Use case - Single

Accor’s Digital Factory was undergoing a strategic transformation to adopt a more product-oriented organization. This shift aimed to bring business and digital teams closer together and foster stronger alignment across functions. At the same time, the Product Design team was rapidly scaling, creating a need for more vision, a clear organisation and clarity in its practices.

To support this evolution, a Design Ops role was introduced to both organize the design function and streamline its collaboration with key stakeholders across business, product, and tech. Beyond operational efficiency, this role also aimed to empower designers to become more impactful and strategic—by aligning their work more closely with business priorities, fostering a stronger design culture, and enabling them to contribute earlier and more effectively to strategic decision-making.

Structure a fast-growing Product Design team

The team was scaling quickly, with new designers joining regularly. It became critical to provide clarity on roles, responsibilities, ways of working, and shared standards to ensure cohesion and maintain quality at scale.

Improve cross-functional collaboration with Product, Tech, and Business

Due to the shift toward a more product-centric model, alignment between design and other teams was not yet fluid. Silos and communication gaps were slowing down delivery and creating inconsistencies in user experience.

Establish a DesignOps foundation to support sustainable growth

With no existing DesignOps practice, the challenge was to build operational foundations from scratch: onboarding, rituals, tools, documentation, and governance—all while responding to day-to-day tactical needs.

Structure a fast-growing Product Design team

Design Skills & Practice Assessment

Started with an in-depth analysis of the Product Design team’s current state: team structure, level, rituals, collaboration patterns, and tooling. Identified key friction points and areas of improvement to support scale and alignment.Started with an in-depth analysis of the Product Design team’s current state: team structure, level, rituals, collaboration patterns, and tooling. Identified key friction points and areas of improvement to support scale and alignment.Started with an in-depth analysis of the Product Design team’s current state: team structure, level, rituals, collaboration patterns, and tooling. Identified key friction points and areas of improvement to support scale and alignment.

Design Operating Model Setup

Defined and implemented a DesignOps framework to bring clarity and consistency: onboarding processes, documentation standards, rituals (critiques, syncs), and a design governance model to support cross-team collaboration.Defined and implemented a DesignOps framework to bring clarity and consistency: onboarding processes, documentation standards, rituals (critiques, syncs), and a design governance model to support cross-team collaboration.Defined and implemented a DesignOps framework to bring clarity and consistency: onboarding processes, documentation standards, rituals (critiques, syncs), and a design governance model to support cross-team collaboration.

Cross-Functional Collaboration Boost

Worked closely with Product, Tech, and Business to create shared rituals, improve communication flows, and align on shared outcomes—enabling design to be more strategic and embedded in product development.Worked closely with Product, Tech, and Business to create shared rituals, improve communication flows, and align on shared outcomes—enabling design to be more strategic and embedded in product development.Worked closely with Product, Tech, and Business to create shared rituals, improve communication flows, and align on shared outcomes—enabling design to be more strategic and embedded in product development.