Upgrade Your Design Org

Through consulting and workshop offerings, Peter Merholz helps companies get the most out of their design organizations.

A little About Peter

Peter Merholz has worked at the intersection of design, technology, and humans for over 25 years. He co-founded Adaptive Path, the premier user experience consultancy, acquired by Capital One in 2014. 

Since leaving Adaptive Path, he’s worked as a design leader and executive, leading teams at Groupon, OpenTable, Jawbone, Capital One, Snagajob (now Snag), and Kaiser Permanente. 

Peter has long been a contributor to the professional design community, through his writing, conference speaking, and events hosting. 

In 2016 he co-wrote Org Design for Design Orgs, still the premier book on building in-house design teams.

Read more about Peter.

Critique is not review, and many other thoughts on an overlooked practice

Oct 30, 2024

TL; DR: Critique and review are different. 🗣️Critique is simply about making the work better. Review is about assessing readiness for the next stage in the process. Healthy critique requires ✨psychological safety✨. To make the work better means being able to discuss it openly, and frankly, warts and all. To do so in a constructive fashion requires that everyone involved know there will be no retribution for their

Whither UX Research?

Jan 10, 2024

A few years ago, we interviewed Jen Cardello for Finding Our Way, and she shared that her team (UX Research) is peered with “market research, behavioral economics, brand, and advertising research, and customer loyalty” in an independent Insights team. The idea was for research to avoid a functional bias, so that it couldn’t be “weaponized” by marketing or design.   And while UX Research is still typically found

Consulting

Whether for 2 hours or 2 weeks or 2 months or 2 years, Peter adopts a consulting program that specifically meets your needs to help design organizations amplify their effectiveness. 

Read about how Peter can work with you.

Masterclasses

Peter has conducted training, both internally and at public events, for over 15 years. He has developed a set of workshops and structured conversations to help improve the operations of design organizations, and to improve practices of design leadership. 

Read about Peter’s masterclass offerings

Org Design for Design Orgs

The first book to help people understanding how to best establishing successful in-house design teams. Co-written by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner, and drawing on their experience from building Adaptive Path, and working in-house at such companies as Capital One, Groupon, Microsoft, and OpenTable. 

Covers subjects such as:

  • Organizational models for design teams
  • Recruiting and hiring designers
  • Professional development and career ladders
  • Design culture and collaboration with other
  • People management of designers 

Visit the website for Org Design for Design Orgs, including a blog with plenty of new thinking.