Summary
Designers rarely work alone these days, and so the teams where we get our work done have an outsized impact on everything from how we feel day-to-day, to our ability to deliver our work, to our career trajectory. Rather than impose an operating model on my design team at [company], I borrowed heavily from the design process we use every day to co-create it in a way that solved real problems we were experiencing. Attendees will walk away with an understanding of how to lead teams that largely self govern, and the benefits of this model for team members, leaders, and the companies that employ them.
Key Insights
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Design teams without embedded design ops support can still embed operational excellence by making every designer responsible for operations.
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JP Morgan Chase’s small business credit card onboarding took over a year and 10 teams to deliver just four screens, illustrating scale challenges.
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John Gall’s principle that complex systems evolve from simpler systems applies to building team operating models incrementally.
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Three core principles for team operating models are simplicity, autonomy, and transparency.
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Regular one-on-ones focused on development and driven by the direct reports’ agendas foster autonomy and trust.
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Pulse surveys done monthly help baseline team alignment and surface deviations signaling areas for improvement.
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Retrospectives are crucial cultural rituals where teams commit to direct yet kind conversations to surface friction for growth.
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The team improved delivery from 50% of planned work in early sprints to over 90%, nearly doubling capacity without headcount growth.
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Emergent cultural practices, like playing Wordle in standups, can shorten meetings and build unique team culture.
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Operational models must be resilient to real-life disruptions like PTO and new team members to maintain sustainable momentum.
Notable Quotes
"Designers have a stake in design ops too—what would the world look like if that was the day-to-day for a team?"
"It took over a year and 10 teams just to ship four screens—scale is both a tremendous opportunity and a weakness."
"We have to go slow to go fast—highlight problems first, then iteratively evolve the process to solve them."
"Simplicity comes first—complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that work, according to John Gall’s law."
"Autonomy means the team needs real control over how they work; enabling that unlocks buy-in and co-creation."
"Pulse surveys aren’t about making everything dark green, but about establishing baselines to spot meaningful changes."
"Retrospectives require a commitment to direct, kind conversations that come from a place of caring."
"We started with twice-weekly 15-minute standups and evolved everything together based on feedback."
"Context switching across eight initiatives made my brain explode; prioritization was a huge problem to solve."
"Process is scaffolding for culture—setting simple processes can reset culture and allow positive norms to grow."
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