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.
Summary
There are two ways for organizations to grow: organically (i.e., through internal development) or inorganically (i.e., through mergers and acquisitions.) In this session, Jorge Arango discusses how designers can help their organizations grow inorganically. We cover design's role in creating a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts and learn three "plays" to help us chart a path towards more cohesive product experiences.
Key Insights
-
•
Mergers and acquisitions often result in parallel-running teams and products that do not integrate effectively for months or years.
-
•
Confusing product portfolios are common due to overlapping, complementary, or vaguely distinguished offerings after mergers.
-
•
Incoherent user experiences frequently arise from inconsistent login systems, terminology, and navigation structures between merged products.
-
•
Redundant and wasteful efforts occur due to poor communication, causing duplicated roadmaps, teams, and design systems.
-
•
Power struggles, tribal cultures, and ego conflicts complicate product and team integration after acquisitions.
-
•
Leadership is critical in driving cultural integration; design supports by clarifying vision and aligning teams.
-
•
Design can help create shared language and conceptual models that foster clearer communication and reduce ambiguity.
-
•
Vision artifacts like vision types serve as strategic tools to embody and communicate long-term integrated goals.
-
•
Conceptual modeling helps teams abstract complexity and think beyond UI to system concepts and relationships.
-
•
Successful integration balances top-down unified vision with bottom-up insights from product teams and customers.
Notable Quotes
"Teams continue functioning as they were under the same roof, taking a while before true integration happens."
"We’re social and tribal creatures, fond of our companies and projects, and integration means forging a new identity from these tribes."
"Design can help shift the focus from internal organizational complexity back to the users and customers."
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast — without cultural integration, mergers often fail."
"We need a shared ontology where we mean what we say and say what we mean, aligning not just words but meanings."
"Design is often seen as a production function, but it can be a strategic partner in growth and integration initiatives."
"Steve Jobs’ matrix to focus Apple’s product portfolio was a design artifact that saved the company."
"The design project can be the MacGuffin — an artifact that enables important organizational conversations beyond its own purpose."
"Conceptual models describe how systems are organized, their parts, and how they behave together — essential before UI design."
"Vision types are like concept cars for design — they help communicate long-term possibilities and excite stakeholders."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"If designers spend more time talking about titles than their work, we’re just gazing into our navels."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"UX directors often feel like this poor person in the middle here getting pulled in all these directions."
Peter MerholzThe Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX (Videoconference)
July 13, 2023
"Everything that has been put online, someone like us made and put there; we bake our own biases into it."
Lisa WelchmanCleaning Up Our Mess: Digital Governance for Designers
June 14, 2018
"Green spaces in cities can greatly enhance our quality of life and resilience."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"OKRs are a tool for each of us to tidy our house and focus on what’s important."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"It’s human infrastructure—community organizing, unions, activists—that saves the day when other infrastructures break down."
Tricia WangSpatial Collapse: Designing for Emergent Culture
January 8, 2024
"We aimed for research that is actionable, not just insightful or pretty to look at."
Edgar Anzaldua MorenoUsing Research to Determine Unique Value Proposition
March 11, 2021
"Leadership buy-in is really important—having an executive who understands the value of knowledge creation, distribution, application, and evaluation."
Designing Systems at Scale
November 7, 2018
"Conversion design means to create intentional change."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
