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.
Distributed DesignOps Management
Summary
- Selecting meeting/project collaboration tools
- Maintaining healthy team culture
- Inclusivity
- Managing critical meetings
- Dealing with feelings of isolation
- Consistent documentation and processes
Key Insights
-
•
A dedicated design ops function becomes essential once a design team reaches about 10 members.
-
•
Discovery through interviewing staff helps identify key operational pain points before building an ops team.
-
•
Design ops at Zendesk is organized into four pillars: project management, research ops, business ops, and community coordination.
-
•
Distributed teams face unique challenges like communication gaps, cultural isolation, time zone coordination, and version control of documentation.
-
•
Instituting a cameras-on policy during remote meetings helps reduce feelings of isolation in distributed teams.
-
•
Establishing 'office hours' aligned with time zones supports remote collaboration and encourages healthy work-life balance.
-
•
Investing in high-quality, often costly, digital collaboration and asset management tools is critical for efficient distributed design workflows.
-
•
Travel and periodic in-person meetups remain important to build relationships and understand teammates' local contexts.
-
•
Maintaining team culture requires intentional activities including onboarding buddies paired across global locations and virtual social events.
-
•
Design ops protects designers’ time and headspace to focus on creative work by handling operational burdens and improving workflows.
Notable Quotes
"When you have 10 designers, that's when you should start considering a design Ops function."
"Our mission is to support the methods and processes devoted to producing high quality design."
"We protect the time and headspace of everyone on the design team so they can focus more on their craft."
"There's no such thing as over-communication when you're distributed; silence breeds assumptions."
"Cameras on in Zoom meetings is a small act with a powerful impact against isolation."
"We try to find ways to have fun together remotely — like virtual holiday parties or online games."
"Each organization's design ops team looks a little different, but the foundations are the same."
"Travel is impactful to let your remote teammates experience your context, which helps build empathy."
"We act as the connective tissue that runs in our teams and help them run more efficiently."
"We are designing the ways our teams work together — design ops itself is a design challenge."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Ownership of VOC is a hot potato, so we built a coalition with a facilitator to keep it collaborative and effective."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"The Library of Congress web presence was a findability nightmare, like the Winchester Mystery House."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"If you make a pretty page, that’s great. But if the users can’t actually use the page or they’re frustrated, you just have a pretty page."
Renee ReidBecoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
June 3, 2019
"Gesture and embodied actions will be a key tool for understanding user experience as computing moves beyond traditional screen-based interactions."
Dane DeSutterKeeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not
March 26, 2024
"Multiple payment providers aren’t just a feature; they’re an accessibility lifeline for people who can’t read or reach their credit card easily."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"Younger visitors are nearly twice as likely to engage with digital chat or help but are less satisfied afterward."
Andrew Custage Michael MallettThe Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty
March 29, 2023
"Persisting conversations in Slack instead of Zoom chat means folks can revisit and join conversations asynchronously."
Shelby SwitzerMaking Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World
December 10, 2021
"AI can empower researchers to solve pain points — like anticipating trends or critiquing discussion guides — amplifying impact rather than replacing work."
Llewyn PaineCoexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration
March 11, 2025
"Researchers make customers visible inside the organization, but also help the organization learn about itself."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
