Developing scalable design operations for Smart Pension

Challenge

Smart Pension merged its design functions (UX, UI, Content) into a single team of 10+ designers.

They needed ways of working that could scale, as they had:

  • No shared workflows
  • Limited visibility across projects
  • Inconsistent stakeholder engagement
  • Tactical delivery without reusable foundations.

I was tasked with developing a scalable, collaborative operations model for the new team.

CLIENT

Smart Pension

INDUSTRY

Financial services

TEAM

Design Manager, UX Design, UI Design, Content Design, UX Research

MY ROLE

UX operations lead, workshop facilitation

Outcomes

✅  One source of truth for UX operations across disciplines

✅  Self-service onboarding and standardised artefacts and events

✅  Improved stakeholder engagement, visibility, and collaboration 

✅  Faster, clearer delivery in a changing product landscape

Strategy

 I led the UX operations working group of 5 designers and the Design Manager to: 

  • Assess current design practices and stakeholder needs
  • Map project stages, key rituals, and shared documentation
  • Define roles and responsibilities using a RACI model
  • Build visibility and feedback loops into our delivery roadmap.

Assess the current service

Operations are always a moving target.

It was important to learn about our needs without blocking progress by:

  • shadowing team members
  • interviewing stakeholders
  • auditing current design practices.

✅ Result: Identified gaps and frictions in ownership, visibility, and documentation.

Define the needs and roles

I worked with the Design and Product Managers to define Design's RACI model.

✅ Result: Clear accountability across the teams and reduce gaps. 

Tell a focused story

I ran collaborative workshops to prioritise needs and actions. We also agreed how we'd measure our results.


✅ Result: Delivered a focused roadmap of actions and outcomes 

Build cohesion with squads

I introduced a squad-based model to focus design operations and maintenance on collaboration.

✅ Result: Co-created workflows, including intake and artefacts templates.

Design and delivery

We developed supporting touch points, events, and artefacts from initiation to handover.

Request intake

A Slack-based form for structured requests and prioritisation.

Self-service

Confluence spaces to surface artefacts, statuses, and decisions.

Collaboration

Support touchpoints positioned UX as a service and partner.

Light-weight playbooks

Articles and guides developed shared understanding of design events.

Standardised project spaces

Automated Confluence templates reduced frictions and tensions, giving teams consistent kickoff, tracking, and wrap-up.

uxops-project-template

Why it matters

This work created a shared operational foundation for a team navigating change.

It enabled faster, transparent, more confident delivery and helped position UX as a co-creator in product outcomes.

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