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Summary
Companies are spending millions of dollars on shadow design teams (aka non-designers doing design work). This session shares the concept and the tools we’ve used to measure how much shadow design is happening in a client’s organization. Plus, a case study with some surprising results, and how a design leader used it to grow her team after months of banging her head against a wall. An interesting and perhaps more productive way to approach the “ROI of Design” conversation.
Key Insights
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Many organizations unknowingly spend significant time and money on 'shadow design'—design work done by non-designers due to understaffed teams.
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The ROI conversation around design investment is widely seen as ineffective and exhausting among UX professionals like Audrey, Leah Buley, and Erica Jorgenson.
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Shadow design often occurs because people don’t know how to access or work effectively with internal design teams, not just due to lack of resources.
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Investing in trained designers increases engineering velocity by freeing engineers from doing design tasks.
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Organizational culture and design maturity significantly affect how design is integrated and valued within enterprises.
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There is a common misconception around a 'unicorn designer' who can do everything, but realistic role expectations are critical.
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Both centralized and distributed UX team models struggle similarly with shadow design when designers are stretched too thin.
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Democratization of design and research involves grappling with issues of control over processes and decision-making.
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Measuring and making visible the amount of shadow design work helps in making stronger, more effective cases for proper design resourcing.
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Building resilience and adaptability, akin to 'building an ark,' is more practical than trying to predict economic downturns when planning design investment.
Notable Quotes
"Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building an arc does."
"I’m pretty tired of talking about the ROI of design. We’ve been talking about it for a long time and it’s not super effective."
"The alternative to good design isn’t no design, it’s bad design."
"People don’t know how to get design resources or work with the design team — and that’s a big problem."
"Shadow design happens because design is understaffed or people think it’s okay to do design even if they aren’t trained."
"We’re spending money on design today but often spending it poorly."
"If your engineers are stretched doing design, why not move some of that headcount to design to increase velocity?"
"There’s no such thing as no design—design is always happening whether or not a trained designer is involved."
"Designers assigned to too many teams (like 12 teams) simply can’t provide effective support, causing shadow design work."
"Instead of asking for more investment, start with how you’re spending design dollars now and ask, would you like to spend the same money on experienced designers?"
Or choose a question:
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