The DesignOps Starter Kit

I gave this talk at the DesignOps Summit hosted by Rosenfeld Media in 2021.

Starting DesignOps at an org feels exciting and daunting at the same time. People who’ve given you the green light are as excited as you – so there’s a bit of pressure to make this work well! In this talk, Michelle will provide a “starter kit” of 10 tips for beginning a DesignOps program—the 10 foundational things she’s learned from establishing DesignOps at her org. Michelle includes how to prepare the program, manage expectations, ensure your success, and keep things sustainable for the long term.

The full kit is on Medium: https://bit.ly/design-ops-starter-kit

Transcript

1. September 29, 2021 | DesignOps Summit The DesignOps Starter Kit Michelle Chin Principal DesignOps Manager, Citrix 
 @soysaucechin
2. Background Citrix allows people to work from anywhere securely
3. Background VP of Design Head of Research Head of Program Mgmt Design Management Designers Researchers Program Managers DesignOps Manager Product Design Org
4. Background My role as a design manager People management DesignOps Design strategy Realistically I wanted to focus on DesignOps
5. Background We were all struggling to get operational initiatives done. What if we took everyone’s DesignOps slice and gave it to one person? Would that allow the org to fi nally focus on some operational initiatives? Yes, probably!
6. The DesignOps Starter Kit • Very exciting - but de fi nitely navigating uncharted territory! • 5 things that might not be as obvious, but become essential to an up-and-coming DesignOps practice. • Centered around communicating - building that trust and con fi dence.
7. 1. Decide on decision making responsibilities • The decisions you make were made by others before • Organic decision making doesn’t always work for high-stakes efforts • Collaborate on who’s accountable for making decisions, and who’s involved in feedback
8. 1. Decide on decision making responsibilities Top tips • Be explicit on decision points and feedback points
9. 1. Decide on decision making responsibilities Top tips • Try a decision framework • Look for opportunities to alleviate decision fatigue Low Medium High Cost/Resources Risk/Impact Time Crunch Example: Tool end of life 3-week deadline • DesignOps Manager to lead and drive decisions • Must have a small team for feedback • Stakeholders and audience to be informed quickly Example: Tool end of life 3-month deadline • DesignOps Manager to collaborate with a feedback team • Feedback team to include design managers, program managers, designers • Stakeholders and audience to be informed regularly
10. 2. Communicate – everything • 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 con fi dence
11. 2. Communicate – everything Top tips • Communicate as much as possible and in different formats Slack Email Management meetings Design shares Team meetings
12. 2. Communicate – everything Top tips • Things that seem uninteresting to you, might be very interesting to others!
13. 2. Communicate – everything Top tips • Provide opportunities for Q&A • Be approachable • Have 1-1s with stakeholders to provide that open line of communication Messages Meetings Of fi ce hours One-on-ones Miro boards
14. 3. Start small; scale up • Scaling something across the org can be daunting • It's rare to get things right the fi rst time • Buys you some fl exibility
15. 3. Start small; scale up 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.)
16. 4. Create 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 de fi ne the DesignOps practice.
17. 4. Create a backlog Top tips • Create a shareable backlog • Periodically review it
18. 4. Create a backlog Top tips • Lookout for yourself – focus on your goals for the year
19. 5. Create templates on the fly • I spend a lot of time communicating and forging working relationships • Templates can help streamline your work fl ow • Reusable things include: diagrams, checklists, org charts, meeting note formats, playbooks, presentations, frameworks, etc.
20. 5. Create 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)
21. 5. Create templates on the fly Top tips • Find anything you can reuse; make it reusable for you and others Policies Standards Strategies Managing Chaos: Digital Governance by Design (Welchman) Design System Governance Policies from the company, legal, accessibility, etc. Our 2021 goals, our approach Governance processes, component usage guidelines Innovation & Planning Policies from the company, SAFe framework Our approach and why Playbook
22. 5. Create templates on the fly Top tips • Iterate and evolve, then share templates so others can bene fi t, too
23. 5. Create templates on the fly Top tips • Have a collection of assets to quickly jump from.
24. 5. Create templates on the fly Top tips • They don’t have to be masterpieces - scrappy is fi ne!
25. The DesignOps Starter Kit 1. Decide on decision-making responsibilities 2. Communicate – everything 3. Start small; scale up 4. Create a backlog 5. Create templates on the fl y Celebrate team wins! Con fi rm that trust and con fi dence in DesignOps!
26. Thanks! • The full DesignOps Starter Kit: bit.ly/design-ops-starter-kit • Let’s stay in touch! • LinkedIn: michelletchin • Twitter: @soysaucechin • UX In Real Life – a new podcast debuting Oct. 7th