Amy Thibodeau: “Process and Ambiguity” DesignOps Summit 2019 • October 23-24, 2019 • New York, NY, USA http://www.designopssummit.com

1. Process and
ambiguity
Amy Thibodeau, Shopify
@amythibodeau

2. @amythibodeau Photo by Sarah Pflug on Shopify Burst

3. @amythibodeau
+350 people
Distributed
+4 crafts
Shopify UX team

4. @amythibodeau
Productive discontent
People who are productively discontent see
problems and are proactive about generating
ideas and turning them into action.

5. @amythibodeau Photo by Dakota Monk on Shopify Burst

6. Great Pacific
garbage patch
Image: Ocean by Arttmiss (Flickr)
@amythibodeau

7. Plastic, plastic everywhere by Paulo Oliveira
@amythibodeau

8. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Explained
by The Ocean Cleanup (Youtube)
@amythibodeau

9. Image: The Garrett Hardin Society
Tragedy of
the commons

10. I love process!
And I bet you do too!
@amythibodeau

11. Photo by Mitul Shah, Shopify Burst

12. ResearchOps Community, #WhatIsResearchOps

13. I decided we would
do everything.
@amythibodeau

14. January 2019
James Me
Part time
@amythibodeau

15. Sponsorship and
community
UX comms
Special projects
Culture and
rituals
Education and
context
Tooling
@amythibodeau

16. Strategy
Conferences
Meetups
Outreach
Strategy
Blog
Social media
Newsletter
Internal & external
Speaker series
UX residencies
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
UX Handbook
Onboarding
Continued learning
Tooling training
Strategy
Recommendation
Sunsetting
Security
Workflows
Sponsorship and
community
UX comms
Special projects
Culture and
rituals
Education and
context
Tooling
@amythibodeau

17. Strategy
Conferences
Meetups
Outreach
Strategy
Blog
Social media
Newsletter
Internal & external
Speaker series
UX residencies
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
UX Handbook
Onboarding
Continued learning
Tooling training
Strategy
Recommendation
Sunsetting
Security
Workflows
Sponsorship and
community
UX comms
Special projects
Culture and
rituals
Education and
context
Tooling
UX Team
Design
Research
Content Strategy
UX Development
@amythibodeau

18. Strategy
Conferences
Meetups
Outreach
Strategy
Blog
Social media
Newsletter
Internal & external
Speaker series
UX residencies
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
UX Handbook
Onboarding
Continued learning
Tooling training
Strategy
Recommendation
Sunsetting
Security
Workflows
Sponsorship and
community
UX comms
Special projects
Culture and
rituals
Education and
context
Tooling
@amythibodeau

19. Process is often
necessary.
@amythibodeau

20. But good things can
happen in ambiguous
spaces.
@amythibodeau

21. “Freedom in a commons brings
ruin to all.”
Image: The Garrett Hardin Society
— Garrett Hardin

22. Image: Holger Motzkau 2010, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons
“Bureaucrats sometimes do not
have the correct information, while
citizens and users of resources do.”
— Elinor Ostrom

23. Sheep and goats in the field near Hyderabad by Ben Sutherland

24. Process is
often
necessary.
And good
things can
happen in
ambiguous
spaces.
@amythibodeau

25. ResearchOps Community, #WhatIsResearchOps

26. ResearchOps Community, #WhatIsResearchOps
Let go of process
where the risk is low
and the opportunity
is high.

27. Biophysical
characteristics
Attributes of
the community
Rules in use
Action arena
Action situation
Actors
Patterns of
interaction
Evaluative criteria
Outcomes
Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD)

28. Biophysical
characteristics
Attributes of
the community
Rules in use
Action arena
Action situation
Actors
Patterns of
interaction
Evaluative criteria
Outcomes
External context
Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD)

29. Biophysical
characteristics
Attributes of
the community
Rules in use
Action arena
Action situation
Actors
Patterns of
interaction
Evaluative criteria
Outcomes
Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD)
Action arena

30. Biophysical
characteristics
Attributes of
the community
Rules in use
Action arena
Action situation
Actors
Patterns of
interaction
Evaluative criteria
Outcomes
Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD)
Analysis

31. Defining our focus.
Focus by Fe Ilya (Flickr)
@amythibodeau

32. ?
Culture
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
@amythibodeau

34. How is culture being created across the team?
• 350+ people
• Distributed team across locations
and product areas

35. How is culture being created across the team?
• 350+ people
• Distributed team across locations
and product areas
• 4 core UX disciplines
• Connect through UX anchor
points and foundational
structures

36. How is culture being created across the team?
• 350+ people
• Distributed team across locations
and product areas
• 4 core UX disciplines
• Connect through UX anchor
points and foundational
structures
Rules of engagement, UX wide
priorities, user experience values

37. How is culture being created across the team?
• Distributed involvement, not
just led by managers
• Happening across business
areas and disciplines
NEW!

38. How is culture being created across the team?
• Distributed involvement, not
just led by managers
• Happening across business
areas and disciplines
Team lunches, informal socials,
critiques, demos, meetups,
clubs.
NEW!

39. How is culture being created across the team?
• Distributed involvement, not
just led by managers
• Happening across business
areas and disciplines
Team lunches, informal socials,
critiques, demos, meetups,
clubs.
Good feels, empowerment,
ideas and energy, feeling of
connection, desire for limited
practical support
NEW!

40. How is culture being created across the team?
Risk that some areas and disciplines
might invest more in culture than
others.

