Design Leadership
Problem
The perception of Design at Watermark is vastly different across our scrum teams. Some teams are having very positive experiences with Design Team members, while others express issues.
Goal
Build Trust | Drive quick wins for scrum teams.
Equip | Grow designer confidence in their work and relationships.
Evangelize | Demonstrate the value of design.
I wanted to understand these views and expectations to help our designers connect better with their scrum teams. By enhancing these relationships, I aimed to improve the work experience for Watermark designers by changing how scrum teams see design, through practical adjustments to designers' workflows.
Research
Scrum Team Insights
Ideas are welcome, but each role still has responsibilities.
Time is crucial for implementation.
Transparency leads to trust. Trust is important and intentional.
Delivering on commitments also leads to trust.
Design Team Insights
Be able to give context to our design decisions.
Embrace everyone’s ideas and solutions as feedback.
Stay curious and submerge ourselves in the problem.
Push back when needed, with purpose.
Affinity Map
Actions
Build Trust | Drive quick wins for scrum teams.
Changed design behaviors to better meet team expectations.
Coached designers to share early and often.
Taught teams to refine in low-fi.
Shared design successes across products.
Equip | Grow designer confidence in their work and relationships.
Coached designers to back up design decision with data.
Improved leadership processes to ensure clearer project requirements.
Worked to implement wireframe components in Figma.
Evangelize | Demonstrate the value of design.
Shared interview findings with teams.
Re-educated teams on the design process with a Design Sprint.
Presented Day in the Life of a Designer to the company.
Problem Solving Activity
Outcome
Building trust has gone a long way in repairing relationships within the scrum teams. Designers feel more empowered to speak up and share their decisions without fear of complete rejection.
Trust also helps everyone remember that we are moving toward the same goal as a team. Different opinions can exist while still moving forward.
“We should all embrace design thinking and start being more curious about our problems before landing on a solution.”