Mastering DesignOps: Markus Hohl’s path to scalable design leadership
Design edition no. 7— Markus Hohl
Design edition
In 2023, I interviewed a group of leaders from the design industry to gather their perspectives on leadership and personal growth. This collection aims to inspire and empower the design community through their shared experiences and insights.
This article is part of the Converations with Leaders publication.
№7 — A conversation with Markus Hohl
Markus Hohl is a seasoned design leader with over 20 years of experience in customer-centric innovation, working with global brands such as BP, JPMorgan, Allianz, and Telefonica. In addition to product innovation, Markus is passionate about fostering culture change by training teams and senior leaders to adopt design-led approaches, building internal communities that spread a customer-first mindset across organisations.
Markus emphasised that DesignOps must be tailored to each organisation. Clear job descriptions and well-defined roles are crucial to success. DesignOps professionals must prioritise a few key tasks, ensuring they’re done well and visible, rather than spreading efforts too thin across numerous responsibilities and get burned out in the process. Good communication is vital, particularly in articulating working hours, or prep/ research/ design times, and priorities, which help teams stay aligned and efficient.
A central theme of his philosophy was cross-functional collaboration. True progress happens when designers, engineers, and business leaders are involved from the outset. Co-creation, where stakeholders are actively engaged, is essential for success. He advocated for a culture of openness, alignment, and regular action points to ensure every meeting concludes with clear, actionable outcomes. When teams leave meetings without a concrete plan, DesignOps professionals must step in, guide the team, and provide stability throughout the process.
Another cornerstone of his approach was the importance of understanding and visualising problems before jumping to solutions. Tools like journey maps, prototypes, and blueprints are essential to clarify challenges and keep teams focused on the right priorities. Prototyping early and often was a key part of his methodology — prototypes serve as catalysts for change, helping teams iterate quickly, gather feedback, and stay user-focused.
Markus also stressed the importance of building strong relationships with senior leaders, particularly the head of design or head of product. He recommended starting by asking what the key challenges are and then creating a collaborative “book of work” where tasks are clearly divided between the head of design/product and DesignOps. He believed that strong senior leadership buy-in is critical to breaking down silos and securing long-term success.
When measuring success, Markus encouraged the use of clear KPIs tied to business outcomes. Success in service design isn’t always about tangible outputs; instead, it should be measured by how well new processes are adopted and by improvements in efficiency and long-term business impact such as including design in projects where it wasn’t in the past. DesignOps professionals must track progress through real-world metrics or signals, ensuring that the team remains on course and that investment in design is justified.
In large organisations, he acknowledged the complexity of rethinking workflows and structures. Leaders should empower their teams to take ownership of initiatives, foster experimentation, and encourage iteration to ensure continuous improvement. To make this happen DesignOps can help those leaders understand what design can do, giving willing middle managers ‘permission’ to engage design. For example DesignOps can broker a first meeting here, provide a reassuring process starting with a simple one pager ‘briefing’ template and ensure designers don’t get carried away with design but focus laser sharp on business outcomes first to get the ear of leaders.
Finally, patience was a key element of his leadership approach. Building successful services and scaling design within organisations takes time. Quick wins can sometimes lead to short-term success at the expense of systemic, long-lasting improvements. For Markus, a long-term strategy was essential for achieving sustainable success in DesignOps. By embedding these principles, his leadership provided a roadmap for teams aiming to drive impactful, long-term changes in both service design and DesignOps.
#conversations-with-leaders is a collection by Roman Schoeneboom that delves into the multifaceted nature of leadership. It offers a rich tapestry of perspectives on #leadership, #management, and #personal growth.
Rooted in the Old English words “laédan” (to lead) and “léod” (people or nation), leadership has evolved from guiding groups to influencing and motivating individuals toward shared goals. From the Middle English “ledere” to today’s complex work environments, diverse leadership styles offer unique approaches to guiding others.
