2023 DesignOrg Outlook—rethinking the strategic role of Design and sustaining resilience in challenging times

This article highlights some of the key perspectives shared at a panel hosted by DesignOps Assembly Berlin in March 2022. We examined the current state of the market and the design industry and shared personal reflections, insights and strategies on how design professionals, teams and leaders can navigate these challenging times.

Panel organized by Nina Jurcic, Maria Karnaukhova and Inma Ortiz, DesignOps Assembly Berlin chapter co-leads. Moderated by Nina Jurcic.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Framing the market context
3. Impact on design teams (staffing & hiring)
4. Bridging the gap between design and business
5. Rise of DesignOps
6. Approaching relationship with work
7. Conclusion

💡If you don’t have time to read the entire piece, there is a TL;DR on top of each section.

Introduction

It is clear that the design industry is facing unprecedented challenges.

Due to the post-COVID market crisis coupled with complex geo-political situations, it’s almost daily that we hear about layoffs, rescinded job offers, reorgs, reprioritization, hiring freezes, and project / task forces being shut down as companies try to mitigate risk.

Meme a day keeps anxiety away. Or not?

It’s natural to ask: what’s next for design?

How can we prove our value in these turbulent times — to our companies, and ourselves? To gain insights, we gathered a diverse panel of experts with leadership experience across startups, scale-ups, corporates, and consultancies, that are working in design or within broader product and business environments:

• 🎤Ammara Gafoor, Principal Business Analyst at ThoughtWorks
• 🎤Ignazio Moresco, Head of UX at GetYourGuide
• 🎤Inmaculada (Inma) Ortiz, DesignOps Manager at Yara International
• 🎤Janko Jovanovic, Product Design Manager
• 🎤Lena Kul, Product Design & UX Recruitment Lead at Miro

2023 DesignOrg Outlook — panel discussion

What can you expect?

We won’t promise you an out-of-the-box-solution, but rather a solid starting point to examine your own position as an individual design professional, leader, colleague, or team member, in the hope of inspiring further conversations on the topic — whether at your company, networking event or amongst smaller peer groups.

One thing is for sure — we can hardly overcome any difficulties alone.

📌 Framing the market context

TL;DR:

• The tech industry has shifted from growth to profitability KPIs due to the post-pandemic crisis and rising inflation, leading to a focus on cost reduction and business-oriented decisions.
• Design departments are often viewed as expendable during difficult times
• Companies are seeking complete teams that can provide solutions to complex problems rather than simply outsourcing design tasks

Q: What are some of the key trends and changes that design professionals should be aware of in the current state of tech companies, particularly amidst market crises and layoffs? When did this change start to occur?

🎤Ignazio: As I reflect on the tech industry over the past year and a half, I’ve noticed a shift in perspective from growth to profitability. Looking back, we can see that there were parts of the tech industry that benefited from the pandemic conditions like the home office, while others suffered when it ended, causing many businesses to close. Additionally, inflation started rising, and interest rates went up, which caused a further impact.

Today, it is more relevant to have a consistent return on investment than to grow your audience. This shift in focus impacts the role of design professionals, as we are being asked to do more with less. We are scrutinized more closely on what benefits our decisions will bring to the businesses that we work for. This can be challenging because the constraints are more significant, and it requires us to be more oriented toward research and development while remaining focused and efficient.

As designers, we represent the needs and desires of users and define OKRs and KPIs based on that, making sure that the product development process is efficient and proactive. Even though we may be facing a completely different landscape from what we have seen in the past decade, I believe that we designers will continue to play a crucial role in product development and make a difference in the industry.
— Ignazio Moresco

We basically moved from the context of abundance experienced between 2010 and 2018, with an enormous pace of digitalization and capital availability — into a situation that reminds me of what happened after the dotcom industry crash. One significant difference is that back then, nobody knew how to recommend digital products, while today, there is a clear model based on conversion and specific techniques to increase metrics.

As design professionals, we are now being asked to improve conversion rates in our specific conversion funnel, and there is a desire to take less risk and be more business-oriented in our day-to-day decision-making.

