Summary
Teams Work How People Work You’re part of a cross-functional team dedicated to creating an amazing product experience. You’re an essential piece of a larger puzzle. But how does your piece mesh with all the others? This first-of-its-kind interactive session will blend improvisation, audience participation, panel-style discussion, and more to explore the inner dynamics of cross-functional enterprise teams. We’ll illustrate a few best (and probably a few worst) practices, and you’ll walk away with a new found understanding for your colleagues and a renewed sense of ways to make the fit between your different roles clearer and more effective. Participating in this session: - Christian Crumlish, Head of Product, 7 Cups - Jacqui Frey, Director of Design Operations, MailChimp - Kristina Halvorson, Founder, CEO, Brain Traffic - Jamie Janssen, Research Manager for Shared Rides, Uber Technologies, Inc - Ramya Mahalingam, Associate Design Director, McKinsey & Company - Adam Penly, Lead Frontend Architect, Capital One
Key Insights
-
•
There are two kinds of conflict in cross-disciplinary teams: zero-sum tug-of-war and creative tension that creates new outcomes.
-
•
Dog Business and Dog Company is a fictional B2D (business-to-dog) enterprise exploring innovative technology like blockchain for dog-to-dog secure communication.
-
•
Product management often leans heavily on business priorities but must balance design and technology to succeed, as Christian highlights.
-
•
Design teams at the company are stretched thin and lack enough time for prototyping and thorough validation, impacting confidence in shipped products.
-
•
Project management sits at the intersection of brand experience and business strategy, requiring cross-team alignment as noted by Jackie.
-
•
Engineering excels at execution but struggles with deeper engagement in design and user experience processes, limiting collaboration.
-
•
Research teams are centralized and large but face unique challenges of representing non-human users (dogs), demanding specialized expertise.
-
•
Content strategy is undervalued and fragmented across the organization, leading to inconsistencies; leadership must elevate content’s role.
-
•
Interactive improv exercises and role-playing hiring games foster understanding and reveal real-world team dynamics and collaboration challenges.
-
•
The invocation improv game helps teams build empathy by exploring their connection to the product at increasing emotional and spiritual depth.
Notable Quotes
"There are two kinds of conflict: one is a zero-sum tug of war, and the other is creative tension that creates something unexpected."
"We are a B2D company – business to dog – making technology so dogs can speak English to people and each other."
"Having a business background is almost the oldest form of product management, but great product requires balancing design and tech too."
"Designers want more time to prototype and really ensure what ships is successful, but we just don’t have enough people or time."
"Project management is the ecosystem connecting everyone to deliver the best branded dog communication technology."
"Engineers are great at executing code but often lack connection to user experience and design processes."
"Content is created all over and inconsistently; leadership needs to see content as the fuel driving the experience."
"When product leaders ask for research just to validate ideas, the best response is to say, ‘fuck this group,’ then do real user interviews."
"We need to sequence activities carefully so we innovate while also keeping code shipping without stopping progress."
"Thou art community, connection, and meaning – the product is not just code or design, it is a shared experience between humans and dogs."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"One design ops person can work for anything from a handful of designers up to 200 designers, which can be quite challenging."
Angelos ArnisState of DesignOps: Learnings from the 2021 Global Report
October 1, 2021
"Personalization of accessibility settings will be the next big shift, letting users avoid repeated microaggressions like repeatedly enabling captions."
Sheri Byrne-HaberThe Importance of Accessible Design Systems
January 8, 2024
"Design is problem-solving, and part of the problem is the environment in which you’re trying to work."
Bob BaxleyLeading with Design Operations Past and Present
December 19, 2019
"Connecting strings of Christmas lights is a mental model for connecting teams’ insights without superseding their systems."
Etienne FangPower of Insights: Why sharing is better than silos with Uber’s Insights Platform
December 16, 2019
"When you ask a question, try to ask one at a time so the model doesn't get lost."
Daniel KorczynskiWhy AI Is Bad at Research (and how to make it actually useful)
March 10, 2026
"Being trauma-informed means restoring a sense of safety, power, and self-worth."
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW Uday Gajendar Dr. Dawn Emerick Dawn E. Shedrick, LCSWLeading through the long tail of trauma
July 7, 2022
"It’s difficult to break the rules when they’re not very clear or even there."
Neema MahdaviOperationalizing DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"If you’re not embarrassed by what you share, you’ll share too late."
Iain McMaster IHan ChengDesign and Product: from Frenemy to Harmony
November 29, 2023
"We have a Chief Creative Officer who leads design but also brand and workplace experience, giving design a seat at the executive table."
Kim LenoxLeading Distributed Global Teams
May 20, 2019
