Theme 2: Introduction and Provocation
Summary
What's today's theme all about, and what does it mean for DesignOps professionals? Theme leader Kristin Skinner will provide you the background you'll need for how today's sessions came to be and what they'll cover. She'll also gently provoke you with questions to consider throughout the day.
Key Insights
-
•
Resilience in design ops teams requires deliberate strategies to manage constant change.
-
•
Measuring team health involves tracking metrics that reflect both practice sustainability and organizational wellbeing.
-
•
Sustainability in work encompasses flexibility, allowing teams to adapt without burnout.
-
•
Sharing lessons learned across teams boosts collective success and continuous improvement.
-
•
Motivation and focus need special attention in remote or distributed teams.
-
•
A hallmark of healthy teams is how well members feel cared for, enabling them to perform at their best.
-
•
Community dialogue and generosity among design ops practitioners enrich collective knowledge.
-
•
Leadership in design ops spans a diverse range of industries and global perspectives, enhancing the conversation's depth.
-
•
Personal stories of connection and care humanize professional challenges in sustaining teams.
-
•
Asking reflective questions guides design ops practitioners to navigate resilience and purpose effectively.
Notable Quotes
"Teamwork makes the dream work – something we all learned in primary school and still holds true."
"How might your team maintain its resilience through constant change?"
"What are some of the metrics that you’ll use to measure the health of your teams and practice?"
"Sustainable and flexible work tactics are key to navigating constant change without burnout."
"One hallmark of a healthy team is how well team members feel cared for so they can shine."
"I prefer to shine a light on others rather than be in the spotlight myself."
"Sharing knowledge and references is what I love about this community."
"Motivation and focus are especially challenging when working from afar."
"We need to define success in ways that make our work meaningful and purposeful."
"There are 500 plus people in the audience today, all deeply caring about their teams."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Good design needs better PR and the government has to be actively involved in the process."
Sofía Delsordo Kassim VeraPublic Policy for Jalisco's Designers to Make Design Matter
December 8, 2021
"Good UX is good business."
Product and Design at Bloomberg: A 15-year Evolution
December 6, 2022
"I had a hunger for process and efficiency once I built a feedback bot to share customer insights."
Liza Pemstein Jane DavisScaling Research Via an Ops First Model at Clever
March 27, 2023
"I’ve worked with international counterparts through 30 calls with designers around the world."
Kara KaneTheme One Intro
November 16, 2022
"AI can accelerate prioritization tasks, but the final judgment must come from humans who understand context."
Mark Interrante Harry MaxAI for Prioritization (3rd of 3 seminars)
July 11, 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
"Assume good intent, start with empathy — we’re all doing hard things we can't do well alone."
Rich MironovHow Can Product Managers and UXers Help Each Other (and Why are Product Folks so Annoying Sometimes)?
December 6, 2022
"If you get eight people who give a crap together, you can start a federal agency."
Juhan SoninDesign Now! The Agenda for Action
September 4, 2025
"The trust gap stems from being repeatedly failed by a system, not innate risk aversion or imposter syndrome."
Mansi GuptaDrawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational
September 9, 2022