CASE STUDY · MERKLE (dentsu) : GLOBAL DESIGN PRACTISE TRANSFORMATION
Human Led, �Agent Powered Design Capability Transformation.
A modern Design Delivery model, scaled for the speed of customer needs that I built and implemented globally for all studios. Replacing the double diamond for 350 designers.
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
The problem was the traditional design model was �broken for a brave new world.
The classic double diamond philosophy wasn't failing because the designers were bad. It was failing because the model was built for a different world that no longer existed and Merkle was falling behind.
Linear by design
01 · THE TIME SENSITIVE CHALLENGE
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
Research fed define. Define fed develop. Develop fed deliver. By the time work arrived, the brief had moved.
No parallel execution
One phase had to complete before the next began. In an AI-enabled world, that sequencing is a competitive liability.
Handoffs as failure points
Every transition between design and engineering lost context, fidelity, and time. The double diamond assumed clean handoffs exist.
No agent support layer
Volume work — research synthesis, journey mapping, variant generation — consumed senior designers. Agents could handle all of it.
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What I built to replace it.
A new philosophy
1.
02 · THE SOLUTION
A new framework
2.
A new delivery model
3.
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
Human-Led. AI-Enabled. Agent-Powered. Humans own direction, judgment, and accountability. Agents handle execution, automation, and scale. Not AI-first. A specific position on where the line is.
X4 IGNITE. Three phases running in parallel: Ignite the Engine, Concept at Scale, Forge in Parallel. Infrastructure live before concepts begin. Design and engineering collapsing into a single motion.
Pod-based teams cast for the engagement, not the org chart. Human-to-agent ratio set by complexity. 15+ AI agents defined, built, and integrated across the full design lifecycle.
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X4 IGNITE : DELIVERY IN AN AGENTIC DESIGN WORLD
THREE PHASES : RUNNING FASTER THAN THE DOUBLE DIAMOND COULD RUN ONE
03 · THE FRAMEWORK
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
PHASE 01
Ignite the Engine
2 weeks
The infrastructure is live before design begins. Tokens, tooling, AI context. Everything the sprint needs to move without friction is in place on day one.
PHASE 02
Concept at Scale
3 weeks
North Star vision translated into composable XD concepts. AI prototyping, AI concept testing, AI-facilitated user stories — all running in parallel with human concepting.
PHASE 03
Forge in Parallel
8-10 weeks
Pods form around capabilities, not handoffs. Design and engineering collapse into one motion. Every component production-ready. Change management runs concurrently.
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2-WEEK�SPRINT
2-WEEK�SPRINT
2-WEEK�SPRINT
EXPAND
EXPERIMENT
EVOLVE
Forge in Parallel
Pods form around capabilities, not handoffs. Design and engineering collapse into a single motion — every component composable, every sprint production-ready. Change management and training run in parallel, so the org is ready the moment the system is.
Concept at Scale
Ignite the Engine
The engine doesn't wait for design to start — it starts before it. In two weeks, we lay the design and engineering foundation that makes every moment that follows faster, more consistent, and harder to derail. Tokens, tooling, and context. All of it live before concepts begin.
EXPLORE
MLP
Translating the vision into tangible XD Concepts, defining high impact patterns across key journeys. By applying Atomic Design principles, we ensure these concepts are broken down into a scalable framework optimized for a composable stack, that can be used across digital experiences, dropping dev debt later.
NORTH STAR VISION
2 weeks
3 weeks
8 - 10 weeks
Merkle’s continuous human-led, agent-powered approach
Human
Agent
Human
Agent
X⁴ IGNITE is how design engineering gets delivered.
Rooted in efficiency and impact, we unify Strategy, Design, Engineering and Research to turn creative vision into a scalable system.
The result is an ecosystem designed to scale, adapt, and continuously evolve.
