Imagine transforming a forgotten, dark space beneath one of New York’s most iconic landmarks into a vibrant community hub—this is the ambitious vision behind Gotham Park. Facilitating the vision and creation of the space beneath the Brooklyn Bridge is Lou’s guest, Rosa Chang. She shares her dream of transforming the neglected nine-acre area into a community-driven park. Initially underutilized and uninviting, the space is now being reimagined as a vibrant public hub for diverse groups to gather and connect.

Rosa discusses the process of bringing her idea to the public, emphasizing the importance of listening to the community and allowing the vision to evolve through conversations. Rather than adhering to a rigid design from the start, she facilitates discussions with local stakeholders to ensure the park meets the needs of the people it serves. She highlights the significance of respecting the space's history while meeting contemporary needs.

Their conversation also touches on Gotham Park's early successes, including the opening of the first acre and the push to revive iconic spaces like the Brooklyn Banks skate park. Rosa's approach has been one of connection and collaboration, bridging gaps between individuals and organizations to create a public space that fosters unity. Listen and be inspired!

Just as a rock climber meticulously checks their gear and follows strict safety protocols to navigate treacherous heights, security UX professionals must also anticipate risks and design safeguards to ensure a smooth and safe journey for users in a digital landscape. In Lou’s interview with Heidi Trost, author of Human-Centered Security: How to Design Systems that are Both Safe and Usable, Heidi highlights the critical safety protocols climbers and belayers follow, which mirror the precautions needed in system design to mitigate human error and anxiety. This analogy sets the stage for a broader discussion on security user experience challenges.

Heidi stresses the necessity of cross-disciplinary collaboration, especially when dealing with sensitive data like personally identifiable information (PII) and electronic protected health information (EPHI). She points out how involving legal and security teams early can streamline projects and improve outcomes. Designers, as facilitators, must bridge the gap between complex security concepts and user comprehension. Heidi’s book helps them do this by using personas to understand how the dynamic between users, security UX, and threat actors shapes.

Lou and Heidi’s conversation explores the evolution of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and its unintended consequences. What started as a simple 6-digit code morphed into a troublesome fatigue for users. Heidi underscores the importance of iterative design to adapt to these evolving challenges, likening the chaos of security interactions to a relentless ping-pong match.

As they look ahead, Louis and Heidi discuss the rapid evolution of AI in security contexts, emphasizing the balance between technological advancement and user protection. With AI assistants poised to know more about individuals than ever, designers must remain vigilant to prevent potential misuse. Their conversation is an invitation for professionals to rethink how they approach security UX and design, encouraging a proactive stance in this ever-changing landscape.

Imagine being the service design lead of a healthcare network of 88,000 patients. Your team consists of five people. Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? This is the work that Carol Massa does every day at Northwell Health, New York's largest healthcare network. She brings her wisdom and experience not only to this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, but to the inaugural Advancing Service Design Conference on December 3-4, 2024.

Starting as a design student at SCAD, Carol’s career path has taken her to management consulting and now to her pivotal position at Northwell’s Enterprise Digital Service division.

Carol discusses her team's unique approach to service design, acting as translators of human insights for digital services. Her team’s work involves transforming research and data into actionable insights, creating playbooks, and facilitating collaboration across various departments. The focus is on enhancing patient and clinician experiences by streamlining administrative tasks through innovative digital tools.

Throughout the conversation, Carol highlights the importance of building relationships and humanizing interactions. She shares insights on using familiar frameworks to engage clinicians and bridge gaps in communication, ensuring that all stakeholders understand the shared goals of improving patient care.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- The Role of Service Design in Healthcare: Understanding how service design can improve patient and clinician experiences within large healthcare systems like Northwell Health

- Collaboration Across Disciplines: How a small service design team collaborates with various departments and stakeholders, including clinicians, engineers, and business strategists, to enhance service delivery

- Translating Insights into Action: Techniques for translating complex data and human insights into actionable strategies and digital tools that address specific needs

- Humanizing Interactions: The importance of building personal relationships and fostering open communication to bridge gaps

- Prototyping and Testing Ideas: How rapid prototyping and testing can be used to validate ideas and improve processes, ensuring that new tools and services effectively meet user needs.

- Adapting Existing Frameworks: Creative approaches to leveraging existing frameworks (like problems, goals, and tasks) in a way that resonates with different audiences, particularly in translating technical language for clinicians.

