Summary
Measuring DesignOps value is surprisingly complicated. Many practitioners would agree with the sentiment that measuring their impact feels aspirational at best, and theoretical at worst. Anecdotal evidence and praise from partners (“I don't know what we’d do without you!”) is nice, but doesn’t add up to proof that DesignOps is a worthy return on investment. In this talk, we’ll share two novel approaches to measuring DesignOps success from our upcoming book, The Design Conductors: Your Essential Guide to Design Operations. These methods–the “Jobs to Be Done” and “HEROES” frameworks–can be used to uncover and define measures of value that more accurately capture the impact DesignOps (and design) has on a business and its stakeholders. We will also share some tested rubrics that DesignOps can use to prioritize and implement these new measures.
Key Insights
-
•
Traditional business metrics are often too narrow to capture the full value of design operations.
-
•
Only about 50% of design ops practitioners have clearly defined metrics; just 41% measure design ops impact.
-
•
The Jobs to Be Done framework can be adapted to design ops to define measurable outcomes linked to stakeholder needs.
-
•
The Hero's Framework categorizes design ops impact into six areas: Health, Effectiveness, Readiness, Outcomes, Ecosystem, and Sentiment.
-
•
Design ops should measure metrics tailored to their organization's mission, operating model, and current workstreams for best results.
-
•
Expansion and contraction business phases affect which design ops metrics and outcomes teams should prioritize.
-
•
Outcome-driven prioritization factors (success, progress, problem) help ensure metrics focus on improving change, not just status quo.
-
•
Visibility of design ops work is critical to securing investment and recognition from leadership, as noted by Jared Spool and Sarah Walker Bocher.
-
•
Measurement frameworks should help design ops move away from measuring all things to measuring what truly matters for impact and sustainability.
-
•
The example of a Gen AI Summer Camp showed how design ops used readiness metrics and qualitative feedback to demonstrate tangible value.
Notable Quotes
"Measuring wrong can cost you half a billion dollars, but also what you measure and how you measure matters a lot."
"Design ops isn’t rocket science, but between us it might actually be harder."
"Design ops is a flexible and adaptable practice, meaning our goals and outcomes are usually more fluid than stable."
"Applying traditional frameworks to design ops is like trying to fit a star in a box."
"Design teams don’t want a design ops drill, they need a quarter inch hole that requires a little bit of program management."
"Healthy teams are the foundation of a healthy organization."
"Every hiccup in a process and every outdated protocol accumulates a toll on the team as well as financial costs."
"Visibility is the most vital thing for UX leaders to be focused on."
"Endlessly justifying yourself rarely changes others’ opinions. It positions design ops as up for debate."
"We choose to measure design ops value not because it is easy, but because it is hard."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Business leaders are super busy, data-driven, competitive, and have a finely tuned bullshit meter."
Doug PowellClosing Keynote: Design at Scale
November 8, 2018
"Middle schoolers might ask you tough questions about release forms and how their data will be used."
Mila Kuznetsova Lucy DentonHow Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices
March 9, 2022
"What if I said that this was actually the assignment: to write an essay using AI, helping students become familiar with translating their policy intent through AI?"
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"If your users are happy, that anecdotal feedback often carries more weight early than quantitative metrics."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"It is our job to lead and transform with empathy and heart because there’s fear in everyone."
Alnie FigueroaThe Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft
September 10, 2025
"Statistical significance tells you if a change is likely not random, but it does not tell you if the change matters to your business."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"Truly listening can push us beyond empathy to respect and reflection."
Emily EagleCan't Rewind: Radio and Retail
June 3, 2019
"Managing resistance is mental; customers might resist because they've learned workarounds with legacy systems."
Malini RaoLessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey
June 9, 2021
"Project management was focused on outputs, assuming the correct feature was already defined."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023
