Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Getting in Flow with Your Team
Gold
Monday, January 8, 2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Share the love for this talk
Getting in Flow with Your Team
Speakers: Ruzanna Rozman
Link:

Summary

A design process is only as good as the people who run it, no matter how "efficient" the process claims to be. This talk will cover the circumstances of a case study and the strategies that took place to establish and maintain momentum on a product that didn't have a direction. With the collaboration of a team in "flow," the work seemed (sometimes unbelievably) natural, enabling and empowering everybody not only to trust each other, but also to trust themselves in their own decision making and their own exploration of their craft and strengths with mutual trust and respect.

Key Insights

  • Frameworks help non-designers understand design decisions and foster team inclusivity.

  • Team flow differs from individual flow by emphasizing interdependence, not independence.

  • Achieving flow requires balancing challenge and skills along with clear goals and feedback.

  • Open communication and early involvement of all team members strengthen alignment and trust.

  • Strong team relationships allow teams to pivot quickly without losing momentum or morale.

  • Individual states of flow vary based on personal belief in purpose, scope clarity, and feedback.

  • Team flow benefits when members can feed off each other's energy and adapt communication styles.

  • Replicating team flow can be challenging with frequently changing teams due to lack of familiarity.

  • Respect, trust, and alignment empower teams to balance seriousness and casual connection.

  • Developing team flow shares similarities with dating or athletic instincts, requiring intuition and practice.

Notable Quotes

"I am usually the only designer on the team, and it gets difficult to get the information needed for design decisions."

"Frameworks are a team sport; each player brings unique strengths that help create innovative solutions."

"Surgeons say during difficult operations the whole team feels like a single organism moved by the same purpose."

"To get into flow, I need a strong belief in the purpose and the work we’re doing."

"We started with almost nothing and didn’t really know what goal we were trying to achieve."

"Getting everyone involved early helped reduce the need for me to explain why we do things."

"When we pivoted because of business decisions, we felt anxious but kept adapting together."

"Respect, trust, and alignment helped us feel empowered and comfortable talking about anything."

"Flow is different for each person; you have to adjust your style based on who you work with."

"Developing team flow is a lot like dating—you have to nurture it, build instinct, and practice."

Ask the Rosenbot
James Lang
Hopeful Futures for UX Research
2026 • Rosenfeld Community
Steve Chaparro
Bringing Into Alignment Brand, Culture and Space
2020 • DesignOps Community
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks Day 1
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
George Aye
That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Sam Proulx
Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Jack Moffett
SAFe or Sorry?
2019 • Enterprise Community
Ron Bronson
Design, Consequences & Everyday Life
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Kyle Godbey
Non-linear service design for complex adaptive systems
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Kate Towsey
The State of ResearchOps: More Than Just Theory
2019 • DesignOps Community
Jemma Ahmed
Convergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Dr. Jamika D. Burge
Theme 3 Intro
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Nicole Aleong
Future Orientations to Everyday Life: Futures Anthropology as a Methodology
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Christian Crumlish
Morning Insights Panel
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Dan Donald
Design Systems as a Vehicle for Systemic Change
2023 • DesignOps Community
Bria Alexander
The Big Question about Resilience: A panel discussion
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Ovetta Sampson
Managing the Human Engagement Risks of AI
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold

More Videos

Sam Proulx

"We often say don’t make me think. When that’s not possible, reuse and recycle those learnings."

Sam Proulx

Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience

June 7, 2023

Ignacio Martinez

"Continuous feedback is anonymous and focused on teammates’ goals to help keep focus on what matters most."

Ignacio Martinez

Fair and Effective Designer Evaluation

September 25, 2024

Sarah Kinkade

"Doubt and fear come up if you haven’t established the right communication and trust."

Sarah Kinkade Mariana Ortiz-Reyes

Design Management Models in the Face of Transformation

June 8, 2022

Daniel Gloyd

"Psychological warmth and physical warmth activate the same part of the brain, the insula."

Daniel Gloyd

Warming the User Experience: Lessons from America's first and most radical human-centered designers

May 9, 2024

Patrick Boehler

"Structure beats free form interaction—systematic query frameworks are essential to avoid pitfalls."

Patrick Boehler

Fishing for Real Needs: Reimagining Journalism Needs with AI

June 10, 2025

Andy Barraclough

"AI-moderated interviews will help drill down on depth without sacrificing scalability or requiring scheduling moderators."

Andy Barraclough Betsy Nelson

From Costly Complexity to Efficient Insights: Why UX Teams Are Switching To Voxpopme

September 23, 2024

Alexandra Schmidt

"We should reconsider the savior complex designers sometimes have — we’re not all powerful."

Alexandra Schmidt

Why Ethics Can't Save Tech

November 18, 2022

Louis Rosenfeld

"In government, the motivation is reduction of misery: why are we up at 3 AM fixing something avoidable?"

Louis Rosenfeld

Discussion: What Operations can teach DesignOps

November 6, 2017

Mitchell Bernstein

"The product is the reflection of how well teams communicate. Without clear communication, success is impossible."

Mitchell Bernstein

Organizing Chaos: How IBM is Defining Design Systems with Sketch for an Ever-Changing AI Landscape

September 29, 2021