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.
Establishing Design Operations in Government
Summary
Join us for a discussion about Michael's path into the federal government, working to solve problems and design better products and services for the American public and attempting to establish design operations at a government agency and across government.
Key Insights
-
•
Design in government is nascent and misunderstood, often seven or more years behind private industry.
-
•
Design efforts in agencies like USCIS tend to be fragmented, resembling mushroom patches without coordination.
-
•
Most government designers are contractors with limited voice and influence over processes and tooling.
-
•
Government hiring categories lack modern roles for designers, making federal design career paths nearly nonexistent.
-
•
The US Digital Service uses a 'tour of duty' model, akin to Peace Corps for nerds, bringing rotating experts for impactful projects.
-
•
Building design operations requires diplomacy and relationship management across multiple teams and leadership levels.
-
•
COVID-19 and budget constraints have posed significant challenges to building design teams and conducting in-person collaboration.
-
•
A centralized design system and research operations are critical to unify dispersed design efforts and share learnings.
-
•
Service design is largely undeveloped in government but essential for improving the delivery of public services beyond digital aspects.
-
•
Bureaucracy hacking and adaptability are vital skills for advancing design functions within the complexities of government processes.
Notable Quotes
"It's kind of Peace Corps for nerds – people come in for a tour and try to have impact at scale."
"Government is seven plus years behind industry – not bleeding edge, more like the dull butter knife edge."
"There are lots of little mushroom patches of design sprouting up, but they're disconnected and not sharing."
"Most of our designers are contractors; they have limited voice because they’re bound by contracts."
"In government, the org chart really matters – it influences who talks to whom and who gets to interface."
"You don’t want so much governance that people can’t be creative, but you need just enough to help their process."
"Hiring specs for federal designers don’t exist as we expect—jobs are often classified as public affairs or other unrelated titles."
"We’re trying to build a design operations role that balances top-down governance with bottom-up community building."
"The biggest bottleneck is the bureaucracy, like the Paperwork Reduction Act, we have to creatively navigate that."
"Design Ops in government requires a lot of diplomacy – it’s about managing relationships and stakeholder expectations."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Sometimes leaders focus so much on scanning the river they’re not observing the surroundings—the banks tell you if the river is deep or shallow."
John CutlerOxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
December 3, 2024
"It takes at least one member of a team to choose to set healthy standards for collaboration."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"Tools are a blessing and a curse; they’re not people and they can’t replace the relationships you need to get the work right."
Dave GrayGroup Activity: Making Sense of DesignOps
November 7, 2017
"The highest leverage thing you can do is design statements that capture the essence in ways that set sail a thousand ships."
John CutlerThe Alignment Trap
November 29, 2023
"Diagrams allow us to emotionally hit pause and come back ready to dig further."
Abby CovertStuck? Diagrams Help
October 27, 2022
"Use four simple questions to find out what people really want and why — it avoids misaligned efforts."
Mark InterranteCollaboration Flows in Product Development
June 9, 2017
"The future is not a toy. Accountability matters deeply in how we construct futures."
Devon PowersImagining Better Futures
March 9, 2022
"Your primary function as a research team is to build a culture of research, not just react to project requests."
Prayag NarulaHow to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
June 10, 2022
"Your short term memory is the context window; too big, and the model has trouble accessing everything."
Peter Van DijckHands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
October 22, 2025
