How is your design org structured? We've got a small team and thus far we've been pairing senior designers with junior designers (all generalists) on projects. Maybe its time we switched things up. How are things structured on your teams? What's working well? This question is not limited to 'design orgs'... all thoughts welcome! Looking for some inspiration! #designops #manager #gov #labs #innovationhub #socialinnovation 💞
Cameron Norman
4mo
Hi Milena Tasic, this is a good question. It got me thinking what's worked the best for me. My experience is that this comes down partly to the management approach you take with the team or projects. Self-organized teams work well when you have the trust built into the process. That means trusting junior staff to do things they say they can do and trusting that they'll ask questions, identify what they can't do, and consult along the way. Likewise with the senior designers. It totally won't work if people feel afraid of failure, of losing status, or aren't humble and proactive enough to say they don't know something or to try something new. This also means creating workflows that allow for 'small risks' instead of big ones in the process and lots of feedback points (and evaluation, of course :) ). The upside is that it allows junior designers to learn-by-doing more than with other models. The benefit to the junior-senior pairing model is that there's more learn-through-exposure going on. That works well when you have great mentorship and strong senior designers. I think the fact that you're asking the question and willing to try new things is great.
Tieni Meninato
4mo
Interesting question! Reminded me of a time when I was actively leading at WAKE Insights and we focused on joy and desire. We matched ourselves and our teams to the challenges we felt excited about. Pairs and trios for specific challenges could also come from wanting to work with someone you hadn't in a while, or if they had something specific to contribute. We also had time available to contribute across teams.
Leading Impact-Centered UX & Digital Transformation | Founding CEO at Design Centered Co.
4moMilena Tasic, I think it really depends on a number of factors ranging from the skill sets on your team (e.g. UX, UI, Research, et al.), to what you are trying to achieve as a team (e.g. deliver product/s as a part of SDLC, research, et al.). That said, I wouldn't be too rigid about structure and let the team self organize based on your priorities. I have seen far better results this way, especially with creative teams, than when we're trying to put designers in boxes.