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From Design Systems to DesignOps: Establishing DesignOps at your org

From Design Systems to DesignOps: Establishing DesignOps at your org

This is a talk I gave at Into Design Systems (https://intodesignsystems.com/) in 2022.

Many design system designers and organizers take a natural path into DesignOps. If you're on the fence about going into DesignOps, I cover a few reasons why you might want to try DesignOps. If you start a DesignOps practice, my talk includes lessons learned and top tips for being a DesignOps team of one.

Michelle Chin

May 24, 2022
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Transcript

  1. From Design Systems to
    Design Ops
    Establishing DesignOps at your org
    Michelle Chin
    Design Advocate
    @soysaucechin
    Into Design Systems 2022

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  2. I’m at zeroheight now Before, I was at Citrix.
    Citrix allows people to work from
    anywhere securely
    Background

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  3. Background
    VP of Design
    DesignOps Manager
    Design Management
    Product Designers
    Researchers
    Program Managers
    Head of Research
    Head of Program Mgmt
    2021: Citrix’s Product Design Team

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  4. Background
    My path at Citrix always included Design Ops
    Product designer Design manager DesignOps manager

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  5. Should you start doing DesignOps?
    You might be a good fit if you:
    ● Like operationalizing systems and
    helping build efficiencies
    ● Like seeing your teammates succeed
    ● Like the idea of your customers being
    your teammates
    ● Want to try a different type of “design”

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  6. Lessons learned
    Navigated a lot of uncharted territory!
    ● 3 things I wish I did differently - and how
    you can avoid these mistakes
    ● 5 things I did well - why they worked and
    top tips

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  7. 1. Have leadership level-set with the org
    Missed opportunity
    DesignOps wasn’t introduced as an official
    discipline in the org
    Impact
    People took this as my personal goal, not as a
    part of the org’s evolution.
    ● Projects were seen as my personal
    projects, when they were org-wide
    initiatives

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  8. 1. Have leadership level-set with the org
    Change
    Our VP explained what DesignOps is in our org.
    Takeaway
    ● Have your leadership announce
    “DesignOps” - what it means for your org,
    you, teammates, etc.
    ● One slide / 30 seconds at an org-wide
    meeting will make a difference!

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  9. 2. Solicit projects based on obvious pain points
    Missed opportunity
    Projects leadership and I decided on were
    important, but maybe not the biggest pain
    points of the org.
    Impact
    People felt there were my personal projects,
    not something addressing their immediate
    needs.

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  10. 2. Solicit projects based on obvious pain points
    Change
    Listened for the biggest pain points with the
    org and made them a priority with other
    initiatives
    Takeaway
    ● Talk to teammates; collaboratively
    identify the biggest pain points
    ● Working on these shows you’re working
    things that impact the team

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  11. 3. Give DesignOps a definition
    Missed opportunity
    We defined DesignOps in terms of projects,
    but didn’t defined it at a high-level
    Impact
    ● Teammates made up their own definition
    of DesignOps
    ● Teammates didn’t always understand
    how DesignOps was helping them

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  12. Change
    We created a definition of DesignOps to
    socialize
    Takeaways
    ● Define what DesignOps means for the
    org in the short term. (It can change!)
    ● Make it easy to remember, e.g.,
    “DesignOps means housekeeping so
    designers don’t have to.”
    3. Give DesignOps a definition

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  13. Lessons learned along the way
    1. Have leadership level-set with the org
    2. Solicit projects based on obvious pain points
    3. Give DesignOps a definition

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  14. 1. Created open lines of communication
    ● You’re working in somewhat uncharted
    territory - people will be just as excited as
    you!
    ● People have different mental models of
    DesignOps
    ● They might not fully understand what
    you’re working on or how you’d doing
    things
    ● You’re kind of the DesignOps
    spokesperson - help build that trust and
    confidence

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  15. 1. Created open lines of communication
    Top tips
    Communicate as much as
    possible and in different formats
    ● Team meetings
    ● Design reviews
    ● Office hours
    ● Slack

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  16. 1. Created open lines of communication
    Top tips
    Things that seem
    uninteresting to you, might
    be very interesting to
    others!

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  17. 1. Created open lines of communication
    Top tips
    ● Provide opportunities for Q&A
    ● Be approachable
    ● Have 1-1s with stakeholders to
    provide that open line of
    communication

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  18. 2. Experimented by starting small
    ● Scaling something across the org can
    be daunting
    ● It's rare to get things right the first time
    ● Buys you some flexibility

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  19. 2. Experimented by starting small
    Top tips
    ● Create pilots where you can. Pilots can
    scale and people are more OK with
    pilots.
    ● If you can’t pilot, then get as much
    feedback as you can (users,
    stakeholders, peers, etc.)

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  20. 3. Created a backlog
    ● People will be inspired and want more!
    ● People understand DesignOps in their
    own special way.
    ○ “Doesn’t DesignOps include [random
    task]?”
    ○ “Isn’t [random task] Michelle’s
    responsibility?”
    ● A backlog can help you and others
    pace and define the DesignOps
    practice.

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  21. 3. Created a backlog
    Top tips
    ● Create a shareable backlog
    ● Periodically review it

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  22. 3. Created a backlog
    Top tips
    ● Lookout for yourself – focus on your
    goals for the year

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  23. 4. Created templates on the fly
    ● I spend a lot of time communicating and
    forging working relationships
    ● Templates can help streamline your
    workflow
    ● Reusable things include: diagrams,
    checklists, org charts, meeting note
    formats, playbooks, presentations,
    frameworks, etc.

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  24. 4. Created templates on the fly
    Top tips
    Find anything you can reuse; make it reusable
    for you and others
    Guide to: Benchmarking Your Design System (InVision)

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  25. 4. Created templates on the fly
    Top tips
    Find anything you can reuse; make it reusable
    for you and others
    Managing Chaos:
    Digital Governance
    by Design
    (Welchman)
    Policies
    Strategies
    Standards
    Company policies: Legal,
    accessibility, etc.
    Our 2021 goals, approach
    Governance processes;
    component usage guidelines

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  26. 4. Created templates on the fly
    Top tips
    Iterate and evolve, then share templates so
    others can benefit, too

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  27. 4. Created templates on the fly
    Top tips
    Have a collection of assets to quickly jump from.

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  28. 4. Created templates on the fly
    Top tips
    They don’t have to be masterpieces - scrappy is fine!

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  29. 5. Articulated DesignOps wins
    You’ll be DesignOps’s biggest advocate - don’t
    stay quiet
    Top tips
    ● Mention the impact you’re making
    (quantitatively and qualitatively)
    ● Think creatively on how you can
    showcase your work (road shows, status
    updates, org-wide meetings)
    ● Celebrate DesignOps wins with the team

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  30. 5. Articulated DesignOps wins
    VP of Design
    DesignOps Manager
    Design Management
    Product Designers
    Researchers
    Program Managers
    Head of Research
    Head of Program Mgmt
    2021: Citrix’s Product Design Team
    Head of DesignOps

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  31. 5. Articulated DesignOps wins
    Impact
    ● Showed the value of DesignOps to
    establish it as a discipline
    ● Able to tackle a lot more
    ● Can specialize in various aspects of
    DesignOps

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  32. Thanks
    The full DesignOps Starter Kit:
    bit.ly/design-ops-starter-kit
    LinkedIn: michelletchin
    Twitter: @soysaucechin
    Talk to me directly: bit.ly/zheroes-slack
    UX IRL - a podcast about UX in real life and at
    work

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