We've Never Done This Before
Summary
An acquisition can completely upend an organization, changing how we work—and whom we work with—often with no plan to manage the shift. When Accela acquired eight companies in 2015, we brought on hundreds of employees and dozens of products, but only one designer. Our UX team was now faced with integrating products from unfamiliar industries by working with teams unfamiliar with UX. Ken Hoffmann and Nova Wehman-Brown will discuss how setting aside their egos, and leaning on concrete data and user-centered design (internally and externally) built trust among teammates and turned chaos into collaboration in a fairly short period of time.
Key Insights
-
•
Trust and openness, such as Noba sharing slides early, helped break down barriers between acquiring and acquired teams.
-
•
Long-term knowledge of business domains inspires confidence but is challenged during acquisitions with shifting priorities.
-
•
Introducing UX to a product team never exposed to designers requires humility and asking basic questions to foster learning and trust.
-
•
The 'us versus them' mentality quickly emerges in acquisitions along lines such as location, company size, and culture, but must be actively dismantled to succeed.
-
•
Engaging all participants in hands-on workshops like design studios creates shared language, flattens hierarchies, and builds commitment.
-
•
Resistance from leadership and team members to non-traditional collaboration methods is common but can be overcome with persistence and playfulness.
-
•
User analytics tools can uncover unexpected behaviors that challenge team assumptions and improve product focus.
-
•
Regular design studios every sprint increase team alignment and empower new members to onboard faster.
-
•
Failing to recognize developers' pride in their design contributions can breed resentment and tension in collaboration.
-
•
Strong UX-product management partnerships enable strategic pivots and better outcomes during uncertain roadmaps.
Notable Quotes
"Noba submitted my name without asking me to present today, which shows how much we've grown to trust each other."
"This is all new to me. I've never done this before. I'm going to be learning as I go and share everything."
"A link in the header said log in but it wasn’t actually a link, causing thousands of confused clicks."
"The fastest way to break down 'us versus them' is to ask people to do something they’ve never done before."
"Everyone had encyclopedic knowledge of their product and they didn’t exploit that knowledge gap."
"I had to ask what wind forms were, which was pretty humbling."
"If you’re in this room, you have to collaborate and you have to participate."
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know, it’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Developers had been designing the product for years and we didn’t recognize that we were taking something away from them they loved."
"Be the one who says I don’t know too. Be the one who picks up the sharpie first."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"You have to go from being able to deliver a message in three bullets and then turn around in the next moment and deliver a massive service blueprint or customer journey."
John CutlerOxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
December 3, 2024
"Taking responsibility for our behaviors starts with an apology and continues with regular feedback and action."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"If you’re having more conversation about what the actual question means than answering it, that’s a problem with the canvas we need to fix."
Dave GrayGroup Activity: Making Sense of DesignOps
November 7, 2017
"I never thought I'd say this, but can someone please for love of God, just make a RACI so we can align on who's responsible for things."
John CutlerThe Alignment Trap
November 29, 2023
"Simplicity is not always the answer to complexity, but understanding often is."
Abby CovertStuck? Diagrams Help
October 27, 2022
"Up to 90% of time in work streams is delay or waiting time, not active work."
Mark InterranteCollaboration Flows in Product Development
June 9, 2017
"If I do a project today on 2025, you’re not going to be in that chair in 2025 and neither am I."
Devon PowersImagining Better Futures
March 9, 2022
"Your primary function as a research team is to build a culture of research, not just react to project requests."
Prayag NarulaHow to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
June 10, 2022
"Cloud code wasn’t programmed to do this; it’s a very lightweight system where the model does most of the work."
Peter Van DijckHands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
October 22, 2025