It is important to understand that companies often prioritize cost reduction during uncertain times. Therefore, it is crucial for teams to quantify their work and show how it contributes to tangible business goals.
— Ammara Gafoor

🎤Ammara: I believe that over the last few years, from 2018 to 2022, there has been a significant increase in investment in trying out new ideas. The pandemic has played a role in this, as it has opened up businesses to invest in technology, which is still relatively new to many traditional non-tech companies. In these industries, design is even newer, and is often seen as something of the younger generation, talking about things that are not fully understood by the business. However, anything that is not fully understood is often the first to be cut when budgets get tight and this holds true for design.

🎤Ignazio: During the last 12 years, major companies like Google and Microsoft have built extensive internal design teams, shifting away from externalizing design functions as a cost-cutting measure. This has led to a reduction in the amount of work available for design consultants, who previously could provide design services for extended periods of time.

🎤Ammara: The trend has shifted again in recent years, with companies now seeking to solve problems rather than simply outsourcing design tasks. While staffing hands-on designers (e.g. UI) is still important, companies are now looking for complete teams that can provide solutions to complex problems. As a consultant, I believe in staffing teams that can solve problems and present solutions, rather than simply providing a single designer for a project.

Q: Is the current job market shrinking?

🎤Lena: The market is not shrinking, but there is a shift in market trends. Large companies previously grew by pouring money into hiring talent, but are now releasing that talent. However, many well-funded startups or those who managed to find healthy, profitable business models are still seeing the value in expanding their teams and continuing to grow, and these are the signs to look for when exploring new roles.

📌Impact on design teams

TL;DR:

• It’s important to integrate design into core cross-functional teams and showcase their value in contributing to tangible business goals.
• Many companies struggle to build functional design teams and execute on priorities, leading to the need for contractors or layoffs.
• Clarity on requirements and strategic approach to hiring is crucial to avoid wasting time and resources on the inefficient hiring process or unnecessary hires.

Q: How are business decisions and transitions inside organizations affecting design function, particularly in terms of staffing and hiring plans, and setting up design teams?

🎤Ammara: I strongly believe that design and other adjacent teams play a crucial role in any company’s success. It is our responsibility to showcase their value and ensure that they are not seen as expendable during difficult times. Therefore, I always make sure to integrate design into the core cross-functional team and emphasize their contribution to tangible business goals. By doing so, we are able to showcase their value and prevent them from being cut during difficult times.

An effective way to demonstrate adjacent teams’ worth is by breaking down the department’s goals and showing how they contribute toward cost reduction or efficiency. By focusing on these metrics, we can ensure that our work is aligned with the company’s priorities and can ultimately help the company succeed.

It’s important to approach hiring strategically, considering market conditions, team needs, and other factors, in order to avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary hires.
— Lena Kul

🎤Lena: What I observed from my experience and discussions is that many companies are struggling to build functional teams that can execute their priorities and product roadmaps. Even though they have enough designers to solve problems, they don’t have enough hands to execute them, which leads to the need for contractors or layoffs. Instead, companies should focus on properly building their teams, prioritizing and executing what makes sense in the short and long term.

There’s a big mindset shift happening where companies are trying to earn money without doing drastic unit changes or layoffs, and many are looking into the use of contractors to handle tasks that can’t be executed by the core team. Companies are also becoming more practical and strategic in their hiring practices, realizing that scaling by 300% a year is not always feasible and that external factors can impact recruitment. Finally, I observed that design is seen as a luxury that is not always necessary to the organization.

Hiring plans are often not based on any concrete plan or analysis. Executives often simply say they want to hire people without considering how many people are actually needed or how long the hiring process will take. This gap in planning can lead to wasted time and resources, as designers and other team members are pulled away from important tasks to focus on the hiring process. Additionally, the belief that hiring more people automatically leads to increased revenue is flawed, as it can take years for new hires to become fully productive. As a result, many businesses are now hesitant to grow, seeing it as a negative trend. It’s important to approach hiring strategically, considering market conditions, the team needs, and other factors, in order to avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary hires.

