Summary
Design groups are no longer fringe in large corporations. We’ve grown up, and our numbers have multiplied; which is exactly what we wanted. However, we now face the challenge of integrating—at scale—with our organization’s cultural and operational fabric. Understanding which stakeholders are most needed to support our DesignOps ambitions is a great place to start garnering influence and yielding intended outcomes. Relationship maps are a powerful tool to humanize the process and chart the course.
Key Insights
-
•
Design has evolved from individual craftsmanship to system design with greater collaboration and communication across companies.
-
•
Relationship maps go beyond org charts by focusing on necessary interpersonal and cross-functional relationships rather than formal reporting.
-
•
Design leaders act as translators and managers of relationships between designers and other departments to facilitate design at scale.
-
•
Creating purposeful relationships with mutually beneficial outcomes sustains volunteer task forces in large organizations.
-
•
Leveraging executive support, such as from Maria Gideese and finance partners like Kim, helps facilitate company-wide tool adoption.
-
•
Single sign-on integration reduces barriers to adoption and increases cross-disciplinary participation in design platforms.
-
•
A manageable relationship map with clear roles (e.g. program manager Christina as captain) helps coordinate complex initiatives.
-
•
Expressing gratitude publicly and privately maintains morale and encourages continued contribution in a thankless environment.
-
•
Decentralized design teams can still provide centralized services and influence through networked relationships rather than direct authority.
-
•
Quantitative business cases focusing on cost savings and broad user adoption are crucial to convincing stakeholders to invest in design tools.
Notable Quotes
"We are outnumbered by engineers maybe a dozen to one, but things are improving all around."
"Designers are now represented in executive leadership, which was unheard of five years ago."
"An org chart is about formal reporting; a relationship map is about networking and collaboration across silos."
"Relationship maps help you get stuff done with people who don’t report to you and aren’t accountable to you."
"Design is frequently misunderstood; sometimes it’s just about explaining why it’s important to get others involved."
"Single sign-on was going to be really important because I didn’t want any barrier entry for people."
"Mutual benefit and agreement on the definition of success upfront are critical to long-term team effectiveness."
"Expressing gratitude publicly and privately gives people a sense of purpose and acknowledges their contributions."
"I worked through a volunteer task force of 15 people across the company to drive radical design collaboration."
"Not a single person on this relationship map reported to me. That’s how I affect design at scale at Autodesk."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The story of the Indian king and grains of rice perfectly illustrates exponential growth."
Scott PlewesWhy Isn't Your UX Approach Going Viral?: A Mathematical Model
March 28, 2023
"There’s no other theory of change I’ve seen more true in large organizations than requiring dual-level support."
Alison Rand Sarah BrooksScaling Impact with Service Design
March 25, 2021
"The pressure to produce insights quickly defines many organizations shaped by 'move fast and break things' culture."
Rachael Dietkus, LCSWThe power to heal and harm
March 13, 2025
"Involving stakeholders with lived experience empowers design and enriches domain knowledge."
Sheryl CababaLiving in the Clouds: Adopting a Systems Thinking Mindset
June 6, 2023
"The sum is greater than the parts—how qualitative and quantitative research play together."
Renee BouwensLanding Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products
December 15, 2023
"Our subway lines are tool functions, and stations are where single-function tools live."
JP Allen Holly HoldenNavigating the UX Tools Landscape
October 1, 2021
"If you have a question for a speaker, put it in the thread for their talk, not in the general chat."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
November 18, 2022
"If you can’t see a human in a video, how do you know the entire conversation wasn’t fabricated?"
Llewyn Paine[Demo] Deploying AI doppelgangers to de-identify user research recordings
June 5, 2024
"Conjoint analysis was used by Apple and Samsung to determine the financial value of specific product features."
Ricardo MartinsUnlocking the power of advanced quantitative methods
March 12, 2025
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What strategies help design operations influence cross-functional teams without formal authority?
What role does storytelling at project milestones play in communicating design work to leadership in the federal government?
How can automation tools like Coda improve product planning and cross-team collaboration?