The Tale of Two Companies: Building a Successful UX Practice in a Century-Old Enterprise
Summary
How do you establish a thriving UX organization in a century-old company? Our opening presentation is a tale of two organizations and two different UX leaders. They followed very different paths and come from different industries, yet their stories of success and lessons for others have a lot in common. Rob Mitzel spent his entire career at Ford, starting from a Safety Engineer and changing roles to evolve into a Design Ops Manager, as the company evolved. Sébastien Malo parachuted to CN (Canadian National Railway) only a couple of years ago, but has already changed the course of his organization. Rob and Sebastien compare and contrast stories of how UX adapted and iterated their teams, skills and service to meet the needs of an evolving enterprise IT organization and the business at large.
Key Insights
-
•
At Ford, shifting from protecting UX turf to a culture of sharing and collaboration was key to UX team growth and success.
-
•
Creating and sharing usability patterns internally can increase UX advocacy even among non-UX staff.
-
•
Establishing a UX Club and informal meetups helps build internal UX networks and culture.
-
•
Building a component library aligned with usability patterns paved the way for a design system before that term was widely used.
-
•
Filling unaddressed enterprise needs proactively can lead to new service areas and team spin-offs.
-
•
Letting go of tasks like front-end coding allowed CN’s UX team to focus on core design and strategy.
-
•
A clear UX vision must be sold internally and then demonstrated through results to gain broader organizational buy-in.
-
•
Managing up and across by building networks is crucial to identify UX opportunities beyond the team’s immediate scope.
-
•
User story mapping and journey workshops can transform waterfall requirements into agile backlogs and broaden UX impact.
-
•
Expanding leadership roles beyond UX (e.g., business analysis) can amplify the influence of UX in an enterprise.
Notable Quotes
"My job was to insulate my team from the pressures and not let anyone else do UX work. That was wrong."
"It was like publishing the family secret recipe, but sharing usability patterns was crucial for advocacy."
"We created a UX Club to talk shop, share struggles, and build ideas across teams."
"We didn’t know what a design system was, but by combining component libraries and usability patterns, we built one."
"Sometimes you have to fill a need even if there’s no formal name or structure for it yet."
"UX must operate beyond the pixel to have real impact in enterprise transformation."
"Be an expert but act as a collaborator. It’s a team sport."
"Managing up and across started with lots of coffees and questions to build a mental model of the organization."
"The team brought structure and clarity by mapping requirements into user journeys and stories."
"You owe it to your organization and your team to grow the practice while staying true to your vision."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Prototypes were very low fidelity because too-high fidelity can intimidate participants and hinder feedback."
Alexia Cohen Adriane AckermanIncreasing Health Equity and Improving the Service Experience for Under-Served Latine Communities in Arizona
December 4, 2024
"The timing is key—you want to interrupt them when they are in that flow state."
Marc Majers Tony TurnerInterrupted UX - Add A Dose of Reality To Usability Testing
March 11, 2022
"VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity."
Jorge ArangoDesign as an Antidote to VUCA
May 9, 2019
"The greatest sign of success for a teacher is just to be able to say the children are now working as if I did not exist."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"Belonging means understanding the shape, size, and cause of your community and your unique purpose in it."
Daniel GloydWarming the User Experience: Lessons from America's first and most radical human-centered designers
May 9, 2024
"Sometimes accessibility isn’t perfect, but consistency lets me shop on Amazon in my sleep because of muscle memory."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"The future of education lies in collaboration and adaptation."
Kristin SkinnerFive Years of DesignOps
September 29, 2021
"Every day is a chance to check: is this how I want to be? This is a long-haul, marathon effort."
Denise Jacobs Nancy Douyon Renee Reid Lisa WelchmanInteractive Keynote: Social Change by Design
January 8, 2024
"Sometimes the screening can be done incorrectly by panels, which leads to wasted time and potential data issues."
Roberta Dombrowski Lianna Aduana5 Reasons to Bring your Recruiting in House
September 30, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What role do templates play in structuring research reports for better repository management and AI parsing?
Who are natural allies for healthcare UX professionals inside complex healthcare systems, and how do you engage them?
What are practical steps for introducing joyful design within efficiency-driven teams?