Summary
We will cover some of the key principles and guidelines of collaborative DesignOps and share experiences of setting up design operations using a tech platform. You will know more about how to: Define a design process and convert it into a design roadmap. Share design goals and measure impact. Manage design processes and activities. Get started with curated set of tools, templates and best practices.
Key Insights
-
•
Design functions are rapidly growing, with market size expected to reach $400 billion by 2026, increasing demand and complexity.
-
•
Most companies struggle with lack of operational glue linking strategy, execution, and measurement in design teams.
-
•
Traditional devops tools are task- and issue-centric, making them unsuitable for process-oriented design workflows.
-
•
Design teams suffer from fragmented tools creating silos, complicating access to a single source of truth for documents and artifacts.
-
•
Distinct stakeholder groups in design include design managers, design Ops leaders, product managers, and design producers, each with unique needs.
-
•
Design leaders want predictable roadmaps and healthy team utilization; Design Ops seek process standardization and knowledge reuse.
-
•
Product managers require transparency, accountability, and coordination across design, product, and engineering teams.
-
•
Design producers value autonomy using favorite creative tools but desire automation in reporting and feedback cycles.
-
•
Qubits enables custom definition and modification of design processes including popular ones like Double Diamond and Lean UX.
-
•
Integration with Jira (two-way), Slack, and plugins for design tools allows Qubits to fit seamlessly without forcing tool changes.
Notable Quotes
"The operational glue that binds strategy, execution, and measurement in design is often missing, and that’s critical for scaling."
"Most of us in design are very process-oriented, but traditional devops tools are task and issue-centric, making collaboration hard."
"Finding a single source of truth for design documents and artifacts is extremely hard because most tools operate in silos."
"Design leaders want predictable roadmaps and healthy teams, measurable against timelines and goals."
"Design Ops people want to standardize processes and reuse organizational knowledge for clarity and confidence."
"Product managers feel design is a black box; they want visibility, transparency, and accountability on timelines."
"Design producers love their creative tools and want to keep using them without multiple manual reporting steps."
"At Qubits, you can customize or copy standard design processes like Lean UX and add or remove activities easily."
"Our two-way Jira integration allows you to link design activities directly with epics, user stories, and tasks."
"We believe tracking design metrics aligned to business goals is important to demonstrate design’s impact."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"There’s never enough attention you can give to change management in scaling design impact — don’t do it alone."
Standardizing Product Merits for Leaders, Designers, and Everyone
June 15, 2018
"Most strategy today is guesswork based on what others are doing, not based on situational awareness."
Simon WardleyMaps and Topographical Intelligence (Videoconference)
January 31, 2019
"White supremacy is the belief system of the superiority of whiteness that can embed itself in algorithms."
Sandra CamachoCreating More Bias-Proof Designs
January 22, 2025
"By observing Jeff’s concerns and asking questions, I was able to show empathy and focus on the problem rather than get defensive."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"My goal today is to showcase how generative AI can go beyond just speeding up our processes and actually catapult us in our career."
Fisayo Osilaja[Demo] The AI edge: From researcher to strategist
June 4, 2024
"Craft should evolve from making a beautiful final object to serving as a facilitative anchor in enterprise UX."
Uday GajendarThe Wicked Craft of Enterprise UX
May 13, 2015
"There is no design team responsible for the overarching experience across the entire company."
Davis Neable Guy SegalHow to Drive a Design Project When you Don’t Have a Design Team
June 10, 2021
"You won’t know what success looks like until you put something out there and see how it works in practice."
Eniola OluwoleLessons From the DesignOps Journey of the World's Largest Travel Site
October 24, 2019
"Finding a single source of truth for design documents and artifacts is extremely hard because most tools operate in silos."
Aurobinda Pradhan Shashank DeshpandeIntroduction to Collaborative DesignOps using Cubyts
September 9, 2022