Group Activity: A Deep Dive Into Value and Outcomes
Summary
DesignOps as a practice is still relatively new—but the activities have been around long enough that we’re increasingly challenged to justify and quantify what we do. Accordingly, we need to address not just what is DesignOps, but how do we prove its value? What outcomes can we genuinely promise? And how do we know we are successful? In this group exercise, we’ll identify techniques, tactics, and tools for proving (and even measuring) value, and describing the outcomes that matter most.
Key Insights
-
•
62% of surveyed design ops professionals admit they haven’t figured out how to measure value effectively yet.
-
•
Common barriers to measuring design ops value include limited time/resources, difficulty involving the right stakeholders, and a lack of proven metrics.
-
•
Measuring value in design ops is complicated by each organization’s unique constraints and its stage on the design ops maturity journey.
-
•
Behavioral resistance can undermine measurement efforts, such as inconsistent or inaccurate time tracking despite its importance.
-
•
Non-financial and sentiment-based measurements are crucial as data alone often misses behavioral context.
-
•
Established frameworks like Google’s HEART and Facebook’s mixed methods provide adaptable foundations for design measurement.
-
•
An eight-type taxonomy of design ops measurement emerged from research and community input, organized around people, practice, and platform domains.
-
•
Effective measurement frameworks link activities to predictable outcomes (like happier designers, better designers, and more effective teams) enabling targeted metrics.
-
•
Retention and staffing remain central concerns tied to measuring design ops impact; qualitative tactics like stay interviews yield actionable insights.
-
•
Community collaboration and shared standards for design ops measurement are essential to evolving beyond the 'we don’t know yet' phase.
Notable Quotes
"When I was asked how I measure success, I said the day I no longer have to convince you."
"62% of people said literally we don't know how to measure the value of design ops yet."
"Limited time and money is not unique to design ops; it’s every single function I’ve ever seen."
"People really hated using Harvest to log billable hours, some just put the same hours week after week."
"Non-financial, non-data measurements can reveal much more about behaviors than traditional metrics."
"Google’s HEART framework is great because different teams—engineering, product, and design—can all use it."
"We have an eight-type framework for measuring design ops, but it’s a starting point, design ops is never done."
"You can’t have effective teams without happy designers and better designers; they’re interdependent."
"Stay interviews ask why people choose to stay, which provides more actionable retention data than exit interviews."
"Our call to action is to co-create these measurement standards together and share back to the community."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"What if learning was always mobile, decentralized, distributed among people and institutions, with new ways to acknowledge learning beyond grades?"
Nathan Shedroff Hugh Dubberly Thomas J. McLeishHow Will Design be Taught When the Schools Shut Down?
May 8, 2026
"We can forecast delivery dates despite shifting and volatile project conditions with 95% efficiency."
John Paul de Guzman10k Screens Later: How We Became a Data-Driven Design Organization
September 24, 2024
"There are over five hundred tools that call themselves survey software on G2, making it one of the largest software categories."
Aleksandra Korczynska Caroline Jarrett Justyna ParmeeSurvey Tools
March 12, 2026
"There are 500 plus people in the audience today, all deeply caring about their teams."
Kristin SkinnerTheme 2: Introduction and Provocation
January 8, 2024
"Attendee cohorts meet daily in small groups with facilitators to share learning goals and deepen engagement."
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW Victor Udoewa Jennifer StricklandEverything You Need to Know about the Civic Design 2022 Call for Presentations
May 17, 2022
"Design has to incorporate intellectual humanism—remembering we’re designing for people, with people."
Uday GajendarThe Rise of Meta-Design: A Starter Playbook
May 19, 2022
"Strong teams don't serve weak feedback."
Vanessa VarinFeedback: The Other F-Word
September 10, 2025
"You don’t think of raising a child or teaching a student as solving a problem, it’s an ongoing process—and so is design today."
Hugh DubberlyProblems with Problems: Reconsidering the Frame of Designing as Problem-Solving
June 19, 2019
"The ability to understand business needs and align efforts is key to delivering recognizable business value."
Sean McKayCoexisting with non-researchers: Practical strategies for a democratized research future
March 11, 2025
