How Can Small Design Teams Use Design Systems and Design Ops? Matt Gottschalk and Aletheia Délivré at Config 2023

TL;DR

Small design teams can use Design Systems and Design Ops to work more effectively, increase efficiency and deliver more business value. Matt Gottschalk defines a small team as roughly one to ten designers and argues that these capabilities create the right environment for designers to succeed today while preparing for future growth. Read on for the talk’s practical focus and investment case.

Transcript

foreign what's good everyone welcome to config 2023. I know everyone at figma is really excited to see you all again especially in person it's a blessing I don't take for granted I'm Max McKinney education designer on the amazing product Education team we've been hard at work creating inspiring educational content for you all truthfully though I'm ... Read More

Key Insights

• "my talk is bigger isn't always better our small design teams can benefit from Design Systems and design operations" (3:07)
• "I've worked in the design industry for over 15 years" (3:20)
• "Alchemist is historically an engineering-led company and design is a relatively new function" (4:08)
• "the focus of my talk is on how Ops and systems can help small design teams like ours to deliver more business value to their companies" (4:26)
• "if you work in a small design team and by small I'm talking between one to ten designers or so" (6:27)

Questions & Answers

Q: How can small design teams benefit from Design Systems and Design Ops?

Design Systems and Design Ops can help small teams work more effectively and efficiently while delivering more business value. They can also create the right environment for designers to succeed and prepare the team for future growth.

Q: What counts as a small design team in Matt Gottschalk’s Config 2023 talk?

Matt Gottschalk describes a small design team as having roughly one to ten designers. His advice is aimed at designers and design leaders working in teams of that size.

Q: Why should small design teams invest in Design Systems and Design Ops?

Matt argues that these areas can increase efficiency and improve the business overall. He also believes their value is relevant to small teams, even though their benefits are more commonly documented for large design teams.

Q: How can Design Ops and Design Systems help designers influence product decisions?

The talk connects investment in operations and systems with helping designers spend less time tweaking pixels and gain more influence over product decisions. Its focus is on creating conditions that allow a small design team to contribute greater business value.

Q: Who is Matt Gottschalk?

Matt Gottschalk is the VP of design at Alchemist and has worked in the design industry for over 15 years. Before joining Alchemist, he worked in design operations roles that helped establish and scale operations and systems teams across Centrica and BT.

Q: What design challenges does Alchemist face?

Alchemist has a small, growing and distributed design team based across the UK and Canada. The company has historically been engineering-led, design is a relatively new function, and the team is working to increase design’s impact.

Q: Why are efficiency and cost effectiveness important for design teams?

The talk says many companies are making redundancies or exploring ways to reduce the costs of their technology teams. As organizations look for greater efficiency and cost effectiveness, Matt argues that teams should consider the value of every designer and create environments that support business value.

Q: What does Matt Gottschalk focus on in his Config 2023 talk?

He focuses on how Design Ops and Design Systems can help small design teams deliver more business value. Rather than concentrating on their technical side, he discusses the environments they create and offers practical advice for influencing organizations to invest in them.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Design Ops creates the foundation for designers to do their best work by establishing onboarding programs, managing licenses, and creating design rituals.

• Partnership with designers and researchers is key to driving meaningful change, such as improving design critiques, through collaboration and feedback.

• Systems and habits, along with workshops and goal-setting, help navigate change in growing design organizations, ensuring a clear action plan and continuous improvement.

• Trojan mice experiments enable iterative and sustainable change by running small tests and gathering feedback, allowing design organizations to evolve over time.