Micah Vono

For the past two years, I've volunteered with the DesignOps Assembly to produce their annual benchmarking survey and report. We recently launched the 2024 report and it's a must-read — and not just for DesignOps folks! https://lnkd.in/exNNQRFq Click the link below to get the report now. Or read on for what makes this year's report different… The 2024 benchmark report is the *only* DesignOps industry report to include year-over-year data covering a comprehensive range of factors so you can see what's changed. ✅ Job market and layoffs ✅ Impact and maturity of teams ✅ Job functions ✅ Organizational dynamics ✅ Purpose and focus ✅ Design Systems, ResearchOps, AI and more 💰 New for this year: a comprehensive salary reference guide! Want a preview? Here are some fast facts from this year's report: - 34% of DesignOps teams have increased budget for FTE headcount this year, up from 22% last year - 47% have the same headcount budget as last year, up from 21% last year - 17% have decreased headcount budget this year, down from 30% last year Many thanks to Meredith Black, Adam Fry-Pierce, Changying (Z) Zheng, Harley Turan, Jessica S., Jon Fukuda, Jules Monza, MDes 🕊, Kaysie Garza, Madhu Priya, Nancy Gao, Adrienne Allnutt, and Lillian Szügyi for all their help in planning, analyzing data, writing and designing, and promoting this year's report. Get the report now at https://lnkd.in/exNNQRFq — it's completely free and you won't be asked to give up any of your personal information to get it (not even an email address!). Join the DesignOps Assembly community (it's also free!) of over 7,000 DesignOps folks at https://lnkd.in/eP7gdsxb #DesignOps #designoperations #Designleadership #UXleadership

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This session was 🔥 (for design system nerds) How to measure systems, agree on what matters and connect system goals to organization goals. "Can you even just name who your adopters are?" - Nathan Curtis “I see design system work as you’re always at the beginning.” - Dan Mall “What’s the cost of inaction…and where the business might end up as a result?” - Nathan Curtis “Diving into granular adoption metrics isn’t going to provide value to a team that's just trying to get the design system off the ground.” - Zack Lynn-Philipps Check out the video and the blog post for lots of great links for further reading 🧠 #DesignSystems #SystemsThinking

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Have you pre-ordered your Make it Toolkit STARTER KIT + BOX to better facilitate product design, service design, and/or change management efforts within your own organization? What are you waiting for? It's the most comprehensive, well-researched, and empowering besci toolkit out there! Designed and built by a team of behavioral design and gamification experts Massimo Ingegno and David McCann who tested it across multiple organizations before bringing it to market. What people are saying: "As the Director of Behavioral Science at mPulse Mobile, I've found the Make It Toolkit to be an indispensable resource for our team. This toolkit has significantly enhanced our ability to design and implement effective behavioral interventions. Its comprehensive guides and practical tools have empowered us to create more engaging and impactful programs. We are eager to see what improvements in health outcomes it drives for our clients. The Make It Toolkit is not just a collection of resources; it's a catalyst for innovation." - Eden Brownell 👩🏼‍🏫 Be sure to take advantage of the special pre-order pricing while it is still available. Order it here: https://lnkd.in/gCDC3Aqs Customer Centric Solutions LLC #besci #behavioralscience #designsprint #experiencedesign #servicedesign #changemanagement

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Inspiring thoughts one "How Design Leads Organizations through Five Urgent Challenges" by Institute of Design (ID) Design is still often seen just as an add-on, let's change that. 1. Organizations need to work at speed ➡ Design makes speed possible. 2. Organizations need systems thinkers ➡ Design thinks in systems. 3. Organizations need facilitators ➡ Design translates, facilitates, collaborates. 4. Organizations need new metrics ➡ Design balances quantitative and qualitative measures 5. Organizations need to demonstrate their values ➡ Design leads with purpose. At #icon we #design brand / product / user / customer #experiences shaping the future of #mobility with our clients and partners, including organizations and processes. ➡ read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eAqfa-r3 icon group icon incar icon impact #AI #innovation #design #strategy #experience #experiencedesign #strategicdesign CHRISTIAN ECKERT Anijo Mathew Institute of Design (ID)

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Oftentimes, inclusive engagement strategies overlook digital accessibility practices or the two are treated as separate entities. Thank you @Jacobs for giving us a space to talk about combining the two into a cohesive practice. Colette Taber Sugo #accessibility #digitalaccessibility #ADA #ethicalcompliance

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Abby Covert is an information architect, writer and community organizer with two decades of experience helping people make sense of messes. She is the author of the 2014 book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, "a book to teach IA to everybody," and more recently, Stuck, Diagrams Help, a book for teaching the art of diagramming. In this episode of the podcast, I talk with Abby about letting go of perfectionism in dealing with tech debt, the power of language and why words are hard, plus why diagramming is a high order skill. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/en3PtGeJ

