Design at Scale is People!

Key Insights

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  Design at scale requires three goals: consistent quality, velocity, and coherence to avoid siloed experiences.

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  Design systems raise quality and speed floors but inherently lack soul and can inhibit innovation if relied on solely.

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  Culture in design teams must be explicit and tangible, including shared purpose, values, norms, and artifacts like t-shirts and postcards.

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  Singular design leadership reporting close to the CEO signals design’s strategic importance in a company.

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  Team leads, not just VPs or directors, are critical as they coach teams, uphold quality standards, manage cross-functional relationships, and protect teams from executive disruptions.

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  Organizing design teams by user experience journeys (discovery, purchase, post-purchase) supports coherence across complex systems.

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  Super senior individual contributors like design architects and principal designers play a vital role in strategic and creative bridging across product, service, and ecosystems.

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  Maintaining coherence and soul in design at scale demands focusing on people and culture as much as processes and systems.

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  Diplomacy and standing firm on design principles are essential skills for team leads navigating cross-functional tensions.

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  Executive commitment and investment are necessary for embedding design deeply into organizational practices, as shown by IBM’s example under Ginny Rometti.

Notable Quotes