Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
Why and how are creative agency leaders and traditional graphic designers finding their way into DesignOps? What is the future of DesignOps within traditional design agencies? Most who are looking into the DesignOps space know it for its focus on the Ps: People, Process, Practice — mostly for technology, and mostly for Product design.
Key Insights
-
•
Design ops in agencies must expand beyond technology focus to include people, process, and practice to foster parity and inclusion.
-
•
Francis Iana was hired directly as the first design ops lead at co forma, highlighting the growing strategic value of design ops in agency leadership.
-
•
Historically, creative agencies operated with competitive, gender-imbalanced leadership, but fears around job security have intensified since the pandemic.
-
•
Operationalizing equity through tools like career leveling spreadsheets, skills matrices, and onboarding checklists promotes transparency and reduces bias.
-
•
The concept of 'office housework' represents important but undervalued work crucial for leveling the playing field in agencies.
-
•
Creative agencies are best described as 'project pioneers' needing flexibility and support rather than rigid hierarchical control.
-
•
Resistance to change is common, but design ops practitioners should persist and iterate to embed lasting cultural transformation.
-
•
Intentional leadership to nurture and retain women and underrepresented designers is crucial to advancing agency parity.
-
•
Design ops practices, including equitable user research and fostering diverse team communication, help embed inclusion into workflows.
-
•
Hope and creative optimism are essential mindsets for design ops leaders driving systemic positive change in uncertain environments.
Notable Quotes
"Design ops in all we do at co forma is purpose-driven, intentional, fair, and openly equitable."
"Winning my next client, my next project, my next design award was once all I cared about. Now, it’s about building equity and shared success."
"Office housework is everything from administrative tasks to employee engagement; it’s undervalued but essential for team success."
"Project pioneer organizations resist top-down control, needing design ops to provide tools allowing creative teams to pivot and adapt."
"If you’re standing for something, you have to stand for the thing, even if it’s a hard fight."
"When you don’t see yourself in leadership, you don’t go there. Representation matters deeply in agency culture."
"Keep trying and iterating your design ops initiatives even if stakeholders resist at first."
"Artists are messengers of the ideal. That’s why design ops can make those ideals more palpable in agencies."
"Hope locates itself in the spaciousness of uncertainty and the belief that what we do matters even if outcomes are unknown."
"If we’re in a position to keep the gate, we don’t just keep it open, we tear it down."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Use whatever information is available in the tool. Views, downloads, and links in Slack channels are all helpful adoption metrics."
Gabrielle VerderberDocumentation Your Team Will Actually Use
October 3, 2023
"If you really want to build culture and see how people cross collaborate, try to make lunch with your entire team every single week."
Jennifer KanyamibwaCreating the Blueprint: Growing and Building Design Teams
November 8, 2018
"When there’s dispute over what to measure, use that as an opportunity to discuss the behavior you want to change and the value capture."
Saara Kamppari-Miller Nicole Bergstrom Shashi JainKey Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”
November 13, 2024
"Temporary disability is real and products should support people when they experience it."
Samuel ProulxDesigning beyond caricatures: Embracing real, diverse user needs
December 4, 2024
"Every person on your team matters. Find actionable ways to include and share findings with anyone who will listen."
Catherine DubutBridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design
March 18, 2021
"Zuboff called it informating technology—technology that serves users by providing insight, not just automating tasks."
Sam LadnerData Exhaust and Personal Data: Learning from Consumer Products to Enhance Enterprise UX
June 8, 2016
"Fixing problems found for one disability group often helps fix problems for others too."
Sam ProulxPrototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
December 8, 2021
"The moat that once protected researchers—their exclusive data access—is disappearing; now our value is enabling others to use insight."
Jemma Ahmed Megan Blocker Eduardo OrtizRedefining the research toolkit: Expanding methodologies for a changing world
March 12, 2025
"No matter the spaces that we navigate, who’s at the table absolutely matters."
Kevin BethuneReimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation
June 8, 2022
