{"id":8868,"date":"2021-02-08T16:18:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T21:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=8868"},"modified":"2022-02-25T13:10:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:10:34","slug":"what-is-designops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/what-is-designops\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Future of Designer Productivity Starts with DesignOps"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\">7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p>Design teams are growing fast, and so are the operational systems that manage them. We\u2019re living in a design-first world, and that means that graphic design matters more than ever. Of course, that also means that graphic designers are <em>busier<\/em> than ever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But a new scale requires a new structure\u2014it doesn\u2019t make sense to bog designers down with work that distracts from actual design. That\u2019s what designers are best at, after all. Smart companies are recognizing this problem, empowering their designers and allowing them to work more effectively.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How? DesignOps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What is DesignOps?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>DesignOps is the umbrella term for creating effective workflows that help teams build digital products. It\u2019s the operational management of designers and the optimization of design processes in order to maximize the value of design. Meredith Black, a DesignOps pioneer, has a more basic definition: \u201cI like to say that DesignOps is everything but actual design,\u201d she quips. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-602695435d4e9\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-1-1-2-1-2-1-1-1?heightOverride=927' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='DesignOps PQ1' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually, the organizations that implement DesignOps are large tech companies, but they don\u2019t have to be. DesignOps is loosely based on the successful model of DevOps\u2014the agile, iterative practice that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to enable continuous product deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKeep designers focused on the work, and let DesignOps help with the rest,\u201d says Black, who is a former DesignOps lead at Pinterest and currently serves as a consultant in the space. \u201cWhether that\u2019s strategy, taking notes, coordinating with cross-functional teams, helping ensure a successful launch of a project, building a learning and development program, or just being there to listen to a designer\u2019s needs.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you start trying to describe how DesignOps actually <em>works<\/em>, though, a simple definition becomes harder to pin down. This is partly because it\u2019s a somewhat new discipline\u2014although agencies always had account and project managers, organizations only started trying to create DesignOps roles in the early 2010s. But also, DesignOps is meant to be <em>everything<\/em>. It connects across teams, across processes, across products; it is a set of practices and a role, as well as a mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nngroup.com\/articles\/design-operations-101\/\">Nielsen Norman Group<\/a> organizes their \u201cDesignOps menu\u201d\u2014in other words, what people in DesignOps roles do\u2014into three broad categories: \u201cHow we work together,\u201d \u201cHow we get our work done,\u201d and \u201cHow our work creates impact.\u201d And within those umbrella categories, the topics that DesignOps can touch upon get more refined. Black explains that the reason for such a large \u201cmenu\u201d of options is that it all comes down to what a company needs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/img_6048f23ee81b6.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption><em>The Nielsen Norman Group DesignOps Menu.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCurrently, lots of people think it\u2019s a one-size-fits-all role,\u201d Black says, \u201cWhen really the role is going to vary based on the company\u2019s needs. One company might need someone to run actual projects, project timelines, budgets, and take notes\u2014while another company might need DesignOps folks to run larger programs focused on onboarding, learning and development, or supporting at an executive level, and really being a chief-of-staff to the head of design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is partially why every company seems to take a slightly different approach. IBM has <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/design-ibm\/designops-an-ibm-point-of-view-4e245f9132f0\">a primer<\/a> to show ideas and org charts for how to scale DesignOps teams. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlassian.com\/blog\/inside-atlassian\/designops-atlassian-design-studio\">Atlassian<\/a> shared their workflows to incorporate design understanding and feedback in an agile-like process. So did <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/getty-images-design\/designops-at-getty-images-39b0d296ca14\">Getty Images<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/airbnb.design\/designops-airbnb\/\">Airbnb<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/invisionapp.com\/enterprise\/design-genome\/report\/pinterest\">Pinterest<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/salesforce-ux\/team-ops-and-product-ops-the-perfect-designops-pair-eb6508f1b435\">Salesforce<\/a>. While they\u2019re all slightly different, they all share the three-tiered approach that NN Group laid out: There\u2019s the work done on the product, the work done on the team, and then an awareness of the culture of design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tripartite structure is also by design. As Dave Malouf, a DesignOps leader at Northwestern Mutual, explained in the 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designbetter.co\/designops-handbook\">DesignOps Handbook<\/a> that he co-wrote with Black, Collin Whitehead (DropBox), Kate Battles (FitBit), and Gregg Bernstein, you can trace the DesignOps menu back to DevOps, Lean Startup, and two-track agile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/img_6048f240315f1.png\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption><em>Dave Malouf\u2019s tri-track agile system.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As Malouf writes in the handbook, the historical difficulties of designers working with developers is that \u201cdevelopers and product managers measured success by whether a product shipped on time, and not whether the design satisfied user needs.