The Many Paths Of Design Operations
Summary
In becoming involved with the various design ops communities, and later, when she was interviewing to hire three new team members, Rachel was fascinated by the variety of backgrounds of people both already practicing and looking to enter the field. Some are more like what her VP expected, focused on milestone planning and tracking, resource allocation and budgeting. Others design and implement processes and manage shared toolsets. Some serve as chiefs of staff (which can also mean many different things). Some plan and host team meetings, ceremonies, and retreats. Others focus on research ops. And many — especially teams of one — do a little bit of everything.
More and more leaders are beginning to understand the value of design operations — but some think the function should look or behave a certain way. DesignOps pros, though, know that every team and organization is different, and the only way they and their teams can succeed is by tailoring their approach to address those specific needs. This facilitated conversation will explore what brings people to DesignOps, how their backgrounds inform their practice, and how design ops practitioners can give themselves the permission and fuel they need to make this argument and structure things the way they believe will have the most impact.
Key Insights
-
•
Design ops professionals often come from highly diverse and non-linear career paths, including architecture, education, and communications.
-
•
Transferable skills like communication, stakeholder management, and user experience knowledge are key assets in design ops roles.
-
•
Listening tours and stakeholder interviews early in a design ops role are critical to understand team needs and priorities.
-
•
Hiring candidates with unconventional backgrounds brings unique perspectives and strengthens design ops teams.
-
•
Imposter syndrome is common but can be reframed as discovering superpowers and strengths.
-
•
Quick wins are essential for demonstrating the value of design ops and securing additional resources and buy-in.
-
•
Systems thinking and service design skills are valuable for improving internal design team experiences such as onboarding.
-
•
Building genuine relationships with colleagues is crucial for design ops success and collaboration.
-
•
Sharing and celebrating wins through communication and change management plans increases design ops visibility.
-
•
Communities like Design Ops Assembly provide critical support and knowledge sharing for those developing their design ops careers.
Notable Quotes
"Relationships are a currency and if you have strong connections, you’ll be rich in your career."
"I’m not looking for cookie cutter candidates; I want to hear someone who’s taken the less traveled, maybe more challenging route."
"I dreamed about work every night for a year as I was learning the language of corporate tech jargon and ux terms."
"Once I got my foot in the door, the biggest challenge was learning the vocabulary and culture."
"Imposter syndrome was my superpower; the gaps I saw were actually strengths."
"Start with quick wins, show value, and communicate loudly to get buy-in for more design ops capacity."
"Each design org has unique needs, but discovery and listening tours uncover where we can make the biggest impact."
"Hiring people who are relentlessly seeking improvement will grow your team and your work."
"Service designers on our design ops team focus on improving internal designer experiences like onboarding and hiring."
"Don’t fight who you are meant to be; your background and story are your superpowers."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Our one metric that mattered was maximizing the number of VOС-tagged tickets solved – showing customer feedback made it to the roadmap."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"When we understand organizations as ecosystems, we recognize the need for organic simplicity."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"Let me just take you along this journey, where it began."
Renee ReidBecoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
June 3, 2019
"The environment can disrupt critical interactions, like when Stacey gets caught up in cords and takes her eyes off the patient."
Dane DeSutterKeeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not
March 26, 2024
"Accessibility is a journey and a conversation—thanks for starting yours by being here today."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"Sometimes vocal feedback reveals problems that digital behavior can’t see—like offline factors affecting perception."
Andrew Custage Michael MallettThe Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty
March 29, 2023
"It’s okay to be goofy and have fun—creating space for awkwardness and playfulness helps engagement."
Shelby SwitzerMaking Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World
December 10, 2021
"Generative AI is non-deterministic and doesn’t understand meaning, so baseline error rates exist in all tools we use."
Llewyn PaineCoexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration
March 11, 2025
"Sensemaking is your superpower as a researcher to amplify your impact beyond user experience mechanics."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
