Summary
The DesignOps Summit 2019 ambitiously tackles three huge, over-arching themes: Proving value and measuring outcomes Partnering outside design Change management These are indeed huge and over-arching. But, with the help of four crack DesignOps and ResearchOps leaders, the audience’s questions, and Lou Rosenfeld’s moderation, we’ll pull lit off—and we’ll even have some valuable take-aways by the end of the session.
Key Insights
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Acting like a designer in design operations roles helps build trust by speaking the same language and using familiar processes, as Rachel Posman demonstrated at Uber Eats.
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Aligning design value language with company values, including expanding 'data-driven' to include qualitative data, increases organizational acceptance, as Crystal Leon explained.
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Defining value depends heavily on the audience; executives may look at top-line impact while product teams focus on adoption and engagement - Gneet Singh emphasized knowing your audience.
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Quantitative metrics alone are insufficient; emotional intelligence and influence measurement are key for proving the impact of design work, according to Jose Coronado.
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Adapting vocabulary (e.g., using 'satisfaction' instead of 'delight') reduces resistance to design concepts in traditional or risk-averse organizations, as shared by Jose.
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Creating structured platforms for internal feedback alongside customer feedback prevents conflicts and ensures diverse voices are heard, as Gneet suggested.
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Partnering across disciplines requires openness and collaborative tools that invite early, interactive engagement, avoiding 'throwing over the wall' handoffs.
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Starting with one aligned advocate—whether a product manager, engineer, or designer—and scaling partnership incrementally builds stronger buy-in, advised Gneet Singh.
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Persistent, multichannel communication tailored to cultural and geographic contexts is essential to avoid misunderstandings and support change, highlighted by Gneet.
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Leveraging 'loud' trusted individuals on a team can speed up process adoption and reduce change management burdens, as Rachel Posman demonstrated.
Notable Quotes
"I’ve often been the first person on a design team in design ops, and acting like a designer helped me gain trust quickly."
"We designers are still organizational and systems designers, even when not making things directly."
"By showing pain points mapped out in a journey, the team realized, oh my God, you see my problems, and that led to a big catalyst for the role."
"Invoking company values like being data-driven at the right moment assures the organization of the value design delivers."
"Nobody’s going to ask you to prove dollars from a single design, but showing needle movement and influence counts."
"People have allergic reactions to words like happiness or delight, so we say satisfaction or sentiment instead in some organizations."
"If you give internal teams a structured platform to voice feedback along with customer input regularly, you reduce competing priorities."
"Collaborative tools that are open and available to partner organizations allow earlier, more interactive dialogue and better shared ownership."
"Find the loud, respected person on a team, get their buy-in, and they’ll bring the whole team along fast."
"If we take the time to iterate on how we make decisions, even if the decisions aren’t perfect at first, it will yield better outcomes."
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