Summary
In this panel session, three seasoned DesignOps practitioners will rise to the challenge of creating a shared vocabulary for discussing impact and maturity—while avoiding the use of DesignOps buzzwords. Panelists, who have each grown and matured DesignOps as a function within their organization (past or present), will represent a mix of DesignOps archetypes outlined in the 2023 DesignOps Benchmarking report (agency, startup, scale-up, enterprise). The discussion will cover defining, measuring, and communicating DesignOps impact as a way to drive DesignOps maturity. The moderator will draw from some of the key findings from the 2023 DesignOps Benchmarking Report to frame the topics.
Key Insights
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Measuring impact helps identify where design teams spend time and whether efforts target high-priority, high-impact projects.
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Tracking design ops initiatives enables data-informed storytelling that resonates with business leadership.
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A key mark of design ops maturity is being engaged early and specifically by function, showing recognition beyond generic project management.
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Design ops involvement early in project scoping and problem definition signals a mature design culture.
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Deciding what to measure should start with data already collected and align with executive leadership’s interests and business needs.
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Changing metrics too frequently risks losing important trend data; changes should occur only when existing measures lose value or relevance.
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Measuring too many things creates overhead, diverting focus from actual work; quality of metrics outweighs quantity.
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Reporting on design program data requires consistency across teams and tailoring messages and frequency for different audiences.
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Cultural indicators of maturity include product teams proactively engaging design early and design's presence at the C-suite level.
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Common challenges on the path to maturity include unclear design ops roles and resistance from design leaders to delegate responsibilities.
Notable Quotes
"Measuring impact can really help you understand where your design team is spending the majority of their time."
"Tracking the results of design ops initiatives allows you to tell data-informed stories about the work that you’re doing."
"When design ops is asked for early on and by function, that’s when you know leaders recognize your importance."
"Are you called upon just to fight fires or are you involved from the start to define problems and scope approaches?"
"Start with what data is already available, what gets tracked anyway, and use that to your best abilities."
"If you go too quickly changing what you measure, you could be forever missing the important information that tells the story."
"If you spend so much time tracking, you’re actually not doing the work—that’s too much overhead."
"It needs to be consistent so that large organizations aren’t measuring the same thing in different ways."
"When product teams proactively engage design, instead of last minute, that indicates cultural maturity."
"Design leaders not willing to let go of responsibilities that belong with design ops is a common challenge."
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