From vision to system with �X4 IGNITE
THE AI POWERED DESIGN & ENGINEERING APPROACH
TRAIN AGENTS
Agent
Human
2-WEEK�SPRINT
INPUTS
AI TOOLING
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5
The right mix for the right job
Human craft and judgment remain at the core, with AI continuously enhancing efforts at varying levels - all on a unified, scalable experience layer. This spans from people augmented by AI tools to autonomous agents operating within defined guardrails under human oversight
03 · THE FRAMEWORK
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
Human in the Loop
Creative and strategic work with AI augmentation
AI Agent
Human on the Loop
Agents working with real-time human review
Human above the Loop
Agents operating autonomously, humans setting direction and guardrails
Guardrails
AI Agent
AI Agent
AI Agent
AI Agent
AI Agent
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6
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One size fits none – each POD is cast with the right HUMAN & AGENT mix
Blending human judgment with AI execution
03 · THE FRAMEWORK
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
Human
Hybrid
(Human + Agent)
AI Agent
Product
Owner
Experience
Strategy
ACD UX/ UI
Lead
Architect
Business
Analyst
UX Designer
Tech
Strategy
UI Designer
Developer
QA
Copywriter
Developer
Content
Creative
Research
ACD UX/ UI
Lead
Architect
Tech
Strategy
UI Designer
Developer
Product
Owner
Lead
Architect
QA Lead
ACD UX/ UI
QA
Copywriter
Developer
Content
Creative
Research
Product
Owner
QA
UX Designer
Pod A: Build something complex together
Pod B: Execute a defined scope efficiently
Pod C: Scaled production
Copywriter
Research
EXAMPLE POD STRUCTURES
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15+ AI agents. Built, not theorized (see appendix for details)
04 · DELIVER FAST AND TEST, AND GROW
Brief Distillation
Messy briefs in. Structured strategy brief out. Faster alignment from day one.
Research Synthesis
Qual + quant ingested. Insight clusters and unmet needs produced in days, not weeks.
Journey Mapping
Multi-persona maps with evidence citations, running in parallel. Hours, not weeks.
UI Variant Generation
20+ on-brand screen variants from approved concepts. Designers curate, not draw.
Design to Code
Figma MCP to production-grade code. Accessibility checked. PR ready for review.
System Governance
Design system health monitored continuously. Drift flagged automatically. Scales past manual review.
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
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The value obtained.
05 · OUTCOMES
BEFORE · Double Diamond
AFTER · X4 IGNITE + Agents
Linear phases. One finishes before the next begins.
Senior designers doing research synthesis and journey mapping.
Handoffs between design and engineering lose context and fidelity, increasing Tech dept and eating into budget.
One team model for every engagement.
No AI in the delivery workflow.
Parallel execution. Research, concepting, and build run simultaneously.
Agents handle volume work. Designers make the calls that matter.
Design & engineering in a single pod. One motion, one production-ready output.
Pods cast by complexity. Human-to-agent ratio set per engagement.
15+ agents integrated across the full lifecycle. Every step human-reviewable.
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
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What this means for your organization
06 · THE ADVANTAGE
Chad Borlase : SVP Experience Design Lead
Most design functions are still running the double diamond and calling it agile. �That gap is widening.
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AGENT: Brief Distillation
Takes messy client briefs, SOWs, or kickoff notes and produces a structured strategy brief: problem, audience, constraints, success metrics, and open questions.
Key Outputs
Value by team
Strategy – Spend time on thinking, not formatting
XD – Clearer constraints before design begins
All — Faster alignment from day one
AGENT: Competitive Research
Analyzes competitor digital experiences against a defined rubric (UX patterns, CX moments, personalization signals, GTM positioning, etc.) and identifies whitespace opportunities and saturated territory.
Key Outputs
Value by team
XD — Audit coverage at scale without pulling senior designers
Design Systems — Signal on which components cause friction
All — Credible accessibility posture before client review
AGENT: Research Synthesis
Ingests qual and quant research (interviews, surveys, analytics) and surfaces themes, tensions, and opportunity spaces. Supports North Star visioning, roadmap definition, and stakeholder alignment.
Key Outputs
Value by team
Strategy — Rapid synthesis, getting to insights faster
XD — Designs from evidence-backed insights with traceable rationale, making it easier to defend decisions
All — Insight turnaround in days, not weeks
APPENDIX : Agent Candidates
These support north star activities
All
Strategy
XD
Design Systems
AGENT: Journey Mapping
Takes research transcripts, analytics logs, and support ticket data and produces structured journey maps showing user goals, actions, friction moments, and emotional states at each stage. Runs against multiple personas in parallel.
Key Outputs
Value by team
Strategy — Evidence-backed journey work that holds up in debate
XD — Journey artifacts ready for critique in hours, not weeks
All — Consistent journey framing across every workstream