Operational Excellence in Design + Leadership + Design Ops with Jon Fukuda — DT101 E144
Release Date: 05/20/2025
Leadership & Strategy + Fighter Pilots + Design Education with Jason "TOGA" Trew — DT101 E145
Design Thinking 101
When I first connected with Jason Trew (callsign: TOGA), I knew this conversation would challenge some assumptions about where design thinking belongs. Jason is an Air Force fighter pilot and strategy leader turned professor. What emerged from our conversation wasn't just another story about design thinking adoption, but a deeper exploration of what he sees happening when we distinguish between capital-D Design Thinking and lowercase-d design thinking, and why that distinction matters for everyone trying to create meaningful change. Jason's journey from F-15 pilot to design educator reveals...
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Operational Excellence in Design + Leadership + Design Ops with Jon Fukuda — DT101 E144
Design Thinking 101
Jon said that when he first discovered the design operations community at the 2019 Design Ops Summit in Brooklyn, it felt like coming home. Here was this entire tribe of people who cared about the same things he’d been passionate about for years—creating systems that help designers do their best work. In this episode, I'm talking with Jon Fukuda, co-founder of Limina.co, about how design operations has evolved from an unnamed set of practices into a vital discipline that drives organizational excellence. As organizations continue to face economic pressures, the conversation around design...
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Building Sustainable Design Research Systems with Sam Zucker — DT101 E143
Design Thinking 101
The tension between doing good research and delivering on tight timelines is something I've experienced throughout my career in design and innovation. This conversation with Sam Zucker unpacks powerful approaches to making research more sustainable and equitable while building systems that support continuous learning and engagement. What particularly struck me was Sam's practical framework for embedding research into organizational workflows. Her approach transforms research from a periodic, resource-intensive effort into an ongoing capability that shapes decision-making and product...
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Architecture + Decision Design + Learning Spaces + Strategy with Adam Griff — DT101 E142
Design Thinking 101
In this episode, I explore how architectural thinking enhances strategic decision-making with Adam Griff. Our conversation reveals how his architectural background shapes his approach to helping higher education institutions navigate complex decisions and create flexible space solutions. We dig into the challenges of designing spaces that can adapt to unknown futures and discuss how universities can better integrate with their communities. I particularly love how Adam frames flexibility in building design as creating platforms for future adaptations rather than just multi-purpose spaces....
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Joy, Transformation, and Design as Creative Liberation with Sahibzada Mayed — DT101 E141
Design Thinking 101
Sahibzada Mayed is a creative alchemist who uses design and storytelling to cultivate joy and imagination as tools of liberation. Mayed serves as the Co-Lead for Strategy and Research at Pause and Effect, a liberation-focused imagination and design collective based on Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Beyond that, Mayed leads a small-scale startup, Naranji, that focuses on gender justice and decolonization in fashion. Today, we talk about decolonizing design and creative liberation. Listen to learn about: >> The impact of colonialism and power...
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Healthcare Design: Evidence-based, Business Fluent, and Change Prepared with Matt Van Der Tuyn — DT101 E140
Design Thinking 101
Matthew Van Der Tuyn is a designer and healthcare innovation strategist. Matt is the Senior Director of Design and Strategy at the Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation at Penn Medicine. The mission at the Center is to serve as a catalyst and accelerator for initiatives that dramatically improve health outcomes, patient and provider experiences, and decrease the cost of care. Matt has had the unique opportunity to help build the Center’s design, discipline, and elevate design thinking as a key tool in Penn Medicine's organizational toolbox. Matt's design process balances...
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Behavioral Science in Human-centered Design with Christina Hanschke — DT101 E139
Design Thinking 101
Christina Hanschke's career journey has spanned many diverse roles. She's been a music therapist, nanny, and UX researcher, and she’s currently a Design Lead at Final Mile, where she applies a multidisciplinary approach to address pressing societal changes, drawing from behavioral science, human-centered design, and systems thinking. As an adjunct faculty at DePaul University, Christina extends her passion for leveraging behavioral science in human-centered design to the next generation of innovators fostering a diverse culture of curiosity and continual learning. Christina and I talk about...