Quick Reference Guide:

0:00 - Meet Carol

2:02 - Service design at Northwell

7:25 - The makeup of the service design team

9:49 - The operational tools and documentation the team uses

13:46 - An example of incorporating and automating a new operational process

17:36 - Why you need the Rosenverse

20:04 - Action-driven problems, goals, and tasks

24:35 - Breaking into established systems

29:02 - Carol’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

Advancing Service Design (inaugural conference) https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-service-design/

Everyday Astronaut https://www.youtube.com/everydayastronaut

“Systems are very good at being resilient,” and “Systems are very good at dehumanizing,” are sentiments that anyone who has worked in organizational transformation or systems change can appreciate. Luke Roberts is the COO and co-founder of HighFive and a speaker at the upcoming Advancing Service Design Conference. As a self-proclaimed "systems provocateur," Luke emphasizes the importance of understanding the underlying dynamics of any system, whether it’s in education, healthcare, or corporate environments. He and Lou discuss the intricacies of how systems operate and the challenges faced when attempting to provoke meaningful transformation, often drawing on relatable insights from Luke’s work within education systems.

One of the standout insights from the conversation is the vital role of time in enacting change. Luke argues that significant systems change requires a long-term commitment, with research indicating that anything less than three years typically fails to yield lasting results. This understanding is crucial, especially when organizations often seek quick wins that can lead to a cycle of temporary fixes without addressing deeper issues.

Ultimately, our discussion reveals that provoking change is not just about identifying problems or changing individuals; it's about creating a collective vision and investing the time and energy required to realize it. As we navigate complex systems across various sectors, embracing the challenge of systems change can lead to meaningful and sustainable transformation.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- The Nature of Systems Change: Understanding that systems are complex and often resistant to change, requiring a nuanced approach to provoke transformation.

- The Importance of Time: Recognizing that meaningful systems change typically takes at least three years, challenging the desire for quick wins and highlighting the need for long-term commitment.

- Energy Dynamics in Systems: Exploring how the flow of information and attention affects change efforts, and how misdirection can stall progress.

- Collaboration Across Stakeholders: The necessity of fostering collaboration among all participants—whether in education, healthcare, or corporate environments—to create a shared vision for change.

- Provocation as a Tool for Change: Learning how to challenge existing norms and behaviors within a system without blaming individuals, thereby encouraging open dialogue and reflection.

- Practical Examples and Insights: Gaining insights from real-world examples, such as the education system, to illustrate how systemic issues can perpetuate negative outcomes and the strategies needed to address them.

Quick Reference Guide:

0:14 - Meet Luke

2:40 - An example of change at a system level - bullying in schools

5:50 - Helpful frameworks - mapping and metaphors

9:06 - Why training individuals is not a long-term solution

14:00 - The window of change

18:13 - 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse

20:28 - Provoking systems

24:58 - Flow of energy

28:49 - Luke’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

Advancing Service Design - December 3-4, 2024 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-service-design/

The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia by Bernard Suits https://www.amazon.com/Grasshopper-Third-Games-Life-Utopia/dp/1554812151/

Leading Schools and Sustaining Innovation by Luke Roberts https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Schools-Sustaining-Innovation-Roberts/dp/1032015624/

“I’ve been asking myself the question, ‘Why are you doing that?’ since I was about four,” says Amanda Woolley. As an organizational development (OD) consultant and facilitator, she seems to have found the right profession. Amanda began her career with NHS England, eventually becoming the System Leadership Development Senior Manager before working as a consultant. Ironically, she initially rejected the notion that she was an “OD person,” not being entirely sure what the requirements were.

In Lou and Amanda’s discussion, she reflects on her journey into OD. She explains that OD focuses on helping teams step back and evaluate how they work together, addressing the complexities and “weirdness” that can emerge in workplace dynamics. They discuss the ideal environment for creating effective change in an organization, emphasizing the importance of neutrality, creativity, and ownership.

Amanda shares a personal story about being a caregiver at a young age for her ill mother. She reflects, “My best experiences in healthcare are when people have broken the rules.” Today, she brings stakeholders together so that procedures can be rewritten to make protocols efficient and effective for all involved—and she’ll bring her experience and OD perspective to her panel at Advancing Service Design 2024 (virtual, December 3-4).

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- The purpose of Organizational Development and who typically does it

Common “weird” challenges organizations face

- When and why organizations should bring in consultants, like OD specialists, to provide a neutral perspective and facilitate better communication and problem-solving

- Amanda’s career path and the rich experiences that inform her work today

Quick Reference Guide:

0:14 - Meet Amanda

1:50 - Systems and organizational development share a focus on frameworks and language

5:08 - What is organizational development, and who does it?

