Rosenverse
Scale is Social Work

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Scale is Social Work

Thursday, March 19, 2020 • DesignOps Community
Share the love for this talk
Scale is Social Work
Speakers: Jacqui Frey
Link:

Summary

Ask any design leader and the word scale is most definitely a part of their job description. In this session, Jacqui Frey, Senior Director of Design Operations at Mailchimp, will share her successes and failures with scaling design through DesignOps. Scale requires something greater than determination in order to navigate an organization through change. It requires the power of the community. Social sciences like social theory, flow, chaos theory, and Adlerian psychology reveal key understandings to ensure impactful co-existing in large communities, especially those who require intentional social change. And if there is one thing you can count on in Design, it is change.

Key Insights

  • Design Operations at MailChimp grew from a single person in 2016 to a team of 15 actively managing design systems and culture.

  • A healthy ratio is about one design operations person for every ten designers to manage communication and coordination effectively.

  • Design Ops roles differ: program managers build and maintain systems, while producers push daily work through them.

  • The core of design Ops is social work—building social fabric and reducing friction between teams and departments.

  • Design Ops acts as a servant leader, amplifying the authority and effectiveness of design leadership by handling operational complexity.

  • Giving up operational responsibilities is often mistaken for loss of power, but properly delegated, it empowers leaders through better focus and insights.

  • System thinking is the foundational skill in design operations, coupled with high emotional intelligence and business acumen.

  • Design Ops requires ongoing change management and communication strategies adapted to different organizational cultures and stakeholders.

  • Effective design Ops teams serve as translators between design, product, engineering, and business functions, especially in less mature product partnerships.

  • The role of design Ops is dynamic and evolves with organizational growth; flexibility and clear documentation are key to managing expectations.

Notable Quotes

"Design Ops brings the joy back into design."

"My job is to make the head of design look super good."

"Scale is social work because it’s about creating relationships and reducing friction."

"One operations person for every ten designers is when you start to feel the pain of coordination."

"Operations is like the rocket booster for design leadership."

"Design Ops is fundamentally a servant leadership role—guts, no glory, always supporting."

"It’s not about giving up power, it’s about gaining authority through partnership and trust."

"System thinking is the cornerstone competency of design operations."

"Design Ops needs to be flexible and change as the organization and culture evolve."

"If you can’t tell me your workflow, don’t talk about your tools."

Ask the Rosenbot
Laura Smith
Embedding Service Design and Agile Practice within UK Planning Teams to Create Services that Last
2024 • Advancing Service Design 2024
Gold
Feleesha Sterling
Building a Rapid Research Program
2023 • Enterprise Community
Jennifer Fraser
What would Emmy Noether Do? Math, Models and Mulling in UX Research
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Ian Johnson
Latent Scope: Finding structure in unstructured data
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Max Gadney
Assessing UX jobs for impact in climate
2024 • Climate UX Interest Group
Steve Baty
Discussion
2016 • Enterprise UX 2016
Gold
Carol Massa
Designing Health: Integrating Service Design, Technology, and Strategy to Transform Patient and Clinician Experiences
2024 • Advancing Service Design 2024
Gold
Indra Klavins
A Design Ops Girl in a Dev Ops World
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Kate Stern
Scaling Learning for the Future
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Savina Hawkins
Harnessing AI in UXR: Practical Strategies for Positive Impact
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Ignacio Martinez
Fair and Effective Designer Evaluation
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Caroline Vize
The State of UX: Five Lessons from 2021 to Accelerate Digital Experience in 2022
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Steve Baty
Breaking Out of Ruts: Tips for Overcoming the Fear of Change
2016 • Enterprise UX 2016
Gold
Bria Alexander
Theme Two Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Jaskiran Kang
Why Community is Key to Professionalizing Design
2022 • Civic Design Community

More Videos

Erin Weigel

"There are as many versions of the website as stars in the sky because of language, currency, and device variations."

Erin Weigel

UX Lessons from running more than 1,200 A/B Tests

July 10, 2024

Mike Oren

"The essence of strategy isn’t painting a grand vision of the future, it's deciding what not to do."

Mike Oren

Why Pharmaceutical's Research Model Should Replace Design Thinking

March 28, 2023

Lija Hogan

"If you press the exact same button today and tomorrow you get two different results, that’s non-deterministic UX."

Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis Rosenfeld

Three Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research

March 15, 2024

Heidi Trost

"If Charlie has been tampered with, Alice needs a clear way to be alerted that she shouldn't trust it."

Heidi Trost

When AI Becomes the User’s Point Person—and Point of Failure

August 7, 2025

Adam Cutler

"We call everybody a designer on purpose to encourage branching out across disciplines."

Adam Cutler

People + Places + Practices = Outcomes

June 8, 2016

Rittika Basu

"Anyone can become a person with accessibility needs at any time, so inclusivity should be a default."

Rittika Basu

Age and Interfaces: Equipping Older Adults with Technological Tools

February 23, 2023

Saara Kamppari-Miller

"Accessibility is a program, not just a single project; starting small and scaling efforts builds momentum."

Saara Kamppari-Miller

DesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility

May 26, 2022

Bria Alexander

"This conference is the opportunity I saw to design an experience that felt personal to our community."

Bria Alexander

Theme Two Intro

October 3, 2023

Laine Riley Prokay

"Preparation is critical to set up new practitioners for success, including equipment, access, expectations, and introductions."

Laine Riley Prokay Lisa Gordon

Carving a Path for Early Career DesignOps Practitioners

September 9, 2022