Summary
DesignOps is a fast-growing discipline throughout the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada. However, in many countries DesignOps is still an immature and emerging discipline.? What are the key challenges and what’s missing in the DesignOps’ narrative to support the development of the practice in new global markets?? We’ll look at two case studies in Latam and Italy to identify the trends and the ways to push DesignOps boundaries around the world.
Key Insights
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Design operations is still an immature practice in Latin America and Italy, with only about 30% of teams having dedicated design Ops roles.
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There is a strong correlation between design team size and presence of design Ops; larger teams more commonly include design Ops roles.
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Italian design leaders focus more on strategy and managing workloads, while Latin American leaders spend more time on operational tasks like internal communications and onboarding.
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Many leaders in these regions are unaware or unsure of the value design Ops can bring, often viewing it as a set of emergency tasks rather than a strategic discipline.
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Common obstacles include inefficient collaboration in Latin America and stakeholder management challenges in Italy.
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Design operations needs to be positioned as a strategic role that drives operational strategy, rather than a series of disconnected tasks.
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The Spanish design Ops narrative is the most mature among the non-English languages studied, focusing well on team growth and development.
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The Italian narrative heavily associates design Ops with design systems, showing an early-stage focus on task execution rather than strategy.
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In French communities, Figma’s file structure was a key driver in sparking interest in design operations.
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System thinking is critical for design Ops success, as isolated solutions to tasks can create unexpected issues elsewhere in the design process.
Notable Quotes
"Design operations in English sounds cool and exciting, but in local communities things are struggling more."
"About 12% of teams consider the design ops role not necessary, often because the teams are very small."
"Leaders spend a lot of time on operational work, which does not allow design strategy to mature."
"Design operations is not perceived as building a strategy, it is seen as just a task."
"The business value of design operations is hidden, unclear, and not even talked about."
"We need to position the design ops role as critical as an enabler of the design strategy."
"It’s less about processes and more about the business value of design."
"Solving one task in the design process can generate issues or benefits in different teams."
"We have immature teams where design is still seen as aesthetic rather than strategic experience functionality."
"We have a moral duty to bring global conversations back to local communities to increase diversity and richness."
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