Do More With Less: Equip and Lead Design Orgs Through Adversity
Summary
With the growing turbulence companies face (e.g. recent financial downturns and the pandemic before that), Design with a big D and its sub disciplines (including DesignOps) finds itself deeply and directly impacted by resource reduction and/or resource re-distribution. In this session, we will bring our years of expertise from working with companies of different shapes and forms to explore techniques that help design leadership shield Design Orgs from the impact of uncertainties and be prepared to have those tough conversation when and if needed. Furthermore, we will explore how you can manage the consequences of these events when they become inevitable, but you still need to maintain a strong Design capability.
Key Insights
-
•
Aligning design ops goals with invisible organizational culture reduces risk of team cuts during adversity.
-
•
Using Porter's value chain helps identify which design activities directly impact business value.
-
•
Skills mapping should include resilience factors like comfort with ambiguity and adaptability.
-
•
Risk planning is underutilized in design ops but critical for preparing teams for unpredictable challenges.
-
•
Identifying leading indicators in risk scenarios allows teams to act early before crises escalate.
-
•
Communicating clearly during ambiguity prevents team anxiety and misinformation.
-
•
Risk planning tools enable stakeholders to represent design ops interests when teams aren’t present.
-
•
No single tool solves all problems; combining goal alignment, skill mapping, and risk planning enhances preparedness.
-
•
Understanding primary vs supporting business activities helps prioritize design ops contributions effectively.
-
•
Early conversations with business leaders about risks and team capabilities build mutual understanding and trust.
Notable Quotes
"Our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, adjust to new ideas, remain vigilant, and face the challenge of change."
"When adversity arises, showing your team aims at the same business target lowers chances of negative impact."
"Design ops is often seen as a cost unit, which makes showing business value even more critical."
"You ask yourself, does this activity directly impact the quality, feature, price, or customer experience?"
"Being comfortable with ambiguity means having team members who can bring structure to uncertainty."
"People often fill gaps in communication with their own anxieties, so clear communication is key."
"Risk doesn’t usually happen out of the blue; there are driving forces you can watch for."
"Leading indicators help you be on the front foot and act before a risk becomes a crisis."
"Sometimes you won’t be in the room for tough conversations, so having stakeholders who understand your views is vital."
"These tools aren’t about adding bureaucracy but enabling teams to perform at their best under pressure."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The good vibes you experience are a reflection of the positive collaborative spirit we worked hard to create for you."
Bria AlexanderTheme Two Intro
October 3, 2023
"We co-designed our environment and expectations around what we needed as a team during these times."
Ariba JahanTeam Resiliency Through a Pandemic
January 8, 2024
"We tend to put the end user first, but we must also ask who we might be doing harm to beyond primary users."
Cornelius RachieruHandling Complexity: Framing a Scale of Design
June 9, 2021
"Olivia isn’t disabled, she’s just in a situation that makes accessibility critical."
Megan Clegg Michael Haggerty-Villa Alexis MorinSpace for Everyone: Reframing Accessibility Through a Wider Lens
June 10, 2021
"Map tours are my favorite thing—taking a new hire on a guided walk of the entire community."
Saara Kamppari-MillerCartography for Design Communities
September 10, 2025
"High-level leadership changes in government often result in shifts in organizational moods and priorities."
Kara KaneTheme One Intro
November 16, 2022
"Producers create a care plan for every project — they’re far more than project managers."
Natalia RadywylCo-Designing New Power in Australia's Public Sector
November 16, 2022
"We all want to design for scale, but empathy alone is sometimes a shortcoming when thinking about scale."
Nancy DouyonWe'll Figure That Out in the Next Launch: Enterprise Tech's Nobility Complex
June 15, 2018
"Building generative AI tools is not scary, it’s just very different from the last 20 years of building products."
Peter Van DijckBuilding the Rosenbot
June 4, 2024
