DesignOps Practice Foundation (Viasat)
Year: 2019-2022
Company: Viasat
Industry: Telecommunications
Role: Senior Product Design Lead
Challenge
Viasat's design organization operated without standardized tools, processes, or efficiency frameworks, limiting design maturity and scalability. Teams used disparate software, lacked shared component libraries, and had no systematic approach to design operations. The organization needed DesignOps foundation to improve efficiency and enable scaling without proportional headcount growth.
Approach
Infrastructure Building
- Pioneered DesignOps practice establishing foundational systems and standards
- Standardized tool stack across design organization reducing friction and enabling collaboration
- Created shared component libraries and design system foundations
Team Enablement
- Developed training programs teaching designers efficient workflows and best practices
- Established documentation and guidelines supporting design consistency
- Built onboarding materials reducing new designer ramp-up time
Process Improvement
- Introduced systematic approaches to design workflow and file management
- Created templates and frameworks accelerating common design activities
- Established quality standards and review processes
Outcome
Company-wide adoption: DesignOps practices adopted across Viasat design organization improving efficiency and consistency.
Design maturity: Successfully elevated organizational design maturity through systematic infrastructure and process improvements.
Scalability: Created foundation enabling design organization to scale impact without proportional resource increases.
Methods & Deliverables
Methods: Qualitative research, Workshops, Process mapping, Tool evaluation
Deliverables: 0→1 Launch, Documentation, Training materials, Component libraries, Standards
Tags: Leadership/Org Design, Telecommunications, Company-wide adoption, Team building, Enterprise, Ireland