DesignOps Metrics & Dashboard

Feb 22, 2023

Are you ready to discover the power of DesignOps Dashboards? It all started with a cry for help from Kristina, a Design Manager at a leading agency, who was looking for suggestions on creating an all-encompassing dashboard for her in-house design team.

Kristina (Design Manager in a leading agency) – Would anyone have a perspective or references on a DesignOps dashboard? I must design an overview of all design projects for a large in-house design department. It is probably like a dashboard that allows management to see all ongoing initiatives when allocating resources.

DesignOps Dashboards are the key to unlocking faster and better decision-making for any organization. As a DesignOps Manager, keeping track of your team members, projects, and resources is essential to ensure continuous improvement and optimization. Kristina’s challenge is a great example of how a DesignOps Dashboard can help optimize design operations.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what DesignOps Managers need to consider when creating and maintaining an effective DesignOps Dashboard and how to leverage the full potential of a DesignOps Dashboard and take your design operations to the next level!

Let’s get started!

DesignOps Metrics

DesignOps is a way of managing design processes to improve operational efficiency and efficacy. It is an approach that enables organizations to use data-driven insights to measure, track, and improve their design operations.

Before we look into what metrics DesignOps managers care about, let’s look at their roles & responsibilities and what outcomes they desire.

Roles of a DesignOps Manager

The DesignOps Manager is responsible for ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of the design team. They work to improve the team’s workflow and communication and help resolve any issues.

In addition, they also oversee the development of new features and products and work with other departments to ensure that the design team’s needs are met. The DesignOps Manager is a vital role in any design team, and their responsibilities can vary depending on the size and scope of the team.

Here are some of the key roles and responsibilities of a DesignOps Manager.

Talent Management - Hiring, Onboarding & Skilling	DesignOps managers play a critical role in ensuring that an organization has the talent it needs to be successful. They are responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and training new hires, as well as managing the development of existing employees.
Optimize Resources - Allocation & Utilization	To optimize resources, a DesignOps Manager should focus on allocating and utilizing resources efficiently. One way to do this is by understanding the needs of the design team and aligning them with the company’s goals. Additionally, a DesignOps Manager should streamline processes and workflows to minimize wasted time and effort.
Knowledge Management - Consistency & Standardization	One of the most important aspects of DesignOps is consistency and standardization. This means making sure that the design team is using the same processes, tools, and standards. It can be a challenge to maintain consistency across a large team, but it’s crucial for ensuring quality and efficiency.
Build Design Culture - Communication & Collaboration	Good communication and collaboration are essential for successful product development. By fostering a culture of open communication and collaboration, DesignOps Manager ensures that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. This will help to avoid misunderstandings and delays and ultimately result in a better product. Of course, this is not a thorough list of what they do, but these are some of the most crucial responsibilities taken up by a DesignOps manager.

DesignOps Dashboard Metrics

Based on the role definition, we believe the following metrics are critical to track.

a. PeopleOps

A hiring dashboard that provides employers with the data they need to make better decisions about their hiring process. With this in mind, employers need to understand how important it is to access real-time analytics to make informed decisions about their team size and composition.

Let’s look at some of the key features of PeopleOps and how it can help employers hire more efficiently and effectively.

How team members are hired – When hiring team members, it is important to consider each potential candidate's specific skills and experience.
% mix of competencies & ratios – The right mix of competencies and ratios is essential to ensuring that your team has the skills and capacity to meet the demands of your business.
Continuous Learning & Development (competency gaps to be bridged) – One way to bridge competency gaps on your team is to provide training and development opportunities. This could include online courses, webinars, or even in-person workshops. By investing in your team’s development, you can help them close any skills gaps and become a more well-rounded team.
Onboarding time to get someone up to date on domain & internal processes – Start with the basics, then move into more specific training on the domain, and finally introduce them to any internal processes they need to know about so that they can hit the ground running and be productive from day one.

b. Team Management

Team management involves allocating resources, determining personnel requirements, assigning individuals to tasks, monitoring performance, and ensuring compliance with organizational policies. It also requires managing expectations and dealing with conflict.

Tracking allocation & utilization for various projects/activities – The first step is to track the allocation and utilization of your team members. This can be done manually or with the help of project management software. This will help you identify any areas where someone may be over or under-utilized.
Team health & optimum distribution of workload across teams, locations & competencies – To manage teams effectively, it is important to ensure that team members are healthy and that the workload is distributed evenly across teams, locations, and competencies. By doing so, organizations can avoid burnout and maximize productivity.
Budget tracking – Budget tracking is a process of monitoring and recording all the money that a team or organization is spending. This can be done through various methods, such as online tools, or spreadsheets. The important thing is to keep track of where the money is going and how it is being used.
Design tools licenses: number, cost & expiry – When deciding which design tool to use for your team, it’s essential to consider the cost and expiration date of the license. You’ll want to choose a device that is affordable and will last for the duration of your project.

c. Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management is a central location where all project documents and files are stored and organized. It can be used for managing any type of project, from small personal projects to large corporate ones. It helps organized and standardized all the assets and documents of the projects.

No. of processes & activities standardized & used by the team – Design processes are the best way to standardize design journeys and unleash creativity. Standardization helps to improve efficiency and quality control.
No. of best practices defined by each designer/researcher every month or quarter – Maintaining a consistent number of best practices defined by each designer/researcher every month or quarter is essential.
No. of documents searched, accessed & reused – The number of documents searched, accessed, and reused is a measure of the effectiveness of knowledge management.

d. Communication & Collaboration

Without effective communication, teams cannot work together to reach their goals, as everyone is on a different page. Additionally, without collaboration, it can be difficult to come up with creative solutions and ideas that ultimately lead to success.

No. of events, online & offline, activities to integrate & communicate the value of design.
No. of case studies/success stories created.
Integration with design tools – Integration with design tools is essential for streamlining the communication and collaboration process &, integration with design tools can also help to reduce the amount of time needed to complete tasks, as well as improve the overall quality of work.

DesignOps Dashboard at Cubyts

Cubyts, being a one-of-a-kind DesignOps Platform, provides a 360-degree view of all the various aspects of DesignOps, which gives complete visibility to all the team members and stakeholders.

DesignOps Dashboards are becoming increasingly important in this modern age.

With the ability to manage, track and measure success and improvement, Cubyts ensure that their teams can make better decisions and reach goals faster. Cubyts plays a pivotal role in helping companies succeed by understanding their design operations landscape and finding ways to optimize them.