Changying (Z) Zheng brings calm thinking to DesignOps — showing how clarity, storytelling, and ruthless prioritisation help design teams thrive .   ======   Episode Chapters:   00:00 – Why Design Needs to Prove Its Value00:30 – Welcome and Introduction02:30 – From Graphic Design to Design Ops Leadership05:40 – Running a Dairy-Free Dessert Business and Learning Calm Leadership10:00 – Leading Without Drama and Seeing Multiple Perspectives13:00 – Design Ops as Service Design for Design Teams16:00 – Storytelling, Outcomes, and Speaking the Language of Business18:45 – Earning and Keeping a Seat at the Table21:00 – Moving from Ticket Taking to Strategic Design Work26:00 – Saying No Kindly and Introducing Office Hours32:00 – People, Process, and Platform as Core Pillars36:00 – Becoming the Connective Tissue Across Orgs42:00 – Growing Into Product Ops at Cloudflare55:00 – Communication as the Connective Tissue of Ops1:10:00 – A Two-by-Two Framework for Career Development     ======   Who is Changying (Z) Zheng?   Changying (Z) Zheng is a Director of Product Operations at Cloudflare, where she’s scaled the operational backbone of one of the internet’s most recognisable infrastructure companies .   She has:   Started as a team of one and built thriving design and research operations   Worked in agencies, higher education, and at companies like Akamai, VMware, and Nasdaq   Founded and ran her own retail business   Delivered talks at The DevOps Conference and DesignOps Summit, shaping how people understand DesignOps in technical environments   ======   Find Changying (Z) Zheng here:   LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/changyingz/ Website → https://www.changyingart.com/   ====== Subscribe to Brave UX Like what you heard?  🎙️ Subscribe to Brave UX for more conversations with world-class voices in UX, design, and product leadership. Your support helps others discover the show! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/brave-ux-with-brendan-jarvis/id1552607805  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7j2ocni6A00fzgHkj6TtCK  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSpaceInBetweenPodbean: https://braveux.podbean.com/ ====== Follow Brave UX for more great content! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brave_ux  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/ ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: Brendan Jarvis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/  The Space InBetween Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/