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Organizational Design + Strategy + Change with Stephanie Gioia — DT101 E138
Design Thinking 101
Stephanie Gioia is a founder at Future Work Design with a focus on strategic planning and organizational innovation. She also serves as the director of the Either/Org project and teaches human-centered design for organizational innovation at the University of Oregon's Executive MBA program. She’s taught at Stanford’s d.school, University of Michigan, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. She is the founder of deckaholic.com, the world's largest library of card decks for problem solving and creativity. We talk about organizational design and strategy, and helping organizations navigate...
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Designing Your Career + UX for Small Business with Sarah Doody — DT101 E137
Design Thinking 101
Sarah Doody is a user research experience designer and researcher. She's also the founder of Career Strategy Lab, a UX career coaching program. In 2011, she co-created the curriculum and taught for General Assembly's first 11-week UX intensive program in New York City. She has extensive experience doing experience design, product strategy, and user research for companies including Fatherly, Sling, Citi Bike, We Work, Domino Magazine, Tictail, the Muse, Dow Jones and more. She speaks at conferences and teaches workshops worldwide. Today, we talk about designing your career and user experience...
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Design Ethics with George Aye — DT101 E136
Design Thinking 101
This is the inaugural DT101 Live!, with guest George Aye. George co-founded Greater Good Studio with the belief that design can help advance equity. Previously, he spent seven years at global innovation firm IDEO before being hired as the first human-centered designer at the Chicago Transit Authority. He speaks frequently across the US and internationally. George holds the position of Adjunct Full Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Today, we are talking live about ethics in design in the design industry. Listen to learn about: >> What is ethical design?...
info_outlineJon said that when he first discovered the design operations community at the 2019 Design Ops Summit in Brooklyn, it felt like coming home. Here was this entire tribe of people who cared about the same things he’d been passionate about for years—creating systems that help designers do their best work. In this episode, I'm talking with Jon Fukuda, co-founder of Limina.co, about how design operations has evolved from an unnamed set of practices into a vital discipline that drives organizational excellence.
As organizations continue to face economic pressures, the conversation around design operations has become more critical than ever. How do we demonstrate the strategic value of design teams? How can operational excellence serve not just designers but business outcomes? Jon shares insights from his 20+ year journey—from early days defining UX practice models to his current role as a design ops leader and community builder.
This conversation reveals how the best design operations leaders think beyond tooling and process to focus on team health, cross-functional partnerships, and systems that elevate both human-centered practices and business innovation. Whether you're considering a move into design ops or looking to strengthen your design leadership approach, Jon's practical wisdom offers a roadmap for driving operational excellence in complex organizations.
Questions you'll be able to answer after listening:
- How might we structure the first 30-60-90 days in a new design operations role for maximum impact?
- What key misconceptions about design operations could undermine your effectiveness as a leader?
- When should design ops be positioned under product teams versus operating as a horizontal function?
- Why do organizations often view design teams as expendable during economic downturns, and how can we change that perception?
- How can design operations leaders demonstrate their impact on both team health and business outcomes?
About Jon Fukuda
Jon Fukuda is co-founder of Limina.co with over 20 years of experience as a user experience specialist. With expertise in UX strategy, design thinking, and UI design, Jon has led teams through human-centered requirements gathering, strategy development, interaction design, testing, and evaluation. His career journey started in the late 1990s when "user experience" was just being defined, giving him a unique perspective on how design practices have evolved. Most recently, Jon has dedicated his efforts to research and design operations facilitation for scalable, sustainable human-centered systems. His passion for operational excellence makes him a respected voice in the design ops community.
