Excellent Operations: Putting principles into practice at The New York Times
About the Session
At a storied institution like The New York Times, excellence isn’t just an aspiration — it’s a standard. But sustaining excellence across a large product design organization requires more than talent. It takes clarity, systems, and deliberate leadership. In this talk, I’ll share how we defined what “product design excellence” means at The Times, how we built executive alignment around that vision, and then established ways to measure it. You’ll see real examples of how our team of 90 product designers operationalizes excellence — from quality squads to ongoing critique practices — to create a culture where design standards are visible, measurable, and endures over time.
About the Speaker
Matt Raw is Deputy Head of Product Design at The New York Times, where he leads a team of 85 product designers across the company's digital portfolio. At The Times, Matt has built and scaled design teams during a period of unprecedented growth. He established the company's first design operations function and created the centralized studio model that drives innovation across NYT News, Games, Cooking, and Wirecutter. Matt is also faculty at the School of Visual Arts, teaching in their MFA Interaction Design program.
Excellent Operations: Putting principles into practice at The New York Times
About the Session
At a storied institution like The New York Times, excellence isn’t just an aspiration — it’s a standard. But sustaining excellence across a large product design organization requires more than talent. It takes clarity, systems, and deliberate leadership. In this talk, I’ll share how we defined what “product design excellence” means at The Times, how we built executive alignment around that vision, and then established ways to measure it. You’ll see real examples of how our team of 90 product designers operationalizes excellence — from quality squads to ongoing critique practices — to create a culture where design standards are visible, measurable, and endures over time.
About the Speaker
Matt Raw is Deputy Head of Product Design at The New York Times, where he leads a team of 85 product designers across the company's digital portfolio. At The Times, Matt has built and scaled design teams during a period of unprecedented growth. He established the company's first design operations function and created the centralized studio model that drives innovation across NYT News, Games, Cooking, and Wirecutter. Matt is also faculty at the School of Visual Arts, teaching in their MFA Interaction Design program.
Excellent Operations: Putting principles into practice at The New York Times
About the Session
At a storied institution like The New York Times, excellence isn’t just an aspiration — it’s a standard. But sustaining excellence across a large product design organization requires more than talent. It takes clarity, systems, and deliberate leadership. In this talk, I’ll share how we defined what “product design excellence” means at The Times, how we built executive alignment around that vision, and then established ways to measure it. You’ll see real examples of how our team of 90 product designers operationalizes excellence — from quality squads to ongoing critique practices — to create a culture where design standards are visible, measurable, and endures over time.
About the Speaker
Matt Raw is Deputy Head of Product Design at The New York Times, where he leads a team of 85 product designers across the company's digital portfolio. At The Times, Matt has built and scaled design teams during a period of unprecedented growth. He established the company's first design operations function and created the centralized studio model that drives innovation across NYT News, Games, Cooking, and Wirecutter. Matt is also faculty at the School of Visual Arts, teaching in their MFA Interaction Design program.
