Scaling Design Operations & Team Delivery

Over my tenure at Oneupweb, I grew from Design Manager to Design Director, leading the design team through a period of rapid growth and operational change. My focus was improving how the team worked by building scalable processes, modernizing tools, and improving cross-team collaboration.

These changes helped the team increase capacity, improve delivery timelines, and raise overall quality.

Leadership

Design Operations

Scaling Teams

The Challenge

When I stepped into leadership, the design team consisted of two designers and a motion graphics designer. While the team produced strong creative work, operational challenges were slowing delivery:

  • No documented processes

  • Inconsistent project execution

  • Projects frequently over budget

  • Missed deadlines

  • Limited collaboration with development

  • Outdated design tools

As the team grew, these challenges became more pronounced

My Approach

Scaling the Team

During a period of rapid growth leading up to and during COVID, I expanded the team by hiring:

  • 1 senior designer

  • 2 mid-level designers

  • 1 junior designer

  • 1 UX designer

  • 1 developer

I also restructured roles to introduce UX specialization and support accessibility initiatives across the agency.

Leading Hybrid Collaboration

When the team transitioned to hybrid & remote work during COVID, I introduced:

  • FigJam for collaborative workshops

  • Async design reviews

  • Digital whiteboard workflows

  • Improved documentation

I also led agency-wide training to support adoption and improve cross-team collaboration.

Hiring & Mentorship

  • Hired 6 designers

  • Mentored 2 designers into senior roles

  • Mentored 2 designers into management roles

  • Created mentorship structure for new hires

  • Developed career growth paths

I also helped grow a UX designer into an accessibility leader across the agency.

Improving Design Operations

To improve delivery and consistency, I introduced:

  • Client workshops for early alignment

  • Stylescapes to reduce late-stage feedback

  • Technical & content documentation on sitemaps for clearer scope definition

  • Group design critique sessions

  • Estimation & timeline frameworks

  • Improved design-to-development handoff

  • Structured kickoff exercises

These changes reduced feedback loops and improved delivery timelines.

Modernizing Tools & Workflow

I helped modernize the design team's workflow by:

  • Transitioning to interactive prototypes, from Photoshop to Adobe XD

  • Leading migration to Figma

  • Standardizing file organization

  • Creating version control practices

  • Introducing design systems

These changes improved efficiency and consistency across projects.

Cross-Team Leadership

I worked closely with project managers, developers, and stakeholders to:

  • Improve project scoping

  • Align timelines

  • Involve development earlier

  • Improve stakeholder communication

  • Establish the importance of accessibility across all services to position the agency as a leader in this space

Impact

These operational improvements helped the team scale effectively:

  • Designers increased from managing 1 project to 3 simultaneously

  • Reduced feedback loops improved delivery timelines

  • Improved quality and consistency

  • Increased team morale

  • Improved client satisfaction

  • Reduced project overages

What I'm Most Proud Of

I’m most proud of building processes that allowed the team to scale while maintaining quality. By modernizing tools, improving collaboration, and introducing scalable workflows, I helped position the team for long-term growth and to be forward-thinking when it comes to inclusive design.

Next

Leading Design Operations & Accessibility Transformation