41. How is culture being created across the team?
Risk that some areas and disciplines
might invest more in culture than
others.
Outcomes measured mostly by
feelings and anecdotes

42. How is culture being created across the team?
Risk that some areas and disciplines
might invest more in culture than
others.
Although it wasn’t consistent across
teams, locations, or disciplines,
people were successfully establishing
big and small rituals
Outcomes measured mostly by
feelings and anecdotes

43. Although it wasn’t consistent across
teams, locations, or disciplines, people
were successfully establishing big and
small rituals
Outcomes measured mostly by feelings and
anecdotes
Risk that some areas and disciplines might
invest more in culture than others. Perception
of fairness or uneven culture.
* Good feels, sense of
empowerment, lots of ideas and
energy to make them happen with
some support
* Feeling of connection
Team lunches, informal socials,
critiques, demos, meetups, clubs* Distributed involvement, not
just led by managers
* Happening across business
areas and disciplines
* 350+ people
* Distributed team across locations and
product areas
* 4 core UX disciplines
* Connect through UX anchor points and
foundational structures
Rules of engagement, UX wide priorities, user
experience values
8
9
7
Are teams successfully investing in culture and rituals? Do UX teams feel connected? Do people feel a sense of belonging?

45. Culture
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
Delegate
@amythibodeau

46. Culture
Inspiring examples
Playbooks
$$
@amythibodeau
Delegate

47. ?
Tooling
Strategy
Recommendations
Sunsetting
Workflows
@amythibodeau

48. How are people making tooling decisions?
• 350+ people
• Distributed team across locations
and product areas
• 4 core UX disciplines
• Connect through UX anchor
points and foundational
structures

49. How are people making tooling decisions?
• 350+ people
• Distributed team across locations
and product areas
• 4 core UX disciplines
• Connect through UX anchor
points and foundational
structures
Few guidelines or shared
approaches to help people select
tools

50. Inconsistent people involved in selecting
and approving tools.
NEW!
How are people making tooling decisions?

51. Inconsistent people involved in selecting
and approving tools.
NEW!
How are people making tooling decisions?
Few common approaches

52. Inconsistent people involved in selecting
and approving tools.
NEW!
How are people making tooling decisions?
Few common approaches. Slack,
manager approvals, reaching out to IT, or
completely self-directed decisions.
Anxious and uncertain about
expectations. Not feeling equipped
to make informed decisions.

53. Risks around security, cost, and
collaboration.
How are people making tooling decisions?

54. Risks around security, cost, and
collaboration.
How are people making tooling decisions?
It was hard to measure tool use
across the team because it was
decentralized.

55. Risks around security, cost, and
collaboration.
How are people making tooling decisions?
It was hard to measure tool use
across the team because it was
decentralized.
Good intentions but many different
tools, unclear approach, challenges in
collaboration, and some anxiety about
expectations.

56. Lots of good intentions but many different
tools, unclear approach, challenges in
collaboration, and some anxiety about
expectations.
It was hard to measure tool use across the
team because everything was decentralized.
Risks around security, cost, and
collaboration.
People were anxious and uncertain
about what they were expected to
do. They often didn’t feel equipped
to make good decisions.
Few common approaches.Inconsistent people involved for
selecting and approving tools.
Sometimes managers involved,
sometimes self-directed.
* 350+ people
* Distributed team across locations and
product areas
* 4 core UX disciplines
* Connect through UX anchor points and
foundational structures
Few guidelines or shared approaches to help
people select tools
6
3
3
How are teams and individuals making tooling decisions? How are we balancing tooling needs against security, cost (licensing), and ensuring our approach supports
collaboration?

57. Tooling
Strategy
Recommendations
Sunsetting
Workflows
@amythibodeau

58. Process
Audit
Security
Sunsetting
Migration
Ambiguity
@amythibodeau

60. Process
Audit
Security
Sunsetting
Migration
Ambiguity
Anxiety
Insecurity
Fear
Avoidance
@amythibodeau

61. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Stay close
to your
frontline

62. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Value
qualitative
metrics

63. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Share operating principles

64. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Tooling principles
Make tradeoffs

65. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Tooling principles
Make tradeoffs
Prioritize active collaboration

66. Photo by Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Tooling principles
Make tradeoffs
Prioritize active collaboration
Embrace constant learning

67. Ambiguous
problems
are hard.
@amythibodeau
Ambiguity
Anxiety
Insecurity
Fear
Avoidance

68. Operational
problems are
inherently
ambiguous.
@amythibodeau
Ambiguity
Anxiety
Insecurity
Fear
Avoidance

69. Strategy
Conferences
Meetups
Outreach
Strategy
Blog
Social media
Newsletter
Internal & external
Speaker series
UX residencies
Strategy
Offsites
Meetups
Critiques
UX Handbook
Onboarding
Continued learning
Tooling training
Strategy
Recommendation
Sunsetting
Security
Workflows
Sponsorship and
community
UX comms
Special projects
Culture and
rituals
Education and
context
Tooling
@amythibodeau

70. September 2019
Meghan
Research Operations
Me
April 2019
Gene
July 2019
Jen Sharon
rt time UX Comms Project manager Project manager
@amythibodeau

71. 3 Takeaways
Samantha Hurley, Shopify Burst

72. Look beyond ops
for inspiration
Tess O’Brien, Shopify Burst
1
@amythibodeau

73. Matthew Henry, Shopify Burst
Make space for
champions2
@amythibodeau

74. Create human-centered
operational plans
Shopify Partners, Shopify Burst
3

75. How might we be more
humane operational
machines?
Brodie Vissers, Shopify Burst
@amythibodeau

76. Image from evonomics.com
“Extensive empirical research
leads me to argue that a core
goal of public policy should be to
facilitate the development of
institutions that bring out the
best in humans.”
— Elinor Ostrom

77. Image: Shopify Polaris
Thank you!
Find me everywhere
@amythibodeau
Find resources:
http://bit.do/uxops