Peter Merholz (US)

Peter Merholz Author of "Org Design for Design Orgs” and co-founder of Adaptive Path

Talk: From Team Design to DesignOps: The Top 5 Things to Boost Your Design Org’s Effectiveness

On stage:

Growing in-house design teams is still a relatively new phenomenon. As such we lack a robust understanding of what it takes to set up these design teams for success, and end up making the same mistakes over and over again. In particular, teams don’t realize the deep importance of the “behind the scenes” organizational and operational aspects of building and running a design team, and then are surprised when those teams are not producing the value they expect.

Drawing on his experiences growing Adaptive Path, then serving as a VP of Design, and now through his consulting and training practices, Peter Merholz will draw back the curtains of Design Organizations and DesignOps and reveal the top 5 things you can do to help your team realize it’s potential.

About

In recent years design has become recognized as a key success factor in generating business value. Designers are starting to be included in strategic conversations about the products and services that many organizations ultimately deliver. Organizations are therefore building in-house digital/experience design teams at unprecedented rates, but many of them don’t understand how to get the most out of their investment. Enter Peter Merholz…

Peter Merholz co-founded the legendary agency Adaptive Path back in 2001. He was the Head of Design Practice at the agency and worked with clients such as Samsung, Wells Fargo, Yamaha, and Sony. Since leaving Adaptive Path in 2012, he’s worked as a design leader and executive, leading teams at e.g., Groupon, OpenTable, Jawbone, and Capital One. Peter recently launched his one-person consultancy, Humanism at Scale, focusing on strengthening design organizations and bolstering design leadership.

A few years ago, he co-authored a book that has become essential reading for all design managers and executives. “Org Design for Design Orgs” is hands down the best book on the organizational, managerial, and operational challenges of building in-house design teams. What Peter does not know about building and scaling design organizations is not worth knowing.

Peter’s book, and of course meeting him at From Business to Buttons, should be mandatory for all design managers and executives.

Workshop

All the workshops are on May 6-7, the days before the conference. Tickets are sold separately.

Design Your Design Organization

Peter Merholz

Wednesday, 05 May, 15:00 – 19:00

As the move to establish in-house design teams accelerates, it turns out there’s very little common wisdom on what makes for a successful design organization. In this workshop, Peter Merholz draws from his groundbreaking book Org Design for Design Orgs to shine a light on the unsung activities of actually running a design team, the organizational and operational challenges and considerations, and what works and what doesn’t.