A practical guide to level up the UX maturity in your company - Levels 1-3

As with all new design processes, it can be hard to get started. How do you know what stage you are in your UX maturity? How do you identify what you need to do to reach the next maturity level and what to prioritise?

This article will talk you through the first three steps of the six you need to follow to reach UX maturity. We’ll cover how to develop a UX strategy, how to build the right culture, how to identify skills gaps, and much more. Even if you're pretty confident in your UX strategy, take a peek at the below (and at steps 4-6 of levelling up in UX maturity) to make sure you’re optimising your efforts.  

What is UX maturity?

According to the Nielsen model, UX maturity measures the ability and desire for a business to successfully develop and deliver user-centered design. This includes measuring the quality of the design processes, research, tools, capabilities, culture, workflows, and operations - then creating an actionable plan for improvement.

Level 1 - Sparking the need for UX

Building and promoting a culture in your business that understands the need and value of UX is the first and most vital step. So, in line with user-centered thinking, let’s start with ‘why’.

Why do you need to build a UX culture?

Different business functions have different agendas. In the haste to boost revenue and increase market share, the needs and opinions of users often get sidelined. This means that users aren’t driving the company strategy and design-making process. Since you do see the value of listening to users, take on the challenge to make sure they are heard. Building a UX culture is a key part of this.

How do you start building a UX culture in your business?

Building a UX culture takes time - but the efforts are worth the rewards. Always keep in mind that stakeholders in your business are likely to be more interested in ROI than the design process. So include plenty of hooks about the added (financial) value of UX in your approach.

Some tips to help you overcome obstacles and promote the importance of UX in your business:

• Encourage your team to revisit and reassess their understanding of how customers are using your product or service. Challenge the idea that they know who the users are, and what they want and need.
• Using user feedback, explore hypothetical situations where a better understanding of UX could help improve product development, marketing, customer service, sales etc.
• Conduct awareness sessions where you talk about UX. Share success stories from other companies and/or invite UX experts to speak.
• Start a newsletter to share an overview of UX projects you’ve been working on. Always include the rationale, and don't forget about links to success stories from other companies.
• Pick one or two quick-win projects where you focus on using UX methods to design the best solution. This could be as simple as designing or improving a sign-up form to increase conversions. Good UX = more sign-ups = better ROI.
• Hang in there; it is not going to change overnight, but you’ll get there in the end!

Level 2 - A UX strategy exists but lacks cohesion and integration

You’ve done the hard work of getting people on your side with your UX strategy. Some of your more design-focused colleagues are showing initiative. But UX is not consistently well-executed or incorporated into strategy and planning and there are skills gaps that need addressing.

At this point, create a prioritised list of UX objectives based on impact and effort, and put a budget together that will help you achieve your goals. Keep sharing those success stories and building a network of like-minded people and businesses that can help you move forward. Create allies by reaching out to co-workers with an interest in UX. This helps you break through silos, and identify opportunities to create UX roles that meet a variety of company needs.

Level 3 - UX is maturing but requires a company-wide commitment

Level 3 in your UX maturity finds you enjoying the benefits of dedicated UX roles and budget, but lacking a shared way of working. A UX culture needs to be embedded throughout the business. Some departments may be experimenting with UX methods and seeing positive results. Now’s the time to harness the momentum.

Organise regular meetups with your UX-ers and external UX partners to inspire and learn from one another. Develop a shared way of working and a cohesive design culture. Then communicate this to the product teams, focusing on how it will benefit them. Adjust your UX case studies to demonstrate how you are measuring success and what you have already achieved.

Finally, keep strengthening alliances throughout different levels of your organisation. You have created cultural awareness – now it’s time to show how a dedicated UX department would work. Focus on how you’ll achieve this incrementally and the projected ROI as you scale up. Make sure you communicate the evolving benefits to the business as the UX strategy matures.

How Hike One can help you reach UX maturity

In order to level up in UX maturity, you need to take it one step at a time. There’s no skipping steