UX Center of Excellence


Led the strategic design and rollout of a scalable, user-centered operating model at Adobe, aligning UX and Product CoEs to transform internal practices, enable cross-functional coaching, and embed experience-driven metrics across the IT organization.

Year
2024

Client
Adobe

Problem Statement:

Adobe’s User Experience (UX) and Product Management organizations were undergoing a structural transformation. The teams needed a unified, scalable approach to embed human-centered design into their workflows across different organizations. Despite existing resources like Adobe’s internal design thinking framework, challenges persisted in adoption, understanding, and practical application.

Key Challenges:

Siloed Adoption of Design Thinking

  • Existing user design practices were not fully translating into day-to-day practices.

  • Teams lacked support in applying learnings in complex, real-world project settings.

Misalignment Across Teams and Leadership

  • UX and Product Center of Excellence’s (CoE) were not fully aligned with other CoE’s on product vision, strategy, or the right operating model for user led product integration.

Design and Product Thinking Were Not Embedded Early Enough

  • Despite the strategic value of human-centered design, the UX CoE was frequently engaged too late in the project lifecycle—often after decisions had already been made. This downstream involvement limited their ability to influence outcomes, identify root problems, or support the product success beyond beautiful design.

Solutions:

  • Facilitated a multi-day strategic workshop to align UX and Product Management CoEs around a shared operating model.

  • Co-developed a North Star vision, key strategic pillars, and a two-year transformation roadmap using a crawl-walk-run framework​.

  • Designed and piloted a user-centered and product led coaching curriculum

  • Created flexible workshop offerings (1–2 hours) for rapid upskilling at scale and introduced coaching cohorts for deeper application​

  • Conducted benchmarking research and recommended Adobe-wide adoption of Key Experience Indicators (KEIs) using the Google HEART framework​.

  • Collaborated with stakeholders to align on the value of KEIs for internal and external products.

  • Developed a phased rollout strategy for piloting, scaling, and operationalizing KEI dashboards



Phase 1

  • Facilitated a multi-day strategic workshop to align the UX and Product Management CoEs with IT leadership around a shared North Star, strategic pillars, and operating model​.

  • Defined key problem areas including late-stage engagement, inconsistent UX/product maturity, and lack of shared success metrics.

  • Designed a joint roadmap including tiered engagement models, unified service offerings, and a backlog of experiments to operationalize the new model​.

  • Developed foundational materials for coaching and facilitator training, including charters, delivery plans, and measurement frameworks​​.

  • Conducted KEI benchmarking research to identify measurement gaps and recommend a scalable experience metrics strategy using the HEART framework​.



Phase 2:

  • Piloted coaching cohorts and facilitator training programs with live sessions and embedded discovery practices tailored to Adobe’s internal tools and workflows​​.

  • Launched lightweight, modular design workshops to support team-based training and increase accessibility to design thinking practices​.

  • Implemented feedback loops and retrospectives to iterate content and delivery based on stakeholder input and pilot outcomes.

  • Created internal storytelling assets (e.g., case studies, comms decks) to build momentum and support behavior change across the organization​.

“I am writing to let you know how much I appreciated Rose’s facilitation last week during our three-day workshop in San Jose. I really enjoyed the team’s chemistry and how well they supported each other. As with all workshops, sometimes we had to course correct and they were adaptable and gracious with their approach.”

— Adobe UX CoE Design Manager