Want to level up the design presence in your team?
Design maturity is a way to measure how in tune we are with the needs of our users when it comes to delivering products and services.
This means having a design partner that doesn’t just make decisions based on gut instinct.
With a deep understanding of how customers behave and the struggles they face, we can better solve their problems through design.
Improving design maturity can be done in a number of ways. Here’s some methods I’ve used:
- Measuring results by user outcomes
- Considering the user in all product decisions
- Building a widespread appreciation of UX practices
- Embedding UX research as a consistent part of the process
So what are the benefits?
Getting your company on board with a user centric approach to design and delivery can help to bring the business goals closer to the customer needs. The holy grail of product development.
Tracking maturity helps you find areas for change in your UX processes. Allowing you to set goals for improving day-to-day practices in the short term, and ultimately the design culture across your organisation.
Levelling up your design maturity not only affects your internal processes, but the end product your customers receive.
How do we use it?
The most common approach is to define a series of levels. Each with their own criteria, helping you track which stage of maturity you’re at.
The number of stages isn’t important - as long as you’re keeping track of where you are and what needs doing to keep improving.
Lower levels of maturity highlight that UX is not a key part of the product development process, with the higher end showing that a user-centred design approach is embedded in the way a team operates.
Want to start tracking? Here’s how:
- Capture user satisfaction metrics and monitor behaviour change
- Use a set of clear maturity levels to track your progress
- Be honest about the stage you’re currently at
- Have regular check ins to keep on track
Summary
However you track your design maturity, the main goal is to be aware of where you are now and setting goals that will help you deliver more user-focused solutions.
Show the value in UX across your team.