Communicating and Establishing DesignOps as a New Function

Key Insights

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  Designers at Intuit spent only about 37% of their time on actual design work before design ops were introduced.

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  Adding one design program manager (DPM) to a team increased designers' design time from 15 to 20 hours per week, more than adding another designer would.

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  DPMs report directly to design ops leadership rather than individual design managers, enabling them to act as trusted mentors and improve team communication.

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  Communication gaps and duplicated work were primary challenges prompting the creation of design ops in a large company like Intuit.

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  The Design Ops Menu allows DPMs to cherry-pick operational tasks tailored to their team’s unique needs instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

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  Blocking dedicated 'maker time' on calendars significantly improves designers’ ability to focus on actual design work.

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  Global expansion introduced new complexities such as cultural and timezone differences that design ops helped address by sharing best practices across offices.

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  Trying to standardize too many tools across teams created resistance; flexible tool usage with strong communication was more successful.

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  Allocating DPMs to design teams unwilling or unprepared for the role created more confusion than benefit.

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  Design ops initiatives positively impacted design talent retention, increasing average tenure from 1–2 years to 2–4 years after DPM introduction.

Notable Quotes