Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams

by Peter Merholz

Team members often find themselves blocked, unable to make progress, but unclear as to exactly why they can’t move forward. Sometimes it’s a hangup in the creative process, where the proposed design solutions just aren’t feeling right, and the team is spinning its wheels. Leaders identify when the team is slowed, and figure out ways to regain traction. A story: Not long after iPad launched, Peter led a team creating a cross-device ecommerce experience. The solutions for web and mobile were great, but the work for tablet was uninspired. Peter basically called “time out” and encouraged the team to stop designing, and to instead go back a few steps and think hard about what it means to deliver an experience on this new device. After a 45-minute ideation session based on this new thinking, the team became unstuck and began again to produce great work. Often, the solution isn’t a matter of creative thinking, but interpersonal relationships. Team members may become frustrated working with others, particularly across functions, who don’t understand their contribution, or a team lead might have trouble getting executives to appreciate a proposed solution. A common tactic designers take at these times is to try to design their way out of the problem, doubling down on the work. This proves ineffective, because the problem isn’t the design, but how people communicate. The manager needs to help the team members engage in better conversations, reminding them to be sympathetic to others...