Fixing Design Intake and Reducing Tool Waste
TL;DR
Problem:
Design requests came through multiple channels (Slack, email, undocumented Jira tickets) with incomplete briefs. Tool subscriptions had accumulated without oversight, creating waste.
Role:
I owned Design Operations for the entire design organization while also managing several design teams (Growth, Visual, Product, and Motion) across multiple countries. I built and implemented all intake systems and automation myself.
What I did:
Consolidated intake into a single Jira funnel with automated triage. Created briefing templates and guides. Audited all design tool licenses and renegotiated vendor contracts.
Results:
Brief completeness at intake: 42% to 87%
Unplanned scope changes: down 64%
On-time delivery: 68% to 94%
Time to first review: 5.5 days to 2.1 days
Stakeholder satisfaction: 63% to 91%
Annual tooling savings: $14.5K (including 20% reduction in Adobe spend)
Timeline:
5 weeks (intake restructure and tooling audit combined)
Sources:
Jira reports, stakeholder surveys, license audit
The Problem
Design requests arrived from every direction. Stakeholders submitted work through Slack messages, emails, and Jira tickets with missing information. Designers spent time chasing details that should have been captured upfront. Context switching was constant.
Cross-brand work was nearly impossible. Each brand had its own Jira project with different workflows, a leftover from pre-acquisition days. Designers working across brands had to learn multiple systems with inconsistent processes.
At the same time, tool subscriptions had accumulated over time. Overlapping licenses, unused seats, and redundant tools created unnecessary costs.
The result: designers focused on managing process instead of doing design work, and money wasted on tools nobody used.
What I Built
Unified intake system
I consolidated all brand-specific Jira projects into a single unified design project with standardized workflows. Then I rebuilt the intake process:
Created ticket templates specific to each design stream (UX, visual, product, motion)
Built Jira automation to tag, route, and escalate requests based on type and priority
Added automation to flag abandoned or overdue tasks
Created a visual briefing guide to help stakeholders submit complete requests
Established a 24-hour SLA fast lane for urgent work
This made cross-brand work possible. Stakeholders now had one place to submit requests with clear expectations. Designers received complete briefs with the information they needed to start work.
Tool and license audit
I audited every design-related subscription across teams:
Identified duplicate tools serving the same purpose
Found unused licenses (seats paid for but not actively used)
Renegotiated vendor plans based on actual usage data
Created a license request process to prevent future bloat
Established monthly license reviews with clear ownership
This reduced costs without cutting access to tools designers needed.
Results
All metrics from Jira reports, intake funnel analytics, stakeholder surveys, and license audit. Implementation period: 5 weeks.
Intake improvements:
Brief completeness at intake: 42% to 87% (+107%)
Unplanned scope changes: down 64% per quarter
On-time delivery: 68% to 94%
Time to first review: 5.5 days to 2.1 days (62% faster)
Stakeholder satisfaction: 63% to 91%
Cost savings:
Annual tooling savings: $14.5K
Adobe spend reduced by 20%
What Made It Work
The intake funnel and templates eliminated the back-and-forth that slowed projects down. Automated triage meant requests reached the right designer without manual sorting. The briefing guide shifted responsibility for completeness to stakeholders before work began.
The license audit removed waste without blocking creative work. Monthly reviews with clear ownership prevented the problem from recurring.