Theme Two Intro
Summary
The speaker opens by celebrating the efforts of Dante, Courtney, Olney, and Gonzalo for their dedication in curating and presenting on the theme of scaling design organizations. The talk covers a broad range of topics including the critical role of empathy in driving business outcomes, practical strategies for defining ROI in design, and best practices for retaining employees in design teams. It also addresses how design departments intersect with operations, product, and engineering organizations. Throughout, the speaker stresses the importance of community support and collaboration during uncertain times for the industry. They express optimism that by learning from experienced practitioners and engaging collectively, the design community can navigate murky waters and create a clearer path forward for future design leaders.
Key Insights
-
•
Empathy in design directly influences the bottom line in organizations.
-
•
Defining ROI for design requires tactile and practical approaches.
-
•
Employee retention in design teams depends on adopting best practices tailored to their needs.
-
•
Design often operates at the intersection of operations, product, and engineering teams.
-
•
Supporting each other in the design community helps navigate uncertain and complex times.
-
•
Scaling design organizations involves learning from a mix of experiences in both large and small setups.
-
•
Career-defining experiences shared by speakers offer valuable frameworks for growth.
-
•
Collective engagement, including virtual channels like Slack, strengthens the design community's future.
-
•
Optimism is key despite challenges the design industry is currently facing.
-
•
Clear communication and feedback are essential in successful design team curation and scaling.
Notable Quotes
"I am so incredibly proud of Dante, Courtney, Olney, and Gonzalo for their care and effort in the curation process."
"Each of these speakers shares career defining experiences scaling design organizations large and small."
"You’re going to get the importance of empathy to the bottom line."
"You’ll hear tactile guidance on defining ROI."
"We help each other, support each other, and guide each other through murky and unclear times."
"The waters of operations can feel incredibly murky and the path forward may not always be clear."
"Through the expertise of our speakers and your engagement, we forge the future of our industry."
"Scaling design organizations is the theme because in trying times, we need each other's support."
"The community of practitioners is the way we carry each other through difficult moments."
"I simply cannot wait for you all to see the outstanding presentations they prepared."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Auto captions on YouTube struggle with accents and technical terms, so manual or human-reviewed captioning is essential for accuracy."
Sheri Byrne-HaberThe Importance of Accessible Design Systems
January 8, 2024
"Design systems are not just components but guidelines, rules, and principles to create consistent experiences."
Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaScaling UX Past the Size of Your Team
January 8, 2024
"Links are first-class citizens in hypertext note-taking; connecting notes brings ideas to life and reveals new relationships."
Jorge ArangoExploding the Notebook: How to Unlock the Power of Linked Notes (2nd of 3 seminars)
April 19, 2024
"Our design group is positioned under marketing, which informs who champions and promotes design within the company."
Sarah WilliamsA Framework for CX Transformation
June 11, 2021
"Paternalistic judgments from lawmakers can be tangibly harmful, leading to lack of funding for basic services and policies."
Yasmine KhanChecking Bias and Listening to Financially Vulnerable Americans
March 30, 2020
"If we do things with the least amount of friction, resiliency isn’t the problem anymore, efficiency is."
Dave MaloufTheme 3: Introduction and Provocation
January 8, 2024
"Key results must be measures of human behavior and outcomes, not output metrics like 'launch this service'."
Jeff GothelfWho does what by how much?
November 20, 2025
"Advanced logic, matrix questioning, AI survey design creation — these are baseline capabilities you should expect from any modern survey tool."
Aleksandra Korczynska Caroline Jarrett Justyna ParmeeSurvey Tools
March 12, 2026
"A seat at the table versus building the table means setting routines where all the right partners come together regularly."
Frank DuranPartnership Playbook: Lessons Learned in Effective Partnership
January 8, 2024
