By Hannah Baker
Dear Reader,
Last night's meetup explored the world of DesignOps vs. Design Management, featuring the insightful Maria Karnahova as our speaker.
Maria Karnahova is a seasoned senior DesignOps and is deeply passionate about design operations and facilitation. During the meetup, she provided valuable insights from her role at GetYourGuide.
Maria is also a co-founder of Lead by Design, a Berlin-based community for design professionals and their allies, with a dedicated focus on DesignOps, authentic leadership, and collaboration culture.
Maria gave us a glimpse into her role's dynamic and multifaceted nature. Maria wears many hats daily, from addressing budget topics to navigating legal discussions about privacy, joining UX manager meetings, and organizing team events.
Her ability to seamlessly transition from managing licenses to creating team collages underscores the diversity and excitement that comes with DesignOps.
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According to Maria, DesignOps is about creating the most fertile environment for UX teams.
It's not about micromanagement or control but instead amplifying the value and impact of the work produced by UX teams.
Maria emphasized that DesignOps professionals are not there to make life harder but to empower teams to focus on designing, researching, and creating.
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Maria outlined three key areas of influence for DesignOps: impact & quality, efficiency & scalability, and motivation.
While UX is focused on solving problems for users, customers, and the business, DesignOps aims to solve the problems within UX itself.
The ultimate goal is to achieve impactful and high-quality outcomes, ensure efficiency and scalability, and maintain team motivation.
This overview only scratches the surface of Maria's insightful talk. If you're eager to delve deeper into DesignOps, we encourage you to check out the recording and slides from last night's meetup.
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View Maria' Talk and slides |
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Until next week!
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