Ops without Designers
Summary
Science orgs typically lack designers and for good reason; there is no product. The focus is on data. The currency is discovery. Why spend money on a designer when we need to buy a new microscope? So how do we create a better experience through design for science? In this talk, Mark will outline his approach to operationalizing design in science orgs, first in CERN and now at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Key Insights
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Scientific organizations like CERN and EMBL prioritize publishing and discovery over commercial success, reshaping design's role and value.
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In science-driven cultures, 'designers' broadly include many digital tool creators not formally recognized as designers.
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Bottom-up governance without top-down mandates leads to a heavily siloed, decentralized environment challenging for design ops.
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Incremental marginal gains, a concept from elite sports, can drive meaningful improvements in complex scientific organizations.
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Adapting to organizational culture and existing communication rituals, such as scientific poster sessions, improves design uptake.
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Debate and scrutiny embedded in science happen mainly through committees, which design ops should engage, not avoid.
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Persistent, repeated communication is a major part of design leadership in environments resistant to change.
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Titles and language matter: calling user researchers 'researchers' risks confusing roles with scientists.
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A culture fixated on science over design means entrenched status quos protect research group autonomy and can resist change.
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Design ops success in science relies on cross-organizational presence and sponsorship from leadership focused on enabling science.
Notable Quotes
"There are thousands of people making digital things every day, but we don’t call them designers."
"Success here isn’t shipping products, it’s delivering great science and publishing."
"The organization is bottom-up; there are no top-down yearly objectives we have to meet."
"If you reframe who you think a designer is, our design team overnight became about 500 people."
"It’s the aggregation of marginal gains, tiny changes across a system that add up to something big."
"All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability and pliability. The truth lies outside of fixed patterns."
"90% of my job is saying the same thing over and over and over again."
"Calling user researchers ‘researchers’ sets them up for failure because scientists already own that title."
"Committees are the mechanism for debate and scrutiny in science, so I’ve chosen to engage with them."
"We have to work with the organization culture, not against it, and see what sticks."
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