How to Create Change
Summary
Changing orgs and structures seem to be happening all the time. How does DesignOps respond to the need to change how we work? In a case study of change management at Cigna / Evernorth Health, Amy Evans will walk through a use case of a new self-service operating model. From the beginning, Amy will share how they started change discussions, brainstormed on new models and launched a pilot process. She will also dive a little deeper into tactics that helped the team succeed in innovating the way the teams worked together.
Key Insights
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Nearly half of all organizational change initiatives fail, highlighting the need for effective change leadership.
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Self-service models can significantly increase design team capacity by shifting some workload to business stakeholders.
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Categorizing work into must-do, may-do, and desire-to-do projects helps prioritize resources and reduce backlog.
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Strong governance—including legal agreements, design checkpoints, and content guidelines—is critical for self-service success.
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Asynchronous communication reduces meeting overload and improves team efficiency during change implementation.
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Starting small with one line of business and demonstrating success encourages wider adoption across an organization.
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Involving stakeholders early through pilots and continuous feedback fosters empowerment and builds trust.
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Design operations can evolve into strategic change leaders by facilitating workshops, analyzing workflows, and enabling data-driven decision making.
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Self-service enabled Cigna to redirect 62% of ad hoc design requests, improve revenue by millions, and speed delivery by 86%.
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Empathy and transparency about design processes increase stakeholder admiration and collaboration.
Notable Quotes
"Would you feel confident leaving your project success to the flip of a coin based on the fact that almost half of all change fails?"
"Change is messy and it can be uncomfortable, much like baking bread—it’s hard to imagine sticky dough turning into a perfect loaf."
"What if product and business actually manage designs and deliver digital communications?"
"Design takes on a new role as governance practitioner, overseeing branding, content, and accessibility."
"We categorized all our work into may-do, must-do, and desire-to-do buckets to better allocate our efforts."
"Self-service was a model with the most unknowns but possibly the biggest rewards."
"Controls like insurance qualifiers and legal agreements were necessary guardrails for this new way of working."
"Async communications helped us reduce emails and meetings, improving overall efficiency."
"Starting with one line of business and showing success creates a trickle effect for broader organizational adoption."
"Stepping into the shoes of design gave stakeholders a new admiration for the design process and strengthened our relationship."
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