DesignOS

I built a design operating system for the QuickBooks Workforce Solutions design org, and gave a talented team the structure to become a great one.

QuickBooks Workforce Solutions serves 1.1M+ customers across payroll, time, and HR experiences
Started with a full-org diagnostic before proposing anything, synthesizing five themes into a clear brief for what the team needed
Co-designed three layers with the leadership team: operating mechanisms, rituals, and artifacts, each tied to one of three goals: quality, velocity, and performance
Shifted culture from reactive to ownership-driven, with managers running the system and designers setting the bar
PCMag score improved from 3.5 to 4.0; Career Goals Pulse up 13 pts; WFS revenue grew 25% YoY

Analyze

Diagnosed five themes across a large org before proposing a single solution

Architect

Co-built the operating model with the team, tied to three goals

Act

Operating mechanisms, rituals, and artifacts, each owned by someone on the team

Achieve

Designers setting the bar themselves, not waiting for it to be set

Results

Proved that a better team environment builds a better product for customers

Analyze

The data gave us an honest place to start.

I analyzed Pulse scores across the org, looking for high variance rather than just low scores, then used those signals to shape a listening tour across individual contributors, managers, and cross-functional leaders. Five consistent themes emerged, and together they told a coherent story: a capable, motivated org that needed the right conditions to fully unlock. That framing shaped everything that came next.

Architect

I gave the leadership team a real problem to solve, not a system to receive.

I shared the findings openly and created space for the team to respond before designing anything. We aligned on three organizational goals and built the operating system together, with each manager taking named ownership of a component. That accountability was intentional, as it gave leaders skin in the game and accelerated their growth at the same time.

Act

Operating mechanisms, rituals, and artifacts organized across three goals gave the team structure without adding bureaucracy.

Design Review shifted to opening with customer context before solutions, grounding every session in the problem being solved. Quality Jam ran biweekly with the full team, rotating across Voice of Customer deep dives, dogfooding, skills development, and QA. In one session alone, nearly 3,000 customer verbatims were worked through together. HPOR gave leaders and managers a dedicated forum to assess org health, surface individual strengths, and identify opportunities for growth across the team. Every mechanism had a named owner and documented expectations.

Achieve

The system empowered the team to raise the bar itself.

Quality became part of how the team worked, not just what they delivered. Designers applied end-to-end thinking earlier, pushed for clearer direction, and contributed to segment strategy rather than arriving after decisions were made. Bringing in new talent accelerated the shift, with stronger role models raising expectations across the org. A safer environment for candid feedback emerged, with designers speaking more freely and critical input improving the quality of leadership decisions. Consistent career conversations gave everyone a clearer sense of where they stood and where they were headed.

Results

Better teams build better products for customers, and the numbers reflected it.

PCMag score improved from 3.5 to 4.0, an external signal that the quality bar was showing up in what shipped
Career Goals Pulse score rose 13 points, reflecting stronger development paths and manager relationships
Removing Barriers Pulse score improved 20 pts
WFS revenue grew 25% year over year to $1.4B
Designers moved from receiving feedback secondhand to owning their work end to end

4.0

PCMag score, up from 3.5

25%

WFS revenue year-over-year growth

+13 pts

Career Goals Pulse score improvement