One of the most common questions we get when teaching our workshop, and which friend-of-the-blog Todd Dominey submitted through our contact form, is “Where should designers sit?” It’s an interesting question, because it feeds a debate where there are two positions:
- Designers should sit with other designers in a studio-like setting, to benefit from peer critique, and learn and develop from one another.
- That’s stupid, because designers should sit with their cross-functional teams to better support product development.
For us, the response, as they say on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (a show you really must watch, if you haven’t yet), is more nuanced than that.
To figure out where designers sit, consider a number of factors. In a company with a new design team, a small design team, or a low-morale design team, designers should sit together. This supports designers building a sense of camaraderie and learning from one another. If designers are isolated, they may grow weary of only being around those that are different from them, bristle at the lack of growth and learning opportunities with peers, and, eventually, leave to a company where they can grow their practice and careers.
As a company builds its design team and strengthens its culture, a transition occurs, where it becomes a benefit to sit with their cross-functional teams. The community bond is strong enough and the morale is high enough that it won’t break when designers are separated. There’s a productivity benefit when designers are in proximity to their cross-functional squads. And, with a strong design culture to draw from, designers advocate for a design-mindset with their non-design peers, helping make the whole company more design-driven.
This should not mean a single designer sitting among a sea of engineers. There should never be only one designer working on anything – the idea of a design team is crucial, even if it’s just made up of 2 people.
There is a third way, for companies with enough office space. Designers can have two seats — a primary one with their cross-functional team, and a secondary one with their design team (or with the whole design org). That way they still spend most of their time with their cross-functional colleagues, but also get time for critique, fresh eyes, fresh thinking, mentorship, etc., from the rest of the design team. It could work alongside a weekly cadence like this:
- Monday—cross functional team: start the week with any planning, coordination, discussion, initial sketching
- Tuesday—with design team: more of a ‘heads down’ day, with maybe an afternoon review across the whole team
- Wednesday—with cross functional team: show the work that’s been done so far, get feedback, input, ask and answer questions, etc.
- Thursday—back with design team: start applying polish to work, maybe more formal critique for refinements
- Friday—with cross-functional team; wrap things up, get things ready for production, etc. etc.
We’d love to hear what you think, what has and has not worked for you. Leave us a comment!
Org Design for Design Orgs 