The DesignOps Starter Kit
Summary
Starting DesignOps at an org feels exciting and daunting at the same time. People who’ve given you the green light are as excited as you - so there’s a bit of pressure to make this work well! In this talk, Michelle will provide a “starter kit” of 10 tips for beginning a DesignOps program—the 10 foundational things she's learned from establishing DesignOps at her org. Michelle includes how to prepare the program, manage expectations, ensure your success, and keep things sustainable for the long term.
Key Insights
-
•
Centralizing design ops responsibilities can alleviate decision fatigue among design managers and increase focus on operational initiatives.
-
•
Explicitly defining who makes decisions and who provides feedback prevents unclear expectations and supports smoother project execution.
-
•
Communicating design ops work frequently and across varied formats builds understanding and trust in an often ambiguous practice.
-
•
Starting with small pilots before scaling allows room for iteration and reduces risk when introducing new processes org-wide.
-
•
Maintaining a public and collaboratively editable backlog helps manage expectations, prioritize effectively, and capture emergent ideas.
-
•
Creating reusable templates and frameworks accelerates workflows and standardizes communication of complex operational concepts.
-
•
Regular one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders foster open communication lines critical for driving horizontal change.
-
•
Balancing urgent ad hoc work with longer-term goals requires careful prioritization techniques like story pointing and breaking tasks down.
-
•
Design ops responsibilities typically cover horizontal initiatives affecting multiple teams, while design managers handle team-specific operations.
-
•
Celebrating team wins strengthens relationships and encourages adoption of new processes during times of frequent organizational change.
Notable Quotes
"Everyone was doing a little bit of design ops here and there, which created a lot of gray area around decision making."
"Organic decision making doesn’t always work for high stakes efforts because design ops initiatives are often horizontal and require alignment."
"Communicate as much as possible and in different formats, because different formats resonate differently with people."
"Pilots give you flexibility to mess up and figure out answers as you go, instead of needing all answers upfront."
"A backlog helps pace and define the design ops practice, managing what’s in scope and what’s aspirational."
"Templates don’t have to be masterpieces; even simple reusable checklists and diagrams can save time and effort."
"As a design ops manager, I try to alleviate decision fatigue for design managers so they can focus on the decisions that need their input."
"I’ve found that being approachable and providing space for Q&A helps build trust and confidence in the design ops practice."
"Design ops is a lot of change management, and asking people to change again requires appreciation and celebrating wins."
"My prior experience as a tour manager helped me operationalize and mobilize teams, anticipating risks and preparing for everything."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Many culture-building moments at Shopify happen because individual contributors see opportunity and take action."
Amy ThibodeauOpening Keynote: Process and Ambiguity
October 23, 2019
"75% of democratized studies don’t see full reporting mostly because stakeholders don’t have time for the analysis."
Erin May Roberta Dombrowski Laura Oxenfeld Brooke HintonDistributed, Democratized, Decentralized: Finding a Research Model to Support Your Org
March 10, 2022
"The pandemic is a message from the universe to pause and rethink who we hire and how we train."
Dr. Jamika D. Burge Steve Portigal Alba Villamil Sam LadnerThe Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
July 29, 2021
"The first stage we see is the accidental stage with silos and no consistent information across the organization."
Bram WesselEnterprise Information Architecture
January 10, 2020
"We answer questions differently when we’re living life and doing activities than when we’re sitting down facing the camera."
Bas Raijmakers, PhD (RCA) Charley Scull Prabhas PokharelWhat Design Research can Learn from Documentary Filmmaking
March 11, 2022
"We decided not to chase shiny objects because we wanted to stay true to our mission."
Briana ThomasThe Quiet Force: Uncovering Hidden Leadership in High-Impact Design Teams
September 24, 2024
"A company needs a triple win cultural role speaking to its commitment, user needs, and wider cultural tension."
Neil BarrieWidening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
March 25, 2024
"It helps to find shared goals, areas that both groups feel passionate about and where they can make a big difference."
Laura SchaeferDesignOps: A Conduit for Inclusion
September 9, 2022
"Processes are never perfect, but thoughtful testing limits disruption for your team."
Deanna SmithLeading Change with Confidence: Strategies for Optimizing Your Process
September 23, 2024