🎤Ammara: I slightly disagree here — if we wait until we know exactly what kind of profile we want, it takes too much time and by then, we don’t have the people we need at our disposal. Especially for specialized skills that are not that common in the industry, it’s difficult to attract talent. I remember a time when people with specialist skills had their pick of 10 different companies. We couldn’t hire designers fast enough, and we needed them. So, instead of hiring for a specific solution, I always hire for potential. Sometimes we fall into a cycle where we realize we can’t deliver because we cut too much, and we hire for potential again.

🎤Lena: I’ve come to realize that the plans for building and delivering businesses don’t always align with what’s happening in the recruitment market. This is why recruitment is in such an interesting place right now. Despite the numerous job offers available, it’s still hard to hire designers. The issue is that no one is consulting the business plans on growth and providing data on how long it will take to achieve these goals. There’s a need for partnership and collaboration between business plans and recruitment efforts. This is something that we’ve seen in many companies, including Google.

Q: Should we stop hiring for titles and start hiring for actual projects?

🎤Lena: I would say titles mean very little in the current market. So many have insane titles like Head of Design or Director, but in reality, they are the only designer in the company. Many recruiters start to ignore those and dig deeper. This is why it is so important to properly explain your experience and impact in your CV or Linkedin (or both), as well as prepare 1–2 case studies that would show your craft.

Q: What tips or best practices do you have to measure the Quality of Hire?

🎤Lena: This one is tricky and I do not believe I have a very clear answer for you. We look at the feedback and overall performance of our new hires. If we bring them as top talent (bar raiser) do they hit the top of the expectations set for them by their teams, managers, and our career framework? However, I personally do not believe that this is an accurate metric to measure. I would rather focus on the overall performance of new hires and their attrition/tenure.

📌Bridging the gap between design and business

TL;DR:

• Companies are aware that design brings value but they often fail at extracting that value
• Designers hold the power to determine what problems need to be solved and how to create an optimal experience, by considering ecosystems and interactions between people
• The design facilitates discussions between business and engineering and has the unique ability to bridge the gap between business priorities and user needs, therefore it’s crucial for designers to develop stakeholder management and business acumen
• Metrics for design teams should be directly related to the business problem at hand and tested through experimentation to ensure they are contributing to the problem statement.

Q: How can design be better integrated into businesses as a strategic partner and how must the role of designers evolve in response to these changes?

🎤Ignazio: It’s clear to me that companies understand the value that design brings, as they wouldn’t hire designers if they didn’t believe in that. However, the issue lies in how to generate value from design. Designers are in a unique position to represent the perspective of the consumer, who is ultimately the one being served by the products we build. Our role is to be the advocate for the user and to understand their needs, desires, and long-term aspirations. By developing this knowledge, we can bring a unique perspective to the collaboration and ensure that our products actually provide value, which in turn generates revenue.

While product management ensures the translation of business priorities into the product, it’s important to have healthy conversations with other departments to create successful products. An exquisite designer can help bridge this gap.

🎤Ammara: I recently worked on a project with a pharmaceutical company to design a system that enables scientists to search for answers more easily. We approached the problem from a design perspective, considering the jobs to be done, decision points, and processes involved in finding answers. This approach led us to develop a software solution that was customized to the company’s specific needs. However, during a recent conversation with the client, we realized that everything we had built could have been potentially done by leveraging OpenAI and ChatGPT.

It made me realize that the problem doesn’t really change, but the way we solve it does. This is where design really shines in its ability to consider ecosystems and interactions between people — therefore, I urge you to recognize the power designers have in determining what needs to be solved, shaping solutions, and creating optimal experiences.

🎤Lena: As the world changes, adaptability is crucial for all human beings regardless of job function. I have seen recruiters move from simply pushing CVs to becoming partners by analyzing the whole employee lifecycle, including data such as buyer cost, successful hires, and required leads. Similarly, designers can make a real impact by not only defining problem spaces and natural solutions but also connecting to business outcomes.

When I teach about the designer role, I emphasize that design is a facilitator of discussions between business and engineering teams. We need to build something that meets both the business needs and the user’s needs. When these two don’t align, we have to get creative and find a compromise. It’s all about using both qualitative and quantitative data to inform our decisions and build something that everyone can be happy with. Overall, by collaborating and driving change, we can all contribute to the evolving world.

