Implement Design in Organisations

In This article I am going to examine the „DesignOps“ and define it’s meaning.

 

The word DesignOps is shortened for DesignOperations.

To explain the meaning, let us first clarify what the word “operation” means. Operations include all processes and activities that are necessary to reach a certain outcome. When we connect it with the service of design, we simply define the type of operation or the aimed outcome of all activities and processes of that operation.

 

But why are Operations designed, why do we design pipelines and processes?

It is all about resources. In the marketplace, it is all about time and money. Therefore eliminating obstacles, optimizing communication and offering fast support is of major importance.

This clarified, DesignOps is not one clear concept with clear structures, it rather is a term that describes an integrated work structure of bigger teams, in which resources are constantly managed and optimized.

 

Why does the idea of DesignOperation exist or why has it gained importance over time?

During the last few years, the internet has accelerated the necessity for digital products.

The marketplace started to realise how important design was and that it is not solely a service that produces a product, but is inextricable from the company’s strategy as a whole. Simultaneously design solutions are growing in complexity and size, as well as their design teams and the tools they are using. If the company needs to grow or to find new spin-offs, the complexity and the design project pipelines grow with it. To withstand these accumulating challenges companies needed to integrate design into their processes more closely.

 

 

Agile Management

In companies the agile management methodology is omnipresent. The first instinct was to just use this methodology in the design processes as well. Later in they realized that important steps such as vision, exploration, associative thinking and interruption, which are important for a good outcome in the design process, were falling behind. Designers found themselves isolated from each other or designers were hired based on careers that were mapped onto those of engineers, for which the agile methodology was originally built.

After the alteration of the agile management system, it got the buzzword of DesignOps, which relates to Systems such as DevOps (Development Operations).

“Operations are basically responsible for all of the overhead that makes design happen.” Josh Ulm — ORACLE

 

How does DesignOps work?

DesignOps are context-bound. A Framework can not be described without the context of the company, its size, if it is in-house or an agency, the type of deliverable and so on. Non either the less, some ideas can help build an individual DesignOperations system.

 

According to Superside

Clients such as Meta, Amazon, Booking.com, Epic Games, Puma, Cisco

https://www.superside.com

DesignOps is categorised into three parts:

  • People Operations
  • Business Operations
  • Workflow Operations

People Operations is all about the team and team member management. Business Operations can be about budgeting or about providing the team with the required equipment. Workflow operations are about managing communication and optimizing workflows, setting priorities or monitoring and adjusting when necessary.

 

Operation Support Model

This basic framework only focuses on the management of the operation. Managing such an operation sums up tasks such as Communications, Team development, Recruiting, Design tools and so on. The approach is not to manage the day-to-day business, as in the DesignOps Project support approach.

 

Project Support Model

This approach builds onto the Operation Support model. All practices of Operation Support are adapted but the day-to-day business is also taken into account. Therefore not only the framework managed or the operations, but obstacles that designers or teams face daily.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1M5_RlVhGQ

 

According to the Nielsen Norman Group

Nielsen Norman Group offers research-based UX guidance.

Clients such as American Express, PayPal, Visa, Government of Canada, US Navy, London Business School, …

DesignOps here is defined into three parts.

  • How we work together
  • How we get work done
  • How our work creates Impact

How we work together is defined into three sub-categories.

  • Organize | How is the team, structured? How is it composed? And who does what?
  • Collaborate | How do we stay in communication and work together?
  • Humanize | Who do we hire? How do we make sure that employees are treated as humans first?

How we get work done consists of there three sup-categories:

  • Standardize | What are the guiding principles? What is our design process? What tools do we use?
  • Harmonize | How do we do research? How do we manage assets? How do we make sure everybody comes from the same understanding and the same information.
  • Prioritize | How do we manage the workload? How long do we need for certain tasks?

How our work creates Impact consists of:

  • Measure | What are our design metrics? When is something done or still needs some work?
  • Socialize | How do we educate others on the role and value of design?
  • Enable | How do we develop an understanding of our design tools and activities? How do we ensure that activities are understood properly?

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-operations-101/

 

According to DesignOps Handbook by InVision

The hierarchy in DesignOps looks as follows:

Executive Producer – Design Director 
Each Team:
Design Manager
Designer

The processes and actions facilitated by DesignOps are:

  • People Operations
  • Workflow Operations
  • Business Operations

 

Models such as the Project Support Model and Operation Support Model, are defined as mentioned in the Superside section.

 

 

The Models of Superside and InVision overlap in the sense that we have the same categories of Business Operations, Workflow Operations and People Operations. Also, the Models of the Project Support and the Operation Support Models are the same. The hierarchy that is described by InVision does not overlap with the definition of Superside. They speak of the tribe team management system from Spotify, which is drastically different from the hierarchy defined by InVision.

 

To sum up, DesignOperations is a word or a term that is used to describe the management of design operations. Most prominently the models of Project Support and Operation Support are used to further define the overall scope of DesignOps within an organization. How the hierarchy is structured and what people are included within that structure, to whom they report and the one who makes decisions, varies.

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