Summary
We have all heard the old saying “communication is key” but as the landscape of technology widens so do the options we have for communication tools using that technology. To talk about the challenges and opportunities that our organizations face when solving the communication conundrum, we have invited three people working in three different areas where communication is key for organizations with designers: research insights, workflow management and design systems management. Facilitated by Abby Covert.
Key Insights
-
•
Design operations suffer from too many fragmented tools and need unified systems.
-
•
Users want collaborative tools that filter noise and surface only what's important.
-
•
Collaboration in companies requires control mechanisms such as approvals and private comments, contradicting the idea of anarchy.
-
•
Integration between design and development is hindered by translation losses between design and code.
-
•
True agile and cross-functional collaboration are rare due to team turnover and lack of trust.
-
•
Collaborative tools have democratized feedback, increasing ownership across teams.
-
•
Different roles like designers, engineers, and business analysts have distinct needs from design tools.
-
•
Customization of collaborative tools and workflows is essential to fit diverse team processes.
-
•
AI and design systems combined with research can enable automated, smarter design decisions.
-
•
Future collaboration tools should respect users' focus time and reduce constant interruptions.
Notable Quotes
"There are too many things all over the place. I would like to use my magic wand for making them one system."
"A lot of these tools bring more noise into people’s day to day lives. It’s really hard to stay involved and still find time to get your own job done."
"Collaboration is actually not anarchy in companies. There’s always this need for control."
"Translation is a traitor because meaning is lost in translation between design and code."
"The dream of cross-functional agile collaboration is there, but it’s quite hard to realize that because teams don’t have enough time to build trust."
"With collaborative tools, feedback has become a democratic process, and people feel more ownership of the project."
"Design is not only limited to designers. Business analysts and engineers can design too, supported by designers."
"The hardest thing is knowing when to stop talking about something and start building it."
"Eventually, I expect AI to help create designs by combining patterns from meta design systems and research, making design more about crafting experiences."
"I want my collaboration tool to be like the Nest thermostat of my workday, knowing when I’m heads down and when I’m open to communication."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Keep legal as a proactive partner, not just someone you call when there’s a problem; build those relationships early over coffee or casual chats."
Eduardo Ortiz Robin Beers Rachael Dietkus, LCSW Bruce Gillespie Jess Greco Marieke McCloskey Renee ReidDay 3 Theme Panel
March 13, 2025
"Trust is hard to find but essential; we hire smart people so let’s all trust and move forward."
Scher Foord Corey Greenltch Sarah RoweTurn the Ship Around: How to Apply Design Thinking Across Your Organization
June 10, 2021
"For users with physical challenges, hover states can be very difficult, especially for eye, head tracking, or voice control users."
Sam ProulxPrototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
December 8, 2021
"At the VA we explored how veterans understood or didn’t understand the services they were eligible for and uncovered many blockers."
Alison Rand Sarah BrooksScaling Impact with Service Design
March 25, 2021
"HITS is not a replacement for researchers but an augmentation to scale their expertise across the organization."
Matt DuignanHITS, Microsoft's internal human insight system: From research library to living body of knowledge
July 16, 2019
"At our sprint meetings three times a week, we discuss if a piece of feedback has already been prioritized or needs attention."
Smitha Papolu Nova Wehman-Brown Melissa Schmidt Adam MenterTheme 3 Discussion
June 4, 2019
"AI is biased by design; assume bias is in there, call it out, and then address it."
Dr. Jamika D. Burge Nick Fine Alexandra Jayeun Lee Greg Nudelman Bo WangHow UX researchers can partner with (and not be replaced by) AI [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
August 31, 2023
"Even bad research can be good because it creates learning opportunities."
James Wieselman SchulmanResearch is a team sport: advancing the work when everyone does the research
March 11, 2026
"We basically wrote an HCD book with 25,000 words of notes for the training workshop."
Elena Naids Liza McRuerThe Power of Difficult Conversations: A Case Study on How We Introduced Design Ops in the Federal Government Space
October 2, 2023
