Summary
We will cover some of the key principles and guidelines of collaborative DesignOps and share experiences of setting up design operations using a tech platform. You will know more about how to: Define a design process and convert it into a design roadmap. Share design goals and measure impact. Manage design processes and activities. Get started with curated set of tools, templates and best practices.
Key Insights
-
•
Scaling design teams rapidly demands a dedicated DesignOps platform rather than repurposing engineering DevOps tools like Jira.
-
•
Design teams suffer from silos and laborious cross-functional collaboration that hinder productivity and transparency.
-
•
Different roles in design operations—design managers, DesignOps managers, product managers, and design producers—have unique, sometimes conflicting needs.
-
•
Design managers focus heavily on team health and achieving goals while maintaining well-being.
-
•
DesignOps managers prioritize standardizing processes and organizational knowledge to bring clarity and confidence.
-
•
Product managers seek visibility into design team timelines and accountability, often seeing design work as a black box.
-
•
Design producers (creative professionals) want to maintain creative autonomy and avoid switching tools from their favorites like Figma.
-
•
Design metrics aligned to business goals (ROI) are critical for justifying design investments and demonstrating impact.
-
•
Qubits enables quick creation of standardized design roadmaps using familiar UX methodologies (e.g., Agile UX, Design Sprint) with flexible process customization.
-
•
Integration with tools such as Slack, Jira, Figma, Google Drive, and analytics platforms ensures seamless cross-team collaboration and centralized information.
Notable Quotes
"The problem is design teams are scaling fast, but are we ready to manage that scale?"
"Design Ops being pushed under DevOps using Jira or Azure is incompatible with the design playground."
"Product managers see design as a black box; they don’t have visibility into timelines or accountability."
"Design producers love their creative autonomy and don’t want to be dragged out of Figma into new tools."
"Design managers are deeply concerned about when and how their teams achieve goals while staying healthy."
"We found design managers want team health, DesignOps managers want standardization, product managers want transparency, and producers want autonomy."
"With Qubits, you can create a design roadmap in half a minute aligned to your preferred design process."
"Imagine your entire design team seeing what everyone else is doing with all deliverables in one place, removing silos."
"Designers don’t do tasks; they perform activities that last weeks or even months. That changes how you track utilization."
"Businesses hire designers for ROI; if you don’t measure design metrics aligned to business goals, design has no reason to exist."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Sensemaking is your superpower as a researcher to amplify your impact beyond user experience mechanics."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
"Accessibility was viewed as a check mark, a thing to do and check off the list, not as a way of doing things."
Laura SchaeferDesignOps: A Conduit for Inclusion
September 9, 2022
"73% of users are willing to choose a more sustainable browsing option even if image quality decreases."
Ned Gartside Mike Gifford Zoe Lopez-Latorre Tzviya SiegmanNavigating accessibility and climate
April 17, 2024
"User testing for AI still means watching people use it, plus collecting analytics and running evaluations."
Peter Van DijckDesigning AI-first products on top of a rapidly evolving technology
June 10, 2025
"Good problem statements begin with aspirational mindsets and use backcasting to envision preferred futures."
Surya VankaUnleashing Swarm Creativity to Solve Enterprise Challenges
June 10, 2021
"We used behavioral science techniques like laddering and therapeutic research to vividly recreate users' memories."
Jemma AhmedConvergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
March 31, 2020
"Design challenges in interviews don’t really help and are often inequitable and exhausting for candidates juggling full-time jobs and family."
DesignOps and The Great Talent War of 2021
August 19, 2021
"Good research does not speak for itself; it requires a whole communication plan and explicit role as a catalyst for change."
Robin BeersBeyond Insights: Researchers as Organizational Change Catalysts
March 25, 2024
"I am uncomfortable too. Change is uncomfortable, exhausting, but it can also be fun and exciting."
Maria SkaadenPanel Discussion: Methodologies and Work Environments
November 8, 2018
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How does the democratization of design via AI tools affect client involvement and project collaboration?
How does the Directive Disruptor leadership style affect team morale and culture?
What strategies did Sean and Sarah use to create a shared language and structure for managing government design knowledge?