Excellent Operations: Putting principles into practice at The New York Times

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.