State of DesignOps: Learnings from the 2021 Global Report

Key Insights

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  Design ops professionals are typically seasoned with 10-20 years of experience and often transition from design craft or design management roles.

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  Emotional intelligence, especially empathy inward towards designers and stakeholders, is a critical competency for design ops roles.

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  More than half of design ops professionals in the survey are women, and the average age group is 35-44 years old.

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  Design ops teams are mostly small, often consisting of just one person, yet this one individual can support anywhere from a handful to 200 designers.

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  The role becomes relevant primarily when design teams grow to about 30-40 designers, especially in enterprise and post-Series C startups.

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  Common focus areas of design ops include communication, system/process management, team growth, culture, partnerships, project management, and governance.

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  Tools like Figma, Slack, Miro, Google Docs, and Google Drive dominate as essential for remote collaboration and documentation.

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  Remote work is the new norm, with 90% of respondents working exclusively remotely post-pandemic, increasing the need for design ops.

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  There are notable geographic gaps in design ops adoption and data from Africa, Canada, and much of Asia remain limited.

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  Challenges for solo design ops professionals include prioritizing high-ROI initiatives and balancing project management with organizational strategy.

Notable Quotes