Summary
Building a Design Ops team means having a long-term vision and thinking about future growth from the very beginning. DesignOps team members can become key problem solvers bringing value to your company—or can hit professional dead end without leveraging their true strengths. As a new discipline, how you plan to build strong culture and meaningful growth paths will provide ongoing value to your company. Courtney Kaplan will talk about how you can define opportunities for your team, find the right challenges for talent, and provide support in creating an impactful discipline.
Key Insights
-
•
Design program management grew from a 2-person team to over 300 in Facebook's ads design group in five years.
-
•
Building design ops requires moving through four phases: triaging, discovering, emerging, and strategizing.
-
•
Initial hiring should focus on clear prioritization and a vision to attract long-term, motivated talent.
-
•
Early DPMs often become overwhelmed by requests; managers must protect their focus and support growth.
-
•
It's crucial to understand DPMs' unique passions and strengths, not just their skills, for sustainable growth.
-
•
Without thoughtful growth, DPMs risk becoming overwhelmed coordinators or burnt-out super producers.
-
•
Creating community and mentorship among DPMs reduces the loneliness of being the sole ops person on a team.
-
•
As DPMs mature, they identify complex organizational problems and develop scalable solutions like onboarding camps.
-
•
Successful design ops teams share best practices broadly and build cross-functional partnerships beyond design.
-
•
Strategic design ops partners influence company success by proactively shaping plans alongside leadership.
Notable Quotes
"I was much more interested in talking to clients, understanding the scope, and translating that into what designers would build."
"We grew from two designers to 50 in four months, then over 300 in five years in just the ads design org."
"Start with making a big list of all the things breaking within design and bucket them to prioritize."
"Those first hires establish the tone of the entire design ops discipline moving forward."
"DPMs can get overwhelmed quickly because they want to say yes to everything; managers must help say no."
"Helping your team take risks and stretch is critical even though design ops tend to be risk averse by nature."
"My team felt lonely—like lone wolves being the only one of their kind on their teams."
"No one else knows what you know as a DPM. You have to coach and help them frame up problems."
"We created onboarding camps that helped new hires become impactful faster and packaged that across teams."
"The ultimate place for a design ops team is to be strategic partners driving company success."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Everything is a prototype."
Doug PowellClosing Keynote: Design at Scale
November 8, 2018
"If a group session with middle schoolers goes off the rails, one-on-one sessions can save the research."
Mila Kuznetsova Lucy DentonHow Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices
March 9, 2022
"What if I said that this was actually the assignment: to write an essay using AI, helping students become familiar with translating their policy intent through AI?"
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"We never compromise on the business goals, but how we achieve them can be flexible and pragmatic."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"AI is just a better version of the tools you’re already using to refine ideas and express thoughts."
Alnie FigueroaThe Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft
September 10, 2025
"Every board member can interpret an NPS score differently depending on their role and responsibilities."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"We have the Big C and the Little C: our external customers and our salespeople using the tools every day."
Emily EagleCan't Rewind: Radio and Retail
June 3, 2019
"Managing resistance is mental; customers might resist because they've learned workarounds with legacy systems."
Malini RaoLessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey
June 9, 2021
"At General Assembly, I learned that product management is focused more on outcomes and iterative discovery."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023