It’s more important than ever for designers to have executive stakeholder management and business acumen. Designers are no longer just responsible for creating beautiful designs, but also for connecting their work to business objectives and collaborating with product managers to build successful products.
— Lena Kul

This shift towards more well-rounded designers who can contribute to the entire product development process is a healthy one, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.

Q: Are there any good or bad examples of metrics for design teams?

🎤Ammara: It’s easy to fall into the trap of using metrics that don’t relate to the problem statement, such as e.g. Net Promoter Score (NPS).

One cool project we did involved redesigning our backlog in a way that allowed us to prototype features and test them with users before even adding them to the backlog. By doing this, we were able to save money and ensure that the features we were adding were directly contributing to the business problem at hand.

In a nutshell, it’s important to create metrics that are relevant to the problem statement, test them through experimentation, and make sure they are directly contributing to the business problem.
— Ammara Gafoor

📌The rise of DesignOps

TL;DR:

• DesignOps can bring value by identifying inefficiencies and reducing overhead work, making teams more productive and allowing designers to focus on pure design work.
• DesignOps is not just a role but a mindset that everyone can adopt.
• Designers or managers in small teams without a designated DesignOps role can still adopt a DesignOps mindset and work on improving small steps at the time, like processes and communication.

DesignOps is a relatively new discipline that has emerged to help product design teams become more efficient and effective

🎤Ignazio: In these times of doing more with less, DesignOps can make the product development process more efficient and proactive. This is crucial when cost-cutting measures are being taken, and processes need to become more streamlined. The startup industry, which is often very chaotic, will see an increasing maturity and better-regulated product development process where each function brings something specific to the table.

🎤Inma: I’ve observed a trend in which everyone wants to get into DesignOps, similar to how everyone used to want to be a UX designer. Despite this, I believe DesignOps can bring a lot of value by identifying inefficiencies and reducing overhead work. While it may not be an easy solution, it is definitely a step in the right direction. By focusing on making teams more productive, we can help designers focus more of their time on pure design work, which ultimately benefits everyone, including the business.

Q: What can a designer or manager do to improve their position in design teams that are too small or don’t have the luxury of a dedicated DesignOps practice?

DesignOps is not just a role, but a mindset that everyone can adopt.
— Inma Ortiz

🎤Inma: You can start by mapping out key pain points and talking to team members to identify the biggest issues to work on. This can include establishing designer onboarding standards, improving communication with developers, implementing better processes, and systematizing tools and licenses in use — basically, all areas in which we unnecessarily waste resources. Even if a team doesn’t have a designated DesignOps role, anyone can dedicate time to improving these things, small steps at a time. By adopting a DesignOps mindset, we can create a more efficient and effective design process for everyone involved.

At some point, you may find yourself talking to your manager and asking to officially dedicate a certain percentage of time to work on these things. This is when you will realize, you already started to build your own dedicated practice.

Q: What is the difference between DesignOps in a startup and a corporate company?

🎤Ignazio: It’s important to understand the unique challenges and opportunities of each environment and adapt accordingly. DesignOps in a startup could be a catalyst for change by building processes from scratch and cross-functional collaboration. When it comes to corporates, it’s more about facilitation — managing and improving processes that are already there, and collaborating with stakeholders. In either case, DesignOps ensures efficient and effective design teamwork, delivering quality products and experiences.

📌Approaching relationship with work

TL;DR:

• It’s time to rethink our relationship with work, push it out of its central place in our lives, and see it as just one part of our identity
• It’s crucial to think about a career in a non-linear way: have multiple goals, keep networking, learning, and diversifying skills
• To stay resilient in challenging times it’s essential to always have a plan B, supportive relationships & network, maintain healthy habits, and allow time to process emotions
• Leaders play a strong role in supporting their reports through professional development

Q: We witnessed Great Resignation as many realized that their work no longer fulfilled them. Those who stayed were burdened with attrition. Now, many are just lucky to have a job at all. What’s your take?

