Meet Design Ops at Lyft
How we approach our discipline impacts how we hire
While recently on a very impressive panel about hiring for Design Ops roles (I snuck in!), I got to thinking about how we at Lyft approach our work, and thus the skills we look for in Design Program Managers (DPM — more on acronyms below). “We should share those,” I thought. So, here we are.
Our approach: Design Program Management is design
Design Ops is design work, whether you’ve worked in design or not. It’s figuring out how to understand, provide clarity, and create really good experiences for people. If that’s not design, I don’t know what is. We think this way, not to belittle the designer role (being a good designer is super duper hard) but because we believe in design. We want to be in it and be a part of it, and practice what we preach.
Here are some things we look for when candidates share their practice and approach with us.
Our interview process: the details
Our interviews consist of a phone screen by the recruiter and hiring manager. The next stage is an “onsite” that has a 45min presentation to introduce yourself and present 2 case studies. We then have a series of 1:1s.
Tips for the interviews
Be you — We’re not looking for you to be like us, we’re looking to learn from and about you. There is only one you. We have DPMs that have backgrounds in education, finance, agencies, hardware, advertising, etc. Bring yourself — that person has a unique perspective we want to hear.
Communication — How you communicate matters. It’s good to know the industry's lingo, but acronyms don’t make you good at your job (and they are mostly lame, lol). Good communication usually always starts with good listening. Show us how you’re listening through your communication.
For the case study presentation specifically
Tell a story — We look for the ability to craft a good story. Some questions to think about for your presentation/case studies — what was the setting, who are the characters, what did you do, what changed, how did you respond, how did you inspire, what did you learn, when were you behind the scenes, when were you center stage, what problem were you solving, how did it go (fact: it’s okay if it didn’t go perfectly)? We care more about the answers to all of those questions than the actual product/app/software/SAS (omg).
Some skills we always like to see
This list isn’t exhaustive, and everyone has their own strengths. However, these often stand out to us:
Inclusion — First things first. Since we already established Design Ops is design work - understanding and practicing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice is design work. There is always work to be done here and Design Ops is well-positioned to be leaders here.
Clarity — This is the underlying purpose of our jobs, not process. Approach, process, systems, etc. are super important and great skills but only if they provide clarity. If everyone is crystal clear…don’t get in the way by providing a complex process. The key is being able to have and show awareness when clarity is needed. That’s where our creative problem-solving comes in. We look for candidates to share how they have provided clarity for their teams in a variety of ways (remember, this is design work).
Unlock vs unblock — Not only unblock and clear the path for great work to happen but also how to unlock your teams and be proactive in making teams better. Unblocking is necessary. Unlocking is leadership. Think of Design Ops as the practice of good leadership (more on that to come).
Balance — We think of ourselves as practitioners in that we are actively engaged in our discipline. Here are some ways to think about what it means to have a balanced approach.
- Flexibility and variety of different projects and approaches.
- When to be front and center and when to work behind the scenes (both are leadership, btw).
- Understanding/seeking all perspectives (constant empathy is all about balance).
- Create space for your team. So many things add noise every day. What you introduce or add should always be reducing something else. An outcome of adding something should always include reduction.
OMG, you’re still reading? Even after my SAS acronym? So nice of you.
Recap:
- Your work is design work.
- Be yourself, not who you think others want you to be.
- Tell a purposeful story about what you’ve done and want to do.
- Show how you provide clarity, how you unlock, and how you practice balancing.
The last thing, you may have noticed we talked about practice a lot. That’s intentional. Think of your work as a practice, always learning, always listening, always engaged, never done (in the best kind of way).
Keep practicing.
Interested in joining the Lyft Design team? We’re hiring.
