Summary
Today’s design organizations continuously face increased scope, complex deliverables, challenging people dynamics, and pressure to hit business goals. For this reason, it’s important to reevaluate how DesignOps leadership is supported so that they can be as efficient and effective as possible. An emerging solution to this challenge is the Chief of Staff role — DesignOps practitioners skilled in values-driven leadership at scale, ruthless prioritization, and building trusted partnerships, who can serve as an advisor, proxy, and operational leader to the heads of large design teams. Here’s what Isaac has learned while defining this new leadership path in DesignOps at Salesforce. Takeaways: How to lead your team as the scope of your responsibility widens How to build trusted operational partnerships How to navigate complex situations on your team as you scale up
Key Insights
-
•
The Chief of Staff role was formalized to help executive leaders manage rapid UX team growth and operational complexity.
-
•
Isaac Hayvin and Jason Day have collaborated since 2010, highlighting the importance of a trusted partnership in this role.
-
•
Salesforce’s UX team doubled overnight from 80 to 170 members, driving the need for expanded design operations leadership.
-
•
Chief of Staff personas include goalkeeper, operator, implementer, integrator, proxy, and advisor, enabling versatile support for executives.
-
•
The Chief of Staff bridges executives, design program managers, and executive assistants to maintain organizational cohesion.
-
•
This role focuses on strategic prioritization, organizational planning, program operationalization, and communication across teams.
-
•
Emotional intelligence, data competency, and communication skills are critical for a successful Chief of Staff.
-
•
Chief of Staff and Design Program Managers share many skills, but the former supports executives at an organizational level, not just project teams.
-
•
Once UX teams exceed around 100 practitioners, a Chief of Staff becomes valuable to help scale leadership operations effectively.
-
•
Spreadsheets remain a core tool for resource allocation and planning due to their flexibility despite the role’s strategic complexity.
Notable Quotes
"The trusted partnership between the Chief of Staff and the executive is critically important."
"These changes were effective immediately — going from 80 to 170 people overnight was a shock but also an opportunity."
"The Chief of Staff serves as a bridge between design program managers, executive assistants, and UX and product COOs."
"The Chief of Staff acts as a goalkeeper helping to triage and prioritize strategy and work for the executive."
"Emotional intelligence is key to navigating situations with senior leaders multiple levels above you."
"I love being heads-down deep in a spreadsheet — data is my happy place."
"The Chief of Staff creates consistency and confidence in key programs like talent review and budget planning."
"When your UX team surpasses about 100 people, that's a good threshold to start looking for a Chief of Staff."
"Slack helps consolidate communication but still requires careful curation to keep leadership aligned."
"The Chief of Staff role is a natural expansion of design ops leadership with a shift in mindset from project to executive support."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The consequences of inaction are not hypothetical; they are happening right now."
Alex Hurworth Bonnie John Fahd Arshad Antoine MarinDesigning a Contact Tracing App for Universal Access
October 23, 2020
"These brand new practitioners can bring fresh perspectives and new ways of thinking to hopefully see current problems in a new light."
Laine Riley Prokay Lisa GordonCarving a Path for Early Career DesignOps Practitioners
September 9, 2022
"People felt designs were self-evident and too much explanation was a barrier to using the patterns."
Eniola OluwoleLessons From the DesignOps Journey of the World's Largest Travel Site
October 24, 2019
"Design researchers know customers better than almost anyone else in the organization, yet they are rarely invited into strategy processes."
Nathan ShedroffDouble Your Mileage: Use Your Research Strategically
March 31, 2020
"Voice control on mobile goes beyond digital assistants and can fully control the device for users who cannot use touch."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
November 17, 2022
"At LinkedIn, rapid research uncovered trends across products that helped reduce duplicate work."
Feleesha SterlingBuilding a Rapid Research Program (Videoconference)
May 18, 2023
"You get to those iconic signature actions when product excellence meets cultural tensions and what people need."
Neil BarrieWidening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
March 25, 2024
"Most organizations know they need to evaluate impact, but very few have effective ways to do it."
John DevanneyThe Design Management Office
November 6, 2017
"Find the curious partners who will do some of the evangelizing for you to their peers."
Katy MogalBut Do Your Insights Scale?
March 12, 2021