Summary
As the move to establish in-house design teams accelerates, it turns out there’s very little common wisdom on what makes for a successful design organization. Books and presentations tend to focus on process, methods, and tools, leaving a gap of knowledge when it comes to organizational and operational matters. Kristin Skinner, Head of Design Management at Capital One and co-author of Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams, will shine a light on the unsung activities of actually running a design team, the operational challenges and considerations, and what works and what doesn’t. Drawing on her experience managing design teams and organizations at Microsoft’s Pioneer Studios, Adaptive Path, and Capital One, Kristin will discuss how what happens “behind the scenes” and how a focus on design management and operations can ultimately affect a design organization’s output, quality, and effectiveness.
Key Insights
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Planning must be flexible and continuously updated at individual, team, and organizational levels.
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Leadership style dramatically influences design team cohesion and success, as shown by the Golden State Warriors example.
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Design operations is essential for enabling scalable, effective design organizations beyond just focusing on design craft.
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A small, dedicated design ops team can have an outsized impact on coordination, prioritization, and quality standards in large organizations.
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Design organizations evolve through stages where roles must diversify, including product designer, content strategist, design program manager, design ops, and creative director.
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Fragmented decision-making severely hampers design team effectiveness; participatory leadership allowing teams to craft solutions yields best long-term outcomes.
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Design ops roles relieve stress on heads of design by owning coordination, metrics, staffing balance, and cross-team collaboration.
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Successful design ops teams must act as diplomats within their organizations, enabling others rather than enforcing rigid rules.
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Hiring for design ops should balance design expertise with complementary business or technical skills tailored to organizational needs.
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Regularly sharing learnings and iterating openly on design operations practices accelerates organizational maturity and impact.
Notable Quotes
"The plan always changes, but we need to be ready."
"Mark Jackson’s command and control style tore the Warriors apart; Steve Kerr’s inclusive leadership led them to a championship."
"It’s not just the design work you see; it’s the unseen operations behind the scenes that determine quality."
"Don’t go alone. The loneliness of the first UX designer is real."
"An effective design organization treats operations as seriously as the work products."
"Fragmented decision-making can have an outsized impact on an organization's success."
"There is no one size fits all. Go in, do your research, and find where the failure points are."
"Design managers make things go; they’re the GPS of the design organization."
"A small, dedicated design ops team has incredible leverage and impact."
"Be a diplomat. Help people do their jobs better and share what you learn generously."
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