t know what the hell we were doing and learned from each other."
"Design Ops people are always kind of in the background, wanting to help and nurture."
"There’s this friction of being a servant leader in a leadership position."
"A lot of people are just beginning and feel like, I’m not doing this alone, but I still don’t know what I’m doing."
"Showing people that design Ops will make their lives easier is key to adoption."
"I became the Whisperer of the group because I could translate what the business needs were and what the design needs were."
"Tactical empathy is critical—it takes time and effort, but it’s always worth it."
"The biggest challenge is how to facilitate casual conversations that aren’t work process focused in a virtual world."
"If you lose the human relationship aspect, then you’re not really doing design operations."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Our one metric that mattered was maximizing the number of VOС-tagged tickets solved – showing customer feedback made it to the roadmap."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"When we understand organizations as ecosystems, we recognize the need for organic simplicity."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"You’re not one of them. And that is your strength, Renee. That is your power."
Renee ReidBecoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
June 3, 2019
"The computer metaphor of mind does not do a very good job of explaining what we see people do with their bodies."
Dane DeSutterKeeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not
March 26, 2024
"Confidence is critical in online shopping because nobody wants to spend money they’re unsure about losing due to unclear controls."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"While technical errors matter, broader issues like content relevance and navigation create more mission failures."
Andrew Custage Michael MallettThe Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty
March 29, 2023
"It’s okay to be goofy and have fun—creating space for awkwardness and playfulness helps engagement."
Shelby SwitzerMaking Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World
December 10, 2021
"More than a third of content on social media sites is AI generated, creating a training problem for new AI models."
Llewyn PaineCoexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration
March 11, 2025
"The machine lens gave us hierarchy, bureaucracy, and a focus on efficiency and control, but it sidelines holistic thinking."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
