This version of the talk was given at the Intersection 17 conference in Barcelona on 7 Sep, 2017. http://2017.intersectionconf.com/

1. Design Operations
Dave Malouf - @daveixd
Intersection - 7 September 2017

2. How do we amplify
the value of design
investment, and thus
increase that
investment further?

3. The largest obstacle to
design success is the
misalignment of the
value proposition that
design itself provides an
organization.

4. Value …
… answers the question, “why should I come
to you?”
… justifies investment through perceived
return.
… suggests what should be measured to
understand return on that investment.

5. Proposed value of design
• Driving Understanding & Empathy
• Creating Clarity & Behavioral Fit
• Exploration
• Envisioning

6. Tools to create that value
• Storytelling
• Visual Thinking
• Information Presentation
• Workshops
• Prototyping/Simulations

7. Disciplines and their value
Research: move past surface symptoms towards framing problems and needs.
Facilitation: align understanding utilizing tools, frameworks, and visualizations.
Interaction Design: convert understood problems and needs into flows and
interactivity models that not just meet needs but fit behaviors.
Information Architecture: Brings clarity by converting data sets into
information spaces that help people gain insights, navigate smoothly, make
better decisions.
User Interface Design: Creates handles and buttons, and information displays
that allow people to understand possibilities, make better decisions, act within a
system with confidence, know equally confidently the system reaction.

8. The value of design
is as relevant to the
organization as it is
to its customers.

9. DevOps
Not Developer Operations
•Is IT operations built
around the goals of
continuous integration
& continuous delivery
•Is foundational
component of digital
transformation.

10. Lessons learned from DevOps
• Continuous Integration /
Continuous Delivery
(CI/CD)
• Automation / self-healing
Software used to build,
maintain, check software
• Measure as you go
• Share, Share, Share
• Cattle vs. Pets
• Culture matters: Openness,
Accountability, Autonomy
Culture of Learning (at pace)

11. 1. Set up your team for success
2. Increase the value of your
organization’s investment
in design
Goals of Design Operations:

12. What is Design Ops?
Rails are things that keep you focused and having
direction: Values, principles, strategy, org structure
Grease are the things that keep things flowing
smoothly: Human Resources, collaborative systems,
and spaces.
Tooling are the things that keep work happening:
format interoperability, workflows, governance

13. Rails

14. Principles
Tell us good from bad.
They are not
• Common sense
• Your process
• Latest trends
They are
• Your differentiators
• Brand voice
• Reflective of your customer’s
special needs

17. Organizational
Structure
“Now where should I put
my design organization this
year … ok, this week.?”
•Scaling over time
•Transforming vs.
building
•Cultural issues/values

18. If you are not working to
get your top design
leader to be a peer with
both engineering and
product you are doing it
wrong.

19. Designing Your Organization
• Requires the whole team across functions.
• Based on understanding the value of design
contribution to your organization.
• Guided by a “roadmap” towards a strategic
vision.
• Focus on balancing required skills.

20. The golden ratio
What is the ideal ratio for designers to
engineers?
IBM is working towards 1:8.
Gartner suggests 1:3
Intuit has 1 designer per product manager.
Dual Track Team(s)
Discovery Track
1 Prod Mngr
1 UX Design Lead
2 Dev Lead
.5 Researcher
.25 Visual Designer
Delivery Track
5 - 10 Developers
1 Jr. UX Designer

21. Design leadership
Tradecraft: the tangible crafting of experiences themselves. Led
best by principals and player coaches and other lead makers.
Stagecraft: Setting the scene, creating the immediate environment
for success. Led by by line managers who are driving execution.
Statecraft: The act of diplomacy and vision. Led best by executives
who are breaking silos, creating relationships, driving vision and
gaining followership for it.
Told to me by Uday Gajendar (via Slack)

22. Grease

23. Human
Resources
It’s all about the people.
•Recruitment
•Onboarding
•Career path
•Compensation
•Benefits
•Rewards & Recognition
•Development & Education

24. Developing your team
• Keep team’s skills balanced.
• Move from generalists to specialists as your
organization scales.
• Invest in your people; they deserve it and
you need it.

25. A team that knows who they are and where they can go runs smoothest

26. Collaborate
Openness, Transparency,
Instruction, and Criticism.
•The right tools to
increase engagement
•The right space(s) to
externalize work.
•The right mindset to
contribute, critique, and
instruct.

27. Collaboration should
feel natural and
fluid. If it requires
effort there is room
for improvement.

28. Collaboration is
working together.
Coordination is
working apart and
reporting back.

29. Tools

30. Tools
Software, equipment,
supplies
•Interoperability of formats
•Keeping people connected
•Enabling remote
experiences
•Connecting designers to
stakeholders &
collaborators

31. IT & Procurement need
to empower managers
and individual
contributors.

32. Your tool chest
• Collaboration
• Real-time
• Async
• Whiteboards/
post-its
• feedback/review
• Asset Management
• Testing and data
collection
• Knowledge Mngt
• Version control
• Networked storage
• Project & Resource
Management

33. Workflow
Intake, Collaboration, and
Delivery
•The connections and
processes that move
to go.
•Contributing to
continuous delivery
& learning.

34. A good design workflow …
… Requests answers it needs to create
quality design value.
… Answers the questions that teammates
need so they, too, can create quality value.
… Is as tool agnostic as is feasible.

35. Process framework

39. Governance matters
• Decision making
• Autonomy
• Risk management
• Security & Privacy

40. Research
Operations
It’s own thing
Research is best run as
a separate practice
area directly
connected to design,
but with its own ops.

41. Research Operational Needs
• Project Intake
• Subject Recruitment
• Client Management
• Project Management
• Asset Management
• Proof of Concepts
• Protocols
• Reports
• Data Management
• Innovation
Management

42. “Research Hub”
Data comes from many
sources. Many are not
from researchers.
Anyone needs to be able
to contribute a data
source.
All data needs to be
accessible, tagged, with
relationships in tact.
Data needs to move
from collection to
synthesis fluidly.
The goal of this hub is to drive insights through an organization
and to aid in the conversion of insights into value for customers.

43. Leading

44. Design
Operations Leader
•The role needs to start
immediately.
•1st by the head of design,
•Then a part-time role of a
line manager.
•Finally a full-time
position

45. The role includes
Team project mngt
Team communications
Team culture mngt
Team wide critiques
Procurement lead
Recruiting lead
Design system owner
Team IT Administration

46. Design Operations Lead
has a systems oriented
mind, experience in
different design contexts,
and is an influencer.

47. Qualifications for a Design Operations Leader
Systems: can map flows, relationships, and goals to
understand complexity and communicate it clearly.
Design depth: Community depth to gain insights. Plus
personal experience to extrapolate solutions.
Relationships: Needs to be able to build a wide net around
themselves to align and influence.
Understanding & Alignment: facilitate differing view
points to drive organizations towards action.

48. Culture
Put a bow on it
Take the culture of
learning of DevOps,
and infuse it with
empathy, inclusion,
and vision.

49. Making it happen
• Boil bays > sounds > gulfs > seas > oceans
• Be sure to include and collaborate
• Drill hard into aligning value and meaning
• Measure continuously, adjust accordingly
• Imagine success and work to make it happen

50. http://DesignOpsSummit.com/

51. Dave Malouf
me@davemalouf.com
@daveixd || @Des_Ops
http://medium.com/@daveixd