Design is messy. Bringing structure to design is a challenge when the business is moving fast and your team is learning to scale. It’s all about the art of guided chaos. Participants will learn about what goes into “design process” for the product design team at MailChimp, and how we think about healthy, collaborative environments. Eric Toledo is the Director of Design Operations at MailChimp where he runs the talented product design team. He is a storyteller, tinkerer, problem solver, and champion of fostering a shared vision across an organization. With more than 15 years of design lead experience, Eric is driven by a fascination for how design teams work, a passion for building highly collaborative environments, a fearless pursuit of delightful experiences, and an unending curiosity for the customers that MailChimp serves. Previously, he served as the product design lead at TestFlight before it was acquired by Apple in 2014. As part of the iTunes design team, Eric led the design effort for TestFlight for iOS and tvOS as well as release management tools for the App Store.

1. design process
the art of guided chaos
Eric Toledo
Director of Design Ops @MailChimp

2. mailchimp design

3. Brand &
Culture
Product
Marketing
Product
Design
Design

4. Brand &
Culture
Product
Marketing
Product
Design

5. Product
Design

6. design is chaos

14. divergence is healthy

16. idea confidence

17. product development

18. Prioritized
Queue
Ideas
Staffing
Cross functional
Planning Week
Mission Control
Planning WeekProject Proposals Staffing & Learning
~ 4 Weeks ~ 2 Weeks 1 Week
Production
Every 2 weeks
Execution
Cross functional
Showcase
Execution
10 Weeks

19. Planning Week ExecutionExplore
Design Core Projects Prioritized Projects Product Marketing

20. orientation

22. centralized vs distributed

23. centralized partnership

24. cross functional
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
D DD DD D

25. core
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
XFteam
D DD DD D

26. Product
Management
EngineeringDesign
Brand &
Culture
Product
Marketing

27. design process

28. flows sketch wires comps prototype

31. sketch comps markup / css

32. sketch react app

33. tools to communicate

34. design process is an
iterative function of
confidence

35. harness the chaos

36. go wide

40. Define
Learn Define
Execute
Explore Create

41. Define
Learn Define
Execute
Explore Create
Diverge
Diverge
Converge
Converge

42. Define
Learn Define
Execute
Explore Create
¯_( )_/¯
Diverge
Diverge
Converge
Converge

43. Ideate Refine
Test

44. Ideate RefineTest
Diverge
Converge

45. idea confidence

46. idea confidence
Visibility
Shared Ownership
Parts Bin

47. idea confidence
Visibility
Shared Ownership
Parts Bin

48. checkpoints

49. Weekly Statuses
Design Reviews
Product Round Ups
Design Office Hours
Showcases

50. Week 1 Week 2

51. Week 1 Week 2
Showcase
Thur
Increasing confidence

52. Week 1 Week 2
Showcase
Thur
Status
M
Status
M
Increasing confidence

53. Week 1 Week 2
Design Review
Tu
Design Review
Tu
Status
M
Status
M
Increasing confidence
Showcase
Thur

54. Design Review
Tu
Design Review
Tu
Product Round Up
Wed
Increasing confidence
Status
M
Status
M
Showcase
Thur
Product Round Up
Wed

55. Project Round Up
Wed
Office Hours
Fri
Office Hours
Fri
Increasing confidence
Design Review
Tu
Design Review
Tu
Status
M
Status
M
Showcase
Thur
Project Round Up
Wed

56. idea confidence
Parts Bin
Shared Ownership
Visibility

57. visibility

58. share early and often

59. • Core Reviews
• Invision
• Slack #wip
• JIRA
• Status Sheet

60. use your feet

61. idea confidence
Parts Bin
Visibility
Shared Ownership

62. shared ownership

63. building consensus

64. “ideation is about shared
invention. attaching a single
person to a single idea
hinders collaboration and
greatness”
- Brendan Boyle

65. cross functional show and tell

66. follow up

67. design QA

68. Shared Ownership
idea confidence
Visibility
Parts Bin

69. a parts bin

70. beyond MVP

71. idea confidence
Visibility
Shared Ownership
Parts Bin

72. confidence
Visibility
Shared Ownership
Parts Bin

73. confidence
Parts Bin

74. confidence

77. reflect & react

78. retrospective

79. sample habits
• Build early consensus
• Elevate compromises to leadership
• Document design decisions
• Account for design work in planning week
• Participate in planning & statuses

80. take aways
• Establish checkpoints
• Foster visibility
• Nurture shared ownership
• Save the flakes
• Reflect and React

81. excellence is a
continuous process
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam