Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Setting the Table for Dynamic Change
Gold
Thursday, October 24, 2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Share the love for this talk
Setting the Table for Dynamic Change
Speakers: Jacqui Frey and Alison Rand
Link:

Summary

Change is the rule, not the exception, and it’s the catalyst for innovation and growth. Design as a discipline is rooted in the process of iteration and change. However, scaling design requires a certain level of preparation in the system for it to be understood, absorbed, and implemented. This process manifests itself in and through Design Operations. In this session, Alison and Jacqui will lead the audience through some interactive exercises to better understand change and outline how DesignOps can help their design orgs navigate ambiguity.

Key Insights

  • Effective design operations requires broad collaboration—no single person can implement change alone.

  • Change management blends scientific frameworks with emotional, human-centered art to succeed.

  • Starting with a small, focused group builds trust and momentum better than broad, immediate scaling.

  • Repeated, targeted communication across the organization is vital for change adoption.

  • Design ops leaders often face under-resourced teams but still must deliver significant value.

  • Understanding an organization's cultural readiness for change helps tailor realistic strategies.

  • Design operations is not just about design—it impacts systems, people, and organizational processes.

  • Psychological safety and tactical empathy foster environments receptive to change.

  • Failures provide valuable lessons and tools that improve ongoing and future initiatives.

  • Building and maintaining a coalition of advocates is critical to sustaining change momentum.

Notable Quotes

"I thought I could single-handedly bring design thinking to MailChimp. It took 1,000 people, not me."

"You can’t have any successes if you’re not trying everything."

"Design ops is about setting the table and sometimes hosting the noisy party at it."

"Don’t be surprised by change. Expect change."

"Process design is also design."

"Move softly and fix things."

"Surviving victory means don’t celebrate too soon. It’s a game of inches."

"If you don’t have a coalition that understands culture, go back to study the organization’s ability to change."

"The best change initiatives are supported by a strong communication plan: say it until someone says it better back to you."

"Failures fill your tool belt with more than one hammer, so you don’t see every problem as a nail."

Ask the Rosenbot
What DesignOps Can Learn From DevOps
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Helen Armstrong
Augment the Human. Interrogate the System.
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Indra Klavins
A Design Ops Girl in a Dev Ops World
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Victor Udoewa
Radical Participatory Research: Decolonizing Participatory Processes
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Deirdre Hirschtritt
Research is Only as Good as the Relationships You Build
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Farid Sabitov
Automatization for Large Enterprise Teams
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Corey Long
Hiring in DesignOps: A Critical Study on How to Hire and Get Hired
2024 • DesignOps 2024
Gold
Sofia Quintero
The Product Philosophy Behind EnjoyHQ
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Greg Petroff
Design is the Differentiator: Bringing New Design Innovations to a Very Antiquated and Very Large Industry
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Jackie Ajoux
Leveling-Up: A Single-Player’s Guide to the DesignOps Team-of-One
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Denise Jacobs
Interactive Keynote: Social Change by Design
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Discussion
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Christian Bason
Expand—Rethinking Design for Public Challenges (Videoconference)
2022 • Civic Design Community
Prayag Narula
Empowering Designers to do Good Research
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Dr. Jamika D. Burge
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps (Videoconference)
2021 • Advancing Research Community

More Videos

Jennifer Kanyamibwa

"Resiliency for me is not really a professional thing. It’s a lot more personal."

Jennifer Kanyamibwa

Creating the Blueprint: Growing and Building Design Teams

November 8, 2018

Brigette Metzler

"Research repositories and libraries are social things."

Brigette Metzler Dana Chrisfield

Research Repositories: A global project by the ResearchOps Community (Videoconference)

August 27, 2020

Carl Turner

"Project delays are frequently due to organizational and cultural issues rather than actions of the project team."

Carl Turner

You Can Do This: Understand and Solve Organizational Problems to Jumpstart a Dead Project

March 28, 2023

John Mortimer

"Connecting dots goes beyond just linking user experience; it’s about engagement with the organizational system."

John Mortimer Milan Guenther Lucy Ellis Patrick Quattlebaum

Panel Discussion

December 3, 2024

Dante Guintu

"Information overload with checklists on top of checklists does not create a great onboarding experience."

Dante Guintu

How to Crush the Talent Crunch

September 8, 2022

Richard Buchanan

"Intuition is the ability to see a connection so important that you could build a system out of it."

Richard Buchanan

Creativity and Principles in the Flourishing Enterprise

June 15, 2018

Dan Willis

"Michelle Wong took her outside consulting experience inside at PwC to design tools for contractors."

Dan Willis

Theme 3: Intro

January 8, 2024

Dan Ward

"The worst thing that could happen is we get cake — this encourages boldness."

Dan Ward

Failure Friday #1 with Dan Ward

February 7, 2025

Chris Geison

"Participatory research always seems like something you’re either doing or not doing—but more often than not, not doing."

Chris Geison

Theme Two Intro

March 28, 2023