\u201d Tri-track systems solved these problems by adding a \u201cdiscovery\u201d track, a way to learn from mistakes and test experiments, and an \u201cunderstanding\u201d track, which considers the efficacy of the product and the efficiency of the team\u2014\u201cwhether it\u2019s the \u201cthe \u2018right\u2019 thing based on user needs and team insights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>How to actually make it work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Black remembers what it was like at the beginning. Seemingly simultaneously, designers across the industry grappled with the same issues of how to efficiently scale teams\u2014and the solution of DesignOps seemed to catch on and spread. She was working at the agency Hot Studio on their Facebook account: \u201cWhen I was interacting with Facebook execs, they realized they needed a role similar to the one I had,\u201d she said. Courtney Kaplan, Black\u2019s boss at the time, built the entire DesignOps team from the ground up at Facebook\u2014when Black went on to do the same thing at Pinterest, she considered Kaplan as a mentor. \u201cThere were very few of us in the industry who had this unique role and we were all figuring out how to roll something like this out on a larger scale,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And according to the numbers, everyone is still figuring it out. In June 2020, the UX researchers of NN Group surveyed 557 design and UX practitioners and organizations to learn more about their DesignOps efforts. The survey went out to organizations and professionals across industries, and the questions were centrally focused on the presence and efficacy of DesignOps across the organization. The researchers found that on average, design professionals ticked off just 7.5 of the 34 total items at their organization, about 22%:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How we work together: 18% (2.2 items of 12)<br>How we get our work done: 20% (2.2 items of 11)<br>How our work creates impact: 30% (3.2 items of 11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/img_6048f24163824.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/img_6048f24271b93.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The numbers were low, no matter the question. This might be explained by the fact that only 8% of 557 respondents reported working at organizations within which someone had a dedicated DesignOps role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how can design teams adopt DesignOps? By following Black\u2019s example, and starting slow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I think the role right now is just so new,\u201d Black says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very \u2018hot\u2019 role and companies all around the world are hiring DesignOps folks and trying to figure out what \u2018DesignOps\u2019 really is.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Black started at Pinterest, she was the first producer they ever had. She had left Facebook to join the Pinterest team because she wanted to work someplace smaller, to help them grow. At the time, Pinterest was only 400 people\u2014and Black was working with a team of 10 designers. (Yes, that small\u2014and DesignOps can work with teams that are even smaller.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/03\/img_6048f2437b329.png\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption><em>An organizational chart that shows the Pinterest approach to DesignOps: A producer helps facilitate a specific project alongside design leadership. Source: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/designbetter\/getting-started-with-core-models-for-designops-87c5a999acb6\"><em>Design Better<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And because she was working someplace that didn\u2019t have a DesignOps structure, she had to start by taking on one project at a time, and figure out the right organizational workflow as she went along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, as Black stresses, the strength of DesignOps producers is that they aren\u2019t outside of the design process\u2014they are embedded within it, and are supporting designers, first and foremost. \u201cThe people in this role are not admins, they are not note-takers,\u201d Black says. \u201cThey have a passion for design and while they may not be designing themselves, they sure can articulate what works and what doesn\u2019t, and that can be incredibly helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>How else can DesignOps help?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of taking things off of designers\u2019 plates also means clearing the air. 2020 was a tumultuous year\u2014and because more people are working from home than ever before, a lot of the boundaries that used to exist between work and life are no longer there. More and more companies are looking to management to help mitigate the ways that our daily lives interact with our work lives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of the DesignOps Summit of 2020, the UX designer <a href=\"https:\/\/weshouldgettogether.com\/\">Kat Vellos<\/a> went on the <a href=\"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/designopssummit2020\/\">Rosenfeld Review Podcast<\/a> to talk about her research on the <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/leading-design\/7-problems-growing-design-teams-face-5fd94292d405\">epidemic of loneliness <\/a>in the design industry. Vellos argued that managers, especially those in DesignOps, needed to start breaking taboos and making themselves responsible for the workplace loneliness of their employees. \u201cA sense of belonging really needs to come from the management level,\u201d Vellos said. \u201cWhether they care about it from the heart level or the wallet, it needs to be a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vincentjbrathwaite.com\/design\">Vincent Brathwaite<\/a> also visited the podcast ahead of his talk at the Summit to talk about the specific function that DesignOps can perform to help close the racial divide on design teams. Brathwaite believes that difficult conversations about race can be started and ultimately made more productive by generating new design-based protocols around having them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Brathwaite, encouraging teams to have difficult conversations can be achieved by setting new social norms around openness, and defining terms and language. \u201cOne of the things we have to do as design leaders is be open to having conversations and being wrong,\u201d Brathwaite said. \u201cSetting the stage and creating the protocol where [someone can say], \u2018Hey I may not know all the terms, but I\u2019m open to correcting myself or to using the right ones.\u2019 Really it just boils down to being willing to exchange with another human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These small shifts, Brathwaite explained, have the potential to bridge racials divides and also set new norms across teams. \u201cMy hope is that designers and design leaders can become more curious about the way that our industry is set up,\u201d Brathwaite said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At its core, DesignOps is about curiosity and openness about how the industry can change \u2014 and that producers can help lead changes to the design process. As Black explains, the best people suited for DesignOps are the ones that are \u201copen and curious\u201d to whatever it is that a company really needs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think that people who take on this role are very much the unsung heroes,\u201d Black says. \u201cOne of the best quotes I ever heard from a product manager was, \u2018I don\u2019t know exactly what you do, but I would be lost without you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 62.5%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5ee1313c103da\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.6\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/landing-page-1-2-1-1-2-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Inspire Curious Sign-up Embed' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"myclass\">Companies are turning to DesignOps to allow designers to do what they do best: design. 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