6:24 - Being aware of what’s weird and doing something about it

9:43 - The triggers that expose the need for an organizational development specialist

14:21 - Creating space that invites change and creativity

17:15 - 5 things about the Rosenverse

19:53 - How Amanda’s experience with the National Health Services in the UK has influenced her work today

27:27 - Amanda’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

Advancing Service Design Conference - December 3-4, 2024 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-service-design/

Tomorrowmind: Thriving at Work with Resilience, Creativity, and Connection―Now and in an Uncertain Future by Martin Seligman and Gabriella Rosen Kellerman https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrowmind-Resilience-Creativity-Connection_Now-Uncertain/dp/1982159766

What do music and DesignOps have in common? So much that Rachel Posman and John Calhoun use music as a framework for their new book, The Design Conductors: Your Essential Guide to Design Operations—the first book written about the subject. Both of the authors come from creative backgrounds (John as a musician, Rachel as a ballet dancer), and they describe how their personal experiences influenced their approach to the book and their work.

The music analogies are plenty. One example is the importance of orchestration in design operations, equating it to coordinating a team to work harmoniously, much like a conductor leading an orchestra. Rachel and John explain that design operations is a creative process, blending design and management, and that those creative aspects are often underestimated.

They highlight the maturing nature of design operations as a discipline, noting that the book fills a gap in resources for both newcomers and experienced professionals. The book is structured in two acts (another musical metaphor): the fundamentals of DesignOps, and the practical, tactical methods for building and scaling teams.

Rachel and John also discuss some common challenges in DesignOps, like making the invisible work visible and advocating for the value of the discipline. They stress the importance of "working loudly" to ensure that the contributions of design ops teams are recognized so that teams are properly resourced.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- Why Rachel and John chose a musical metaphor to use in their book

- Why Rachel and John decided to write the first book on Design Ops

- How the book is formatted and why there is something for everyone

- Why Rachel encourages her team to “work louder”

Quick Reference Guide:

0:24 - Introduction of Rachel and John

2:45 - Brining a music metaphor to design ops and highlighting the creativity within operations

6:53 - The design materials of operations

7:42 - Communication

9:40 - Building the plane while flying

11:06 - What the book covers and who it’s for

14:22 - 5 reasons you need the Rosenverse

17:14 - The journey readers can expect to take

21:07 - The big errors and challenges in design ops

23:34 - Ideas for working loud and being visible

27:06 - Gifts for listeners

The best operating models for design orgs are mission-driven, evolving, and team-developed. Those criteria might seem daunting, but Daniel Orbach, Lou’s guest and a speaker at September’s DesignOps Summit, explains how he facilitates a dynamic culture of co-creating with his team at JP Morgan Chase. Daniel outlines his framework, one where the whole team is involved. It’s a dynamic, fluid process that builds teamwork, creates buy-in, and establishes a framework of periodic review, which encourages continual evolution.

Lou and Daniel discuss the impact of rituals and mission statements on both teams and individuals. They also explore the impact of a team’s operating models on the broader organization and how interactions with various teams can foster shared understanding within the broader context of the organization.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- How mission statements can inspire and drive operating models

- The power of organic rituals and the unusual, unifying ritual of Daniel’s team at JP Morgan Chase

- How cross-pollinating between teams can create a shared vocabulary and increase understanding

Quick Reference Guide:

2:36 - Introduction of Daniel

3:14 - Co-creating operating models with a team

4:33 - On mission and operating models

7:19 - Quarterly impact retrospectives

9:16 - Rituals and mission

12:55 - Co-creating operating models

15:34 - Why you need the Rosenverse

18:39 - Operating models’ effects on broader organizations

21:00 - Shared vocabulary

23:07 - Cross-pollinating in organizations to facilitate shared understanding

25:05 - Operating models and the individual

28:09 - Daniel’s gift for the audience

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

DesignOps Summit https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designops-summit/2024/

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by John Coram https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed/dp/0316796883

Pieces of the Action by Vannevar Bush https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Action-Vannevar-Bush/dp/1953953204

Being simultaneously data-driven and creative seems paradoxical. So does building statistics into the creative process. John Paul de Guzman has managed to do both. As the founder and chief creative of Frost Design and Consulting Group, and speaker at the upcoming DesignOps Summit, millions of Filipinos have been impacted by their work with major FinTech and telecom projects.

Much of the UX/UI talent in the Philippines is self-taught, often struggling with the gap between academic training and industry expectations. To address this, John Paul developed a systematic approach to training and design processes.

