Summary
Design operations is not for the faint of heart. In many ways, design operations for the team-of-one is a choose-your-own-adventure game; it's essential to choose your own path in this new discipline. In this session, you will learn about the challenges encountered, and lessons learned from the perspective of a single-player design operations manager at EA, one of the largest gaming companies in the world. You’ll walk away from this talk with a strategy guide on how to navigate design operations in your organization, and the methods and best practices you can use to be a resilient team-of-one.
Key Insights
-
•
Being a Design Ops team of one requires resilience, grit, and the ability to juggle multiple roles.
-
•
Building relationships is essential; create connections through one-on-ones to glean insights about team dynamics and pain points.
-
•
Develop a design ops backlog to prioritize work based on team input and strategic needs.
-
•
Understand your organization's business strategy to effectively align design ops projects with company goals.
-
•
Use organizational change management methods to gain buy-in for design initiatives and engage both top-down and bottom-up support.
-
•
Networking is crucial; lean on others in the design ops community to combat feelings of loneliness.
-
•
Communicate the value proposition of your work to ensure visibility and recognition within the organization.
-
•
Create reusable resources and templates to scale your impact as a solo design ops leader.
-
•
Anticipate challenges will recur in future years and prepare with newfound strategies and networks.
-
•
Your talents and strengths are your best tools for overcoming challenges in the workplace.
Notable Quotes
"Being a design ops team of one is automatically set to heart mode."
"This role demands grit, persistence, and resilience."
"It's really important to build a repository of everything you learn."
"Your relationships are one of your strongest tools you have in your tool belt."
"You have to be judicious about what problems you begin to tackle."
"Assume you already have a seat at the table."
"Think scrappy so you can extract the most amount of value with the least amount of effort."
"The work you take on should always be rooted in research, observations and feedback."
"You are capable and you are not alone."
"Reduce, reuse and recycle wherever you can."
More Videos
"Confirmation bias makes it harder to be open-minded when interpreting research data."
Johanna KollmannInsights-Driven Product Strategy: Get your Research to Count
December 6, 2022
"This is absolutely not the time for us to be throwing our hands up in the air and giving up on research."
Louis Rosenfeld Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
March 27, 2023
"Don't let your job happen to you; design your career actively."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"AI is the new electricity, transformative across industries."
Jamika BurgeEmbracing change: Navigating shifting landscapes with compassion and agency
March 11, 2025
"Accessibility is not an inspiring hack, it's something that belongs in the core of digital design."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
June 10, 2022
"The state of IT is a daily reflection of what the company thinks and feels about its employees."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
"I hope to prove to you that this is the most rewarding creative challenge you will ever experience."
Liz EbengoThe Burden on Children: The Cost of Insufficient Post-Conflict Services and Pathways Forward
December 4, 2024
"Research is just a piece of the pie; we are not the whole solution."
Dr. Nikki SmithResearch Strategy: Connecting Insights to Outcomes
March 12, 2025
"Our project name, 'Design at Scale', is quite fitting considering the context of today's conference."
Nora Tejeda Giovanna AlonsoScaling Design Capabilities at BBVA Through a Self-service Design Model
June 10, 2021
