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