Kaizen for business-oriented design teams

Ever find yourself wondering how streamlined design operations could totally change the way your business runs?

Let me take you back to when I was just starting out as a designer. Picture this: late nights, ridiculous deadlines, and that sinking feeling that I was just a cog in the production machine. I was always the last step, scrambling to meet deadlines without anyone considering how long good design actually takes. It felt unfair—like no one really understood what I was doing.

Back then, "Design Operations" was this vague, almost mythical concept. I was focused on making things look cool and hoping the work would speak for itself. But even as a newbie, I had this nagging feeling that design should be about more than just aesthetics. I kept getting asked to sprinkle some last-minute “magic” on projects, but I knew design had to be more than just that final touch. It was about creating real value for the brands I was working with.

Kaizen. Japanese concept of continuous improvement.

From the start, I had business mindset. Even as a rookie designer, I could see how optimizing the way we worked could totally change the game—not just for me, but for the entire company. This wasn’t just some passing thought; it was the thing that guided how I approached every project. It shaped how I grew into a design leader, mentoring young talent to think the same way.

That’s when I started getting curious about DesignOps and how it could make everything with structured approach. I realized that if we could nail down our processes, designers could actually focus on the work they love instead of getting stuck in the chaos of bad time management.

The more I explored, the more I saw how this could shift design from being reactive to proactive—a real driver of business outcomes.

Then, at Colliers, I got introduced to Kaizen, this Japanese concept of continuous improvement. At first, it sounded like just another corporate buzzword, but it turned out to be a total mindset shift. It’s about constantly looking at how you work and figuring out how to do it better—no matter how small the change.

I was more than ready for something different, so we pulled together a team and dove into Kaizen workshops. It was weeks of intense work, totally overhauling our design processes from the ground up. But we weren’t just making tweaks; we were rethinking everything about how we approached our design process.

Here’s what we did: We started with Kaizen workshops to figure out where the problems were and what our ideal design processes could look like. Then we ran pilot cases to test out new ideas. After evaluating the results, we made some adjustments before rolling them out across the whole organization. This wasn’t just about refining processes—it was about reinventing them.

Steps we took:

• Customer journey: Started by mapping the entire customer journey from A to Z.
• Kaizen workshops: We kicked things off by pinpointing problem areas and imagining our ideal scenarios.
• Pilot cases: We ran tests of the new processes before fully committing to them.
• Evaluation of pilot cases: We took a hard look at the results and made adjustments where needed.
• Full-scale rollout: Once we knew it worked, we implemented the new processes across the entire organization.
• User feedback and evaluation: We gathered qualitative feedback to see the real impact and identify further areas for improvement.

Changes we observed:

• Increased efficiency: With clear processes and better planning, our team’s productivity shot up by 30%.
• Enhanced quality: The new structured framework ensured our deliverables maintained high quality, without cutting corners.
• Improved collaboration: Streamlined communication and aligned expectations led to fewer misunderstandings and no more blame games.
• Increased creativity: By cutting down on admin tasks, designers had more time to innovate, learn new tools, and explore fresh ideas.
• Focused Development: Designers could zero in on developing their ideas instead of getting bogged down by operational stuff.
• Consistency: Standardized processes led to more reliable results, which helped build trust with clients and stakeholders.

Optimizing design operations isn’t just about making things run smoother—it’s about letting creatives do what they’re truly passionate about: creating.

By embracing Kaizen and refining our processes, we didn’t just boost efficiency or improve quality; we turned design into a key player in driving business success.

#designops #marketingdesign #kaizen #designteams #colliers

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