Ep049 - Service Design en el Sistema de Diseño - Karen Gushiken - La suma de DesignOps

Summary

In this episode of the videocast 'La Suma de Designs,' host Ale welcomes guest Karen Usen from Peru, a senior UI designer at BCP who recently returned to the bank after completing a master's degree focused on service design. Karen shares her journey from working in digital product design and design systems to her decision to pause her career for further education. She discusses her newfound insights into applying service design principles to design systems within the banking sector. The conversation delves into the importance of understanding user experience, collaboration with development teams, and the role of 'filters'—senior UI ambassadors advocating for design best practices. Karen's experience underscores the significance of a holistic approach to design and the impact of service design on improving internal processes and enhancing the user experience.

Takeaways

• 💻 Karen Usen, a senior UI designer from Peru, discusses her journey of integrating service design into design systems after returning to her banking job.
• 📚 Karen paused her professional career to pursue a master's degree focused on service design, aiming to apply her new skills to the bank's design system.
• 🚀 Her interest in service design grew from observing and understanding UX workflows, leading her to explore a more holistic view of digital product design.
• 📍 Karen emphasizes the importance of a systematic approach to design, which she applied in her role by documenting UI best practices and training designers.
• 📌 The shift towards service design was motivated by the need to improve collaboration within the design system team and redefine the role of 'filters' or design system ambassadors.
• 🚧 A key challenge in design systems is managing internal processes and focusing on the user experience for both internal stakeholders and external customers.
• 🔧 Karen highlights the double diamond framework as a structured approach to addressing design system challenges, focusing on discovery, definition, development, and delivery phases.
• 👨‍💼 She discusses the significance of treating the design system as both a service and a process to ensure consistency and efficiency across the organization.
• 🔒 Service design principles can be applied internally to improve design systems, emphasizing the importance of considering all actors in the ecosystem.
• 💡 Karen's master's degree in service design provided her with a broader perspective, enabling her to tackle design system challenges with a focus on user-centric solutions.

Q & A

What is Karen's current position and where is she working?

Karen is currently working as a Senior UI Designer at BCP in Peru.

What did Karen study and where did she begin her career?

Karen studied Art and Business Design. After graduating, she began her career in digital marketing agencies and consultancies, specializing in digital product design.

How did Karen's career evolve towards design systems?

Karen's career evolved towards design systems during her time at BCP, where she gained experience in web projects and mobile applications, and learned to use the bank's design system, leading her to focus on systemic design in digital products.

What prompted Karen to pursue a master's degree in service design?

Karen paused her professional career to pursue a master's degree in service design, motivated by her growing interest in a holistic view of user experience and her desire to apply this broader approach within design systems.

What are some of Karen's responsibilities in her role involving design systems?

Karen's responsibilities include designing UI documentation, closely collaborating with development teams, training designers, and various other functions related to design systems.

How did Karen's understanding of UX impact her approach to design systems?

Karen's understanding of UX, particularly through learning about user flow structures and UX best practices, helped her to adopt a more systemic and holistic approach in her design work, influencing her focus on design systems.

What was a significant challenge Karen faced when rejoining the design system team at BCP?

A significant challenge was redesigning the governance model for the design system, with a focus on improving component collaboration flows and redefining the role of the 'filter', who are senior UI ambassadors for the design system.

How has Karen's service design knowledge influenced her approach to design systems?

Karen's knowledge in service design has enabled her to view design systems not just as UI interfaces but also as internal processes and flows, focusing on the human aspect and improving the overall experience for collaborators.

What framework did Karen use during her thesis and how does it apply to design systems?

Karen used the 'double diamond' framework during her thesis, which involves four phases: discover, define, develop, and deliver. She believes this framework can be effectively applied to the challenges in design systems.

What was the key insight Karen gained from her master's program regarding design systems?

Karen gained the insight that service design is not just about designing services, but also about understanding and improving the experiences of internal collaborators, emphasizing the human-centric approach in design systems.