The Goal Setting Process

Observe, plan, and resource.

I have experience working in organizations large and small, on distributed and integrated design teams. Throughout this process I have gathered knowledge on what makes for a good design organization that fits the business where they are in different points in time.

Observe

Take notes and watch the business goals and how the teams operate together at this current point in time. Where are there gaps? Who is doing what? Who is happy doing what?

Plan

What are our business goals for the next 12 months? If we had unlimited resources, what would change about those business goals?

Resource

Now that we know what we can accomplish, and what we want to accomplish, let’s designate resources (people! skilled designers! teams!) towards those goals. What specialized skills are needed to meet these goals?

Measuring Design Outputs

Now that we have a plan in place, let’s measure against that plan. My methodology is framed based on 3 points in time- measuring where we have been, where we are, and where we want to be. What are we scaling, how are we growing, who is developing new skills and design functions?

We can measure within 3 key areas

• OKRS Quarterly Design Goals and OKRs

• Product Output Performance and Efficiency within Products

• Hiring Design Organization Mapping and Resourcing

  
  

Setting Design Goals

Agreeing on the goals and aspirations of the company help match resources and working methods to those milestones.

What does the organization want to do?

If teams can work together to lay out a plan for where they want to deliver and strategically make impact, then even the hardest of goals become much easier to see.

Examples are, we want an app refresh by the end of the quarter to meet our need for a new product launch focused on app downloads. Or, we need to build out 5 new product teams to support our newest line of business.

Breaking down goals by area of impact

Design can be an area of support or a leader of visionary and strategic importance. It’s important to know where the business needs design to plug in, and how it’s expected that design deliver.

How will we get there?

Defining how we will get there together is a best approach. Alignment is key if we want to accomplish any organization-wide goal. As long as we all agree on where we are going, how we get there can be led by the teams. Design teams can staff and resource in different ways to accomplish the business goals.

Lay out options and potential strategies

After defining what we want to achieve, aligning, and getting our plan together, it’s time to resource the team. What and who do we need to accomplish these goals?

Process and Deliverables

Design Documentation

You may have noticed a lot of questions in the process outline. I aim to answer those questions using documents that clearly outline what to expect as an output of design scaling. Some different documents that help the business understand where you are now, and where you are going with your design org. A plan!

Design OKRS

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

How Project Cycles Work

An agreed framework for how projects move through phases, with new variations stemming from areas of expertise and specialists.

Design Hiring Overview and Process

See how goals can be put into motion with a hiring plan to match the product and organization growth.