Theme 2: Introduction and Provocation
Summary
What's today's theme all about, and what does it mean for DesignOps professionals? Theme leader Kristin Skinner will provide you the background you'll need for how today's sessions came to be and what they'll cover. She'll also gently provoke you with questions to consider throughout the day.
Key Insights
-
•
Resilience in design ops teams requires deliberate strategies to manage constant change.
-
•
Measuring team health involves tracking metrics that reflect both practice sustainability and organizational wellbeing.
-
•
Sustainability in work encompasses flexibility, allowing teams to adapt without burnout.
-
•
Sharing lessons learned across teams boosts collective success and continuous improvement.
-
•
Motivation and focus need special attention in remote or distributed teams.
-
•
A hallmark of healthy teams is how well members feel cared for, enabling them to perform at their best.
-
•
Community dialogue and generosity among design ops practitioners enrich collective knowledge.
-
•
Leadership in design ops spans a diverse range of industries and global perspectives, enhancing the conversation's depth.
-
•
Personal stories of connection and care humanize professional challenges in sustaining teams.
-
•
Asking reflective questions guides design ops practitioners to navigate resilience and purpose effectively.
Notable Quotes
"Teamwork makes the dream work – something we all learned in primary school and still holds true."
"How might your team maintain its resilience through constant change?"
"What are some of the metrics that you’ll use to measure the health of your teams and practice?"
"Sustainable and flexible work tactics are key to navigating constant change without burnout."
"One hallmark of a healthy team is how well team members feel cared for so they can shine."
"I prefer to shine a light on others rather than be in the spotlight myself."
"Sharing knowledge and references is what I love about this community."
"Motivation and focus are especially challenging when working from afar."
"We need to define success in ways that make our work meaningful and purposeful."
"There are 500 plus people in the audience today, all deeply caring about their teams."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"You have to ask yourself, are you ready for the messiness, the hard choices, and the chaos that come with change?"
Maria GiudiceRemaking the Making Company: Moving from Product to Experience
June 9, 2016
"Critique sessions work best when the topic is shaped so answers are relevant and help the process, especially by including business goals."
Christian CrumlishAMA with Christian Crumlish, author of Product Management for UX People
March 24, 2022
"When you deliver MVPs without understanding the problem fully, you end up in endless cycles of fix-it-later and rework."
Rima Campbell Amrit S BhachuIncrease Productivity and Drive Business Impact
September 24, 2024
"I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a computer in the house talking at me."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
June 10, 2022
"Let the community lead from the very first step: they will determine goals, participants, and logistics."
Victor UdoewaRadical Participatory Design: Decolonizing Participatory Design Processes
December 10, 2021
"Empathy means constantly going back to the people using the tools and hearing their feedback."
Jon Fukuda Amy Evans Ignacio Martinez Joe MeersmanThe Big Question about Innovation: A Panel Discussion
September 25, 2024
"Trauma is a rupture in meaning making; the way you see yourself, the world and others is shocked and overturned by an event."
Rachael Dietkus, LCSWTrauma-Responsive Design: Reimagining the Future of Design Now
December 10, 2021
"Government cannot be the only solution—we needed community groups, nonprofits, and for-profits all involved."
Kyria Stephens Marlon KernerPower to Heal: Civic Design in the Aftermath of Tragedy
November 17, 2022
"Organizations are made of people — resilience is an outcome of a successfully organized group."
Niko LaitinenAdaptable Org Design for Resilient Times
June 10, 2021