Panel: Collaboration Tools
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
"Digital notes can be linked to each other to create a graph of ideas that is impossible with linear paper notebooks."
Jorge ArangoThe Best of Both Worlds: How to Integrate Paper and Digital Notes (1st of 3 seminars)
April 5, 2024
"Performance is about how effectively we translate experience into new understanding and turn that into wiser action."
Jen BriselliLearning is the north star: service design for adaptive capacity
November 19, 2025
"What is AI gonna do for us? Are we afraid the robots will take our jobs? AI is a tool, not a replacement."
Karen McGrane Jeff EatonAI for Information Architects: Are the robots coming for our jobs?
November 21, 2024
"Everyone can see how much everyone else makes through our transparent pay scale tied to observable criteria."
Chelsea MauldinLet's Talk About Money
November 17, 2022
"When someone swaps out on a feature team, that event needs a special onboarding: briefings and whiteboard sessions to transfer knowledge."
Toby HaugDiscussion
June 9, 2017
"Having cameras on during meetings, even for those in the same room, really helps remote employees feel included."
Jilanna WilsonDistributed Design Operations Management
October 23, 2019
"Language matters — calling people 'users' reflects and reinforces the reality of reduced agency."
Tricia WangFrom Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
March 25, 2024
"Evangelizing and doing design ops day-to-day is a tough balance when resources are slim."
Bud Caddell Kristin Skinner Alana WashingtonDesignOps Community Sensing Session
May 13, 2021
"Carrying around a bunch of different roles gives you the illusion of opportunity, but unwanted roles are like design debt."
John CalhounHave we Reached Our Peak? Spotting the Next Mountain For DesignOps to Climb
October 1, 2021
