UX operations, governance and good vibes
Ensuring and maintaining UX standards and culture across the domain
Overview
Creating team mission, vision and design principles so the team is inspired and aligned
Team goals based on what we want to collectively achieve
Regular design crits to ensure adherence to the Design System
Using Design Sprints and pairing to drive innovation
Regular design meetings and social activities to build relationships
Creating a vision to inspire the team and bring alignment
To ensure we are driving towards the same goal, I typically create the vision with the team so they are just as invested as I am.
Design principles need to be:
Easy to remember
Used regularly in design crits
Accessible to non-designers
When creating the Product Design Vision, we aimed to capture the needs of all user types and align it with the company's vision.
eporta Product Design Vision and design principles
Cazoo UX Vision and design principles
With the support of the agile coaches, we held a series of workshops with the UX Team to form the UX Vision and Design Principles.
UX VISION
Be an industry-leading UX team that Designers and Researchers feel proud to belong to
We're creating a UX community where everyone can grow and thrive
A place where collaboration, enjoyment and learning are prioritised
A place where everyone feels connected, included and proud to do their best work
Design roundtable and governance
After feedback and mixed attendance from the team, I developed a meeting called a design roundtable, the idea being:
It is a space for designers to bring work to the session, regardless of where they are in the design process
Allows a designer to gather feedback from their peers
Run by the Principle designer to ensure best practice is being followed
Highlights any overlaps between work and space for teams to collaborate
Ensures that designers are following the design process
Ensures that designers are following the design system
Design System and guidelines
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eporta
Upon joining we had the beginnings of a design system. I ensured we fleshed out the design system and align our components to what was on site. We used Storybook to document our design system and had regular sessions with Engineers to ensure alignment
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Cazoo
For our internal products, the team were using MUI, but the problem was we have inconsistencies in the patterns and components across our tooling. As a team, we reduced the amount of custom components and had a regular sessions to agree on usage
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Vodafone Group
Vodafone had guidelines for consumers but didn’t have anything suitable for its B2B products and tooling. My team and I created guidelines and a design system. Detailed Case Study
Research governance
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Research roadmap
Tracks and documents all the research that is currently planned and in progress across the domain
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Respository
Product Managers and designers use it to identify previous research to inform new hypotheses and opportunities.
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Research and Insights Slack Channel
Created to publicise to a wider audience of recently completed research.
Bringing good vibes
Creating a space where designers can do their best work is important to me so spend a core amount of my time ensuring that my team is happy
Regular retros facilitated by agile coaches to ensure honest feedback
Quarterly team socials
Monthly All Hands to share design stories and updates
Skip levels and 1:1s with every member of the team
Yearly team goals and objectives
Celebrating success with Friday Big Ups and Quarterly Highlights
Measure and report
Monthly health survey sent to the team
Report on the results in the UX All Hands
Leadership roadmap to highlight what I am working on
“Venessa is a fantastic product leader who always brings positive vibes and energy to create a motivating work environment.”
Outcome
100% of the team feel informed by leadership
83% feel they can be their authentic self at work
83% feel respected at work