🎤Janko: This crisis is a good time to reflect on our relationship with work and make changes for a more balanced life. I remember the times (the 2000s) when work used to be just work and didn’t have a central place in our lives. However, the system has pushed us to prioritize it more. We used to hear that employees are treated like family, but then waves of layoffs have shown us the reality.

During the pandemic, we reclaimed some space in our lives and seized the opportunity for a better balance between work, life, and family. It gave us a chance to reflect on our identity and remember who we were before work. When I present myself, I say I’m a design manager, but I’m much more than that — work is just part of my identity, not something that defines it.

Q: Is there such a thing as a right attitude in these times?

🎤Janko: In my experience, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to attitude at work. Everyone is different and needs to find their own space and different approaches, especially in times of crisis. In my opinion, it’s important to find other things in life beyond your job, like having multiple focuses or projects, exploring different flavors of design, or even expanding horizons beyond the discipline.

Q: How can we remain productive while managing anxiety and stress in the event of uncertainty or job loss?

🎤Janko: Being prepared and taking care of yourself through healthy habits and reducing stress is key. Allow yourself time to feel and process emotions like fear and anger before jumping into a job hunt. Once you actively start searching for a job it’s crucial to have a plan, and strategy and stay focused. This includes building and mobilizing your network, such as LinkedIn which can provide valuable information and opportunities.

Q: How can we improve our position as designers — and cultivate more resilience?

🎤Janko: When it comes to resilience, there are two parts: what employees can do and what leaders can do. As an individual, regardless of position, it’s important to have a support network during a crisis. Building relationships and avoiding individualistic culture can help. It’s also crucial to think non-linearly, have multiple goals, and diversify skills.

As a leader, supporting professional development can give people the platform to build their networks and skill sets. It’s important to treat colleagues as partners and support each other, as these relationships extend beyond employment.

⛳ Conclusion

Designers are no longer just responsible for shipping handover files and beautiful designs — it’s crucial to have stakeholder management and business acumen, in order to connect their work to business objectives. Efficient cross-functional collaboration with product and technical stakeholders is essential to build successful solutions and the designers’ role is to facilitate relevant conversations while advocating for the true needs of a customer. This way the outcomes they create directly link to achieving company success metrics.

Ultimately, designers must recognize their stake in shaping solutions and creating meaningful experiences, cultivate more resilience and adaptability, and embrace new approaches and opportunities in the current job market. This includes building a support network, diversifying skills, and exploring different flavors of design, beyond their core focus.

This shift towards more well-rounded designers who can contribute to the entire product development process is a healthy one, and the rising discipline of DesignOps provides an opportunity to make the design—and product teams more efficient and effective. Everyone can adopt a DesignOps mindset, not just those in designated DesignOps roles — in other words, small improvements at a time can lead to significant results.

When it comes to hiring, it must be approached strategically, considering market conditions, the team needs, and other factors, in order to avoid wasting time and resources on unnecessary hires, while ensuring the design is better integrated into business and seen as a strategic partner, rather than budget black hole.

Few takeaways from the audience

Navigating these blurred times as a UXR can be challenging — so hearing perspectives on resilience, measuring design impact, and better communicating to your stakeholders your design decisions break the bubble that we sometimes create around the topic of design. Organizations and teams are living organisms, always changing and adapting.
— Irina Buruiana, product designer (read the full post here)

Our best shot as designers is to be able to know the value of our work beyond the craft and speak the same language as non-technical stakeholders. Being able to showcase and measure our impact.
— Damian Martone, product designer & community builder (read the full post here)

I do wish to see more design events involving not only designers but also other functions interacting with design teams because I believe it´s crucial to better understand your working relations & business issues to ultimately grow together a better organization — by tackling hiring & economic challenges.
— Mathieu Ritter, design recruiter (read the full post here)

Special thanks

Shout-out to our panelists Ammara Gafoor, Ignazio Moresco, Inma Ortiz, Janko Jovanovic, and Lena Kul for sharing their valuable insights, and ThoughtWorks Berlin for sponsoring the event.

P.S.: If you’re into DesignOps and would like to take part in such conversations, feel free to join the community.