Summary
DesignOps as a practice is still relatively new—but the activities have been around long enough that we’re increasingly challenged to justify and quantify what we do. Accordingly, we need to address not just what is DesignOps, but how do we prove its value? What outcomes can we genuinely promise? And how do we know we are successful? In this group exercise, we’ll identify techniques, tactics, and tools for proving (and even measuring) value, and describing the outcomes that matter most.
Key Insights
-
•
62% of surveyed design ops professionals admit they haven’t figured out how to measure value effectively yet.
-
•
Common barriers to measuring design ops value include limited time/resources, difficulty involving the right stakeholders, and a lack of proven metrics.
-
•
Measuring value in design ops is complicated by each organization’s unique constraints and its stage on the design ops maturity journey.
-
•
Behavioral resistance can undermine measurement efforts, such as inconsistent or inaccurate time tracking despite its importance.
-
•
Non-financial and sentiment-based measurements are crucial as data alone often misses behavioral context.
-
•
Established frameworks like Google’s HEART and Facebook’s mixed methods provide adaptable foundations for design measurement.
-
•
An eight-type taxonomy of design ops measurement emerged from research and community input, organized around people, practice, and platform domains.
-
•
Effective measurement frameworks link activities to predictable outcomes (like happier designers, better designers, and more effective teams) enabling targeted metrics.
-
•
Retention and staffing remain central concerns tied to measuring design ops impact; qualitative tactics like stay interviews yield actionable insights.
-
•
Community collaboration and shared standards for design ops measurement are essential to evolving beyond the 'we don’t know yet' phase.
Notable Quotes
"When I was asked how I measure success, I said the day I no longer have to convince you."
"62% of people said literally we don't know how to measure the value of design ops yet."
"Limited time and money is not unique to design ops; it’s every single function I’ve ever seen."
"People really hated using Harvest to log billable hours, some just put the same hours week after week."
"Non-financial, non-data measurements can reveal much more about behaviors than traditional metrics."
"Google’s HEART framework is great because different teams—engineering, product, and design—can all use it."
"We have an eight-type framework for measuring design ops, but it’s a starting point, design ops is never done."
"You can’t have effective teams without happy designers and better designers; they’re interdependent."
"Stay interviews ask why people choose to stay, which provides more actionable retention data than exit interviews."
"Our call to action is to co-create these measurement standards together and share back to the community."
Dig deeper—ask the Rosenbot:
More Videos
"Flat Carol was a nearly life-size cardboard cutout of Carol."
Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
March 30, 2020
"Negotiating severance is absolutely possible; consider legal advice or coaching when doing so."
Corey Nelson Amy SanteeLayoffs
November 15, 2022
"Driver modeling tells you which research initiatives matter most based on their impact on key outcome metrics."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"Self-report is not the end all; people often don’t know why they behave certain ways, especially regarding automatic motivations like deeply ingrained mental models."
Amy BucherHarnessing behavioral science to uncover deeper truths
March 12, 2025
"Friction isn’t just annoying; it’s a force that reshapes behavior and can slow or stop user flow."
David SternbergUncovering the hidden forces shaping user behavior
July 17, 2025
"We forget a lot of details over time; documentation saves us from repeating mistakes."
Deanna SmithLeading Change with Confidence: Strategies for Optimizing Your Process
September 23, 2024
"The establishment mindset is colonialism manifest in the design world."
Jennifer StricklandAdopting a "Design By" Method
December 9, 2021
"Around 14 to 20 designers is usually the tipping point where having a dedicated design ops person starts to make sense."
Rachel Posman John CalhounA Closer Look at Team Ops and Product Ops (Two Sides of the DesignOps Coin)
November 19, 2020
"Service designers connect the dots, which represent elements, teams, processes, policies, and customer needs that all must align."
Gina MendoliaTherapists, Coaches, and Grandmas: Techniques for Service Design in Complex Systems
December 3, 2024