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Wow, it is nice to see some of the impact the course I authored with Designlab is having on teams both big and small. Emilyann Gachko thank you for sharing this case study and how it was received by the team at The Home Depot :) If you are interested in increasing your design skills through #usability and #accessibility check out the course. #ux #design #hcd https://lnkd.in/gEdC3NBV

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Design in Complex Systems: Doing Community Engagement Right How often do you communicate your design research findings to the end users? I’ve heard many experienced researchers talk about the importance of circling back, especially in communities with a higher likelihood of respondent fatigue. This hadn’t quite hit home for me. One of my current tasks is understanding the social, psychological, and environmental influences of how health data is reported and used for decision-making. There are multiple systemic influences, one of the biggest being the health financing structure and its ripple effects on reporting. Finding ways to package and disseminate learnings from our immersive research and prototyping activities in a way that enables strategic design but also minimizes the natural concerns of the potential negative impact on funding, training, and recognition has been a constant question.   This week, I participated in an experience-sharing workshop. Hearing end users explicitly ask for more in-depth findings to help them improve their day-to-day data quality and use activities has been such a strong signal that circling back, no matter the complexities, is always an effort in the right direction.

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For the last ~12 months, I've gleaned a good deal of wisdom from discussions in the design industry as it goes through the first significant change in ~15 years. Anyone in a community-related role should be paying attention to how other disciplines are navigating transformational change. For me, design has been especially relevant because of my degree and the fact that I was an information architect and designer before entering the community space. In a recent episode of the "The Informed Life" podcast, Jorge Arango interviews Greg Petroff about the state of the design profession, what forces are driving change, and how designers might prepare and/or upskill to navigate this change. ChatGPT helped me tease out the following points, all of which are relevant to community-skilled professionals: ⚡️ 1. Embrace AI Tools: Future designers should be conversant with AI tools and leverage them effectively for problem-solving and enhancing their work processes. ⚡️ 2. Understand (Community) Design Thinking: Despite criticism, design thinking remains crucial. It involves staying close to customers through user research, co-creation activities, testing ideas, and synthesis. ⚡️ 3. Be Skilled in Research: Designers should excel in research to understand users better, even though specialized researchers also bring deep expertise. ⚡️ 4. Business Acumen: Designers need to understand business outcomes, how companies generate revenue, and decision-making processes, especially under stress. ⚡️ 5. Active Making: Continue to be an avid maker. Creating prototypes and solutions beforehand can help in making informed decisions during important meetings. ⚡️ 6. Pre-meeting Preparation: To contribute effectively in decision-making meetings, prepare by creating relevant materials in advance. If a decision cannot be made immediately, request a short period to validate assumptions through additional exercises. ⚡️ 7. Flexibility in Roles: Avoid getting fixated on job titles and descriptions. Focus on the possibilities and contribute to various aspects of the design and business processes. Link to the show page in the comments! #design #community #strategy

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My next Maven Lightning Lesson is going to be on How Situational Contexts inform Experience Design. 📅 December 16, 2024; 30 minutes ** Signup and invite a friend. ** Purpose of the Talk: To highlight how situational contexts influence customer engagement strategies, product or service design, and overall experience design, including physical and non-digital interactions. Key takeaway: "To engage effectively and design meaningful experiences, you must understand the situational contexts driving customer decisions." Customer Centric Solutions LLC #jtbd #situationalcontexts #experiencedesign #customerengagement #productdesign #servicedesign

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When most people think of UX research, usability testing is often the first thing that comes to mind. But the most impactful design research goes beyond just “building the thing right” to focus on “building the right thing” — identifying and addressing real user needs.

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Strategic Approaches to UX Research: June 3 – 7, 2024 Strategic UX Research is changing organizations. It can change yours too. I'm excited to lead this intensive, read all about what it: https://lnkd.in/ezmq_CXA

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What do you think of the term "user" as it pertains to design work? I think it's never simple. With anything we build and launch into the world, there are direct and indirect consequences for people and the planet over a range of time scales. There are many "users," and there are many being "used." Great piece by Taylor Majewski in MIT Technology Review where she unpacks the word, its origins in design, and looks forward to what might be next. I enjoyed our interview! https://lnkd.in/gSsXh5fA

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In many organizations, Taxonomists are still a team of one. In her recent presentation at Taxonomy Boot Camp, Bonnie Griffin offered best practices for the solo taxonomist. #taxonomydesign #knowledgemanagement https://lnkd.in/gt6NV98j

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In this Forrester article, Gina Calcaterra Bhawalkar discusses her trip to Config 2024 and the new features in Figma that help with design systems and creating accessible experiences: https://lnkd.in/e4-nKnTH #Accessibility #Design #WebAccessibility

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