Issue #3: DesignOps and downtime
Coordination, on-site planning, product launches, and downtime.
A DesignOps heavy week
The early part of the week was packed with operational tasks that are crucial for our team’s success. DesignOps has many facets, and without a dedicated team or person, the responsibility falls on Design leadership to manage these vital, yet often invisible, details. This week, we focused heavily on aligning priorities and making trade-offs for our reduced friction experience. This involved planning and communicating short-term shifts in work streams to both our team and partners.
Even the most detailed comms plan can be difficult to keep on track with so many moving parts and pieces and the human dynamic. Even with the most aligned and agreed upon plans, there’s always a variable related to timing and orchestration. It’s important to be as least disruptive to the teams as possible for things like this. Whether it’s prioritization or communication, governance is challenging and team dynamics need constant attention.
We’ve been talking about how and when to bring the team together since the company kick-off meeting in January in Boston. This week we landed on a date and location for our first full Design team onsite—this July at our Gainesville office. Now it’s time to figure out all the details. I enjoy planning these events, but they do require a lot of work. In the past, I’ve organized these for pretty large teams and will miss having people focused on all the intricate details, including the full agenda content. People often don’t realize the effort involved because, when done right, everything seems seamless. Next steps: gathering RSVPs and sorting out hotel blocks. I’ll keep sharing progress on the event planning side of things.
Product Launch
This week, we celebrated the launch of our Campaign Builder product, which uses AI to help create and launch comprehensive multi-channel marketing campaigns. I’m incredibly proud of the team for their hard work and focus in bringing Campaign Builder to life for our customers.
The journey to Campaign Builder was an exciting one, filled with valuable learnings and the successful completion of both alpha and beta programs. Now, it’s live and available for everyone to use. Zero-to-one product launches like this are always fun to be part of.
A little SoFL R&R
I took a few days off to visit family for a long weekend in South Florida. Temps have been in the mid-90s, with feels like temps in the triple digits.
The heat has been a great excuse to take it easy and soak up some sun. I spent some much needed downtime playing bocce ball, watching sports, and relaxing by the pool. From a t-shirt and swim trunks I picked up, to my sunburn, I’m definitely in my lobster era right now. I’ll try to keep that going with a lobster roll next week in Boston.
Other highlights and links from the week
Song of the week:
For obvious reasons…
Pickup of the week:
The Old Bay Goldfish crackers are back this year. I first tried these on a business trip, at a bar, in Silver Spring, Maryland two years ago and haven’t been able to find them since.
Best thing I ate:
The bagels at Long Island Bagel & Deli were so good that I had them twice. My first morning I had a breakfast sandwich there and the next day I picked up bagels to go.
What I’ve been watching:
I watched the Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk boxing match because it had that heavyweight big fight feel. It also kicked off a really fun next few months for combat sports, with the return of Conor McGregor and the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight coming up next.
Other Links
I’ve been waiting for EA Sports College Football 2025 since they stopped making NCAA Football. I don’t get to play video games often but I will make some time for this one.
These New Balance / ALD T500 Tennis Oxfords are perfect shoes for those outdoor events and summer barbecues. Speaking of grilling season, I can’t wait to make these grilled Chicago dogs, with Vienna Chicago style relish (of course!), and pair it with a burnt pineapple margarita.
Thanks for reading!
/av/