Episode Highlights
[01:30] Jon's journey began when "user experience" was just being defined
[02:10] Early exposure to coordinating UX work alongside business analysts and technologists
[03:40] "I always approached with a continuous improvement mindset - learn from mistakes, get better"
[04:50] The shift from individual excellence to system-level operational thinking
[06:40] Jon's team started defining specialized roles: information architects, interaction designers, visual designers
[08:40] On discovering the term design ops, "This is the work I've been doing for years - I just didn't have a word for it" — Jon
[10:00] The North Pacific Gyre metaphor: design ops managers pick up tasks no one else claims
[11:10] The community focuses on team health and infrastructure that supports practitioners
[12:20] Design ops handles everything from licensing software to managing team dynamics
[14:40] Different maturity levels: from surface-level design to strategic human-centered integration
[16:10] How design ops prevents team burnout and toxic workplace dynamics
[18:30] First steps for new design ops leaders: conduct a listening tour with your design team
[19:40] "Design operations is a servant leader role - you make sure people feel taken care of" — Jon
[21:30] Expand your listening tour to horizontal and vertical stakeholders to identify friction points
[22:40] The necessity of executive sponsorship when conducting large-scale assessments
[24:30] Building a shared vision of success that aligns stakeholders around design operations
[26:40] Design ops spans program management, infrastructure, HR partnerships, and career development
[27:00] Common misconception: reducing design ops to just design systems or program management
[29:40] Challenges of positioning design operations within product-led organizational hierarchies
[31:00] Why siloing design teams under product lines limits cross-organizational learning
[32:00] The Design Ops Assembly Slack community as a primary resource for practitioners
[34:40] Recommended resources: Nielsen Norman article and the Design Conductors book
[36:10] Design Ops Assembly Learning Labs offer stratified professional development programs
[38:40] Economic challenges lead organizations to view designers as expendable despite their value
[41:40] "The future requires better integration - both process and tooling" — Jon
[42:10] Need for better connections between design tools and broader business systems
Questions to Help You Go Deeper
Learning
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What surprised you most about the spectrum of activities that fall under design operations, and why?
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How does the concept of operational excellence in design challenge or enhance your current understanding of design leadership?
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Which aspects of the listening tour methodology seem most valuable for your context?
Leading
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How might you help your team understand the connection between operational excellence and strategic business outcomes?
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Where in your organization would improved design operations create the most immediate value?
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What would success look like if you implemented a structured listening tour with your horizontal and vertical stakeholders?
Applying
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What's one small experiment you could run next week to improve an operational aspect of your design practice?
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Which current friction points in your team's workflow could be addressed using design operations principles?
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How could you adapt the first 30-60-90 days framework to fit your specific organizational context?
Practicing
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How will you build stakeholder relationship management into your regular practice?
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What support or resources do you need to implement better integration between your design tools and broader organizational systems?
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Who could you partner with to practice articulating the business value of your design operations initiatives?
Resources
Nielsen Norman Group Design Ops 101 - An excellent primer that defines design operations as "the orchestration and optimization of people, processes, and craft in order to amplify design's value and impact at scale."
The Design Conductors - A new comprehensive book by Rachel Posman and John Calhoun from Salesforce, providing guidance on building DesignOps programs.
Patrizia Bertini's Website - Jon recommends her perspective on design ops and business value, with various articles on DesignOps strategy and measuring impact.
Events
Rosenfeld Media's Design Ops Summit - The premier annual conference for design operations professionals.
Henry Stewart's Creative Operations + Design Operations Events - These events take place in New York, London, Los Angeles and other cities, often featuring co-located Design Operations Symposiums.
Deepen Your Learning
Operations + Human Centered Design + Art with Alvin Schexnider — DT101 E116 - Explores the intersection between operations, human-centered design practices, and artistic approaches to problem-solving, providing additional context for operational excellence in design organizations.
Creating a UX Career with Sarah Doody — DT101 E77 - Offers insights into career development for UX professionals that complements the discussion on design operations leadership and team development.
Ask Like a Designer — DT101 E61 - Introduces the six designer voices (Builder, Scout, Tinker, Facilitator, Traveler, and Pro) that can help design operations leaders develop a more comprehensive approach to supporting their teams and driving excellence.