Scale Your Organization and Grow Your Designers
Summary
Scaling a design organization can introduce changes that may increase feelings of instability if not done thoughtfully. And when attrition and burnout levels are at a high, it is especially important to focus those changes on processes and structures that provide stability and growth for designers. Based on her experiences building teams at Amplitude and Adobe, Courtney’s talk will give you tools to scale your team while investing in individual designer’s career growth. Even if DesignOps is not your full-time job, this talk will show how small changes can make a big difference in the designer experience. Hear Courtney interviewed on the Rosenfeld Review Podcast: The Rosenfeld Review Podcast (Rosenfeld Media) · Scale Your Org and Grow Your Designers
Key Insights
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Design organizations scale best when focusing on designer growth and emotional well-being, not just output.
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Psychological safety, defined by Amy Edmondson as speaking up without fear, is critical for design teams due to subjective critique.
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In hybrid meetings, enforcing video use increases inclusion, visibility, and participation for remote team members.
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Low-effort rituals like icebreakers and retrospectives build trust and uncover process improvements.
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A team skills workshop using strength assessments can bolster self-awareness, camaraderie, and complementary hiring decisions.
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Creating individual and team charters provides hope and clarity, reducing churn especially during periods of uncertainty.
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Aligning career ladders with shared operational principles helps designers own their career growth and managers have structured development conversations.
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Introducing tools like Jira for design work, separate from engineering, enhances transparency but requires consistent usage and training.
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Quarterly planning spreadsheets support realistic workload commitments and aid in prioritization without overburdening designers.
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Compassionate leadership acknowledging human hardships is essential to successfully navigate scaling amidst rapid change and external crises.
Notable Quotes
"Scaling a design org can be exciting but also fraught with uncertainty, churn, and change management."
"Humans experience life 30% rationally and 70% emotionally, which means emotions dominate how we engage at work."
"Your people are not just resources or pawns in an organizational chess game—they are humans with fears and hopes."
"You can’t innovate or evolve as designers if you don’t learn, and learning requires psychological safety."
"Everyone putting their video on in hybrid design crits creates better engagement and makes remote folks feel included."
"Creating a career ladder is high effort but critical to help designers own their career journey and growth."
"A team charter provides a rallying point and purpose, especially important during times like the pandemic."
"Implementing Jira requires thoughtfulness, buy-in, and consistency more than the choice of tool itself."
"Having visible work through Jira or spreadsheets helps designers set boundaries and ask for support objectively."
"Our most important role as leaders is to grow people and help them develop resiliency to endure change."
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