John Paul and Lou discuss how Frost has embraced data-driven design, which, contrary to the creative chaos one might expect, has led to more efficient workflows and better client outcomes. By integrating tools like Trello and Figma, and leveraging AI for task management, John Paul has significantly reduced administrative overhead. This approach allows designers to focus on their work rather than getting bogged down in busy work. They can track work in real time, eliminating the need for status meetings and improving overall productivity—a win-win for both the team and their clients.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- How John Paul and his team at Frost systematically integrated data into their creative processes

- How John Paul addressed the talent gap in his company

The tools he uses to track workflows and achieve always-current status on projects

- How probabilistic analysis helps predict project timelines and manage client expectations more accurately

- How John Paul is integrating AP in the project-tracking process

Quick Reference Guide:

0:13 - Introduction of John Paul

2:16 - The path that got John Paul where he is today

5:18 - What it means to be data-driven

8:39 - Systematizing the data-driven design process by tracking workflows

11:58 - Mapping the workflow

16:01 - Break

18:45 - Tools for probabilistic analysis and managing time

24:11 - The level of granularity John Paul’s team tracks

25:56 - Handling aspects of work that are more conceptual and difficult to atomize

30:46 - John Paul’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

DesignOps Summit 2024 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designops-summit/2024/

Giving feedback to subordinates can be just as stressful as receiving it. Yet evaluations are a critical component of retention, employer/employee expectations, and production in general. Having an evaluation framework and system in place creates efficiencies, fills voids, and benefits everyone on the team. Enter Ignacio Martinez, associate director at Grand Studio in Chicago. He’ll be delivering a talk at the Design Ops Summit in September, “Fair and Effective Designer Evaluation”.

In this podcast episode, Ignacio and Lou explore the importance of a well-structured evaluation framework that highlights “glows and grows” in the areas of craft, quality, client interaction, and teamwork. Ignacio’s system, built on the very accessible Google Sheets, combines quantitative metrics with qualitative feedback to reduce bias and offer a comprehensive assessment of designers' performance. His framework allows for continuous feedback from peers, project directors, and supervisors.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- The principles and methodologies behind creating a fair and effective designer evaluation system

- How contributions from peers, career managers, and directors can create a robust evaluation system

- The importance of a structured framework with clear categories and traits such as craft, quality, client interaction, and teamwork.

- The benefits of incorporating both quantitative metrics and qualitative feedback to minimize bias and provide comprehensive evaluations.

- How to create a framework for continuous ongoing feedback from peers, project directors, and supervisors

- How evaluation criteria may evolve based on internal priorities

Quick Reference Guide:

0:13 - Intro of Ignacio

3:54 - Evaluating designers then and now

6:32 - Gut feelings versus using a system

8:27 - Defining desired traits and levels

11:49 - The framework of the documentation

14:54 - The Rosenverse

17:34 - Who are the evaluators? Are they biased? Are they anonymous?

21:33 - The frequency of evaluations

22:36 - Consider what makes the business run

26:05 - The importance of transparency

26:51 - Ignacio’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

Blurb of Ignacio’s “Fair and Effective Designer Evaluation” https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designops-summit/2024/sessions/fair-and-effective-designer-evaluation/

DesignOps Summit virtual conference - September 23-25 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designops-summit/2024/

Rosenverse https://rosenfeldmedia.com/rosenverse/

Donald Glover https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2255973/

Kate Towsey has certainly left her mark on research operations, pioneering the practice, helping launch the ResearchOps community, and now through writing Research That Scales: The Research Operations Handbook, which Rosenfeld Media is publishing in September of 2024.

In her interview with Lou, Kate reflects on her journey from content strategist to a pivotal figure in the research operations community. She recounts her early days at the UK Government Digital Service, where she unexpectedly found herself building research labs, and later at Atlassian, where she helped develop systems to manage vast amounts of research data. Through her work, Kate realized the need for a more structured approach to research operations, leading to facilitating a global ResearchOps community. Oh, and along the way, she coined the term “PWDR” (“People Who Do Research”).

The conversation delves into the strategic importance of ResearchOps, emphasizing that it’s much more than just administrative support—it's about designing systems that enable organizations to effectively learn and innovate. Kate likens research operations to city planning, highlighting the need for strategy to build successful, sustainable systems.

What You'll Learn from this Episode:

- How Kate’s early work in content strategy and her experiences at the UK

- Government Digital Service (GDS) led to the work she does today

- The importance of aligning research operations with a clear research strategy

- How research operations have evolved over the years

- The distinction between research and insights, and the value of turning research findings into actionable insights that drive decision-making

Quick Reference Guide:

0:27 - Introduction of Kate and her book

3:32 - Kate’s ah-ha moment

9:38 - Facilitating a global conversation before writing the book

11:47 - 8 elements unique to operations

14:09 - The Rosenverse

16:56 - Defining research operations

16:15 - Strategy in operations

20:50 - A story from overlooking the Hudson River in 2018

23:58 - On insight

27:14 - Human-centered research

32:04 - Kate’s gift for listeners

Resources and Links from Today's Episode:

Research That Scales: The Research Operations Handbook by Kate Towsey https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/research-that-scales/

Cha-Cha Club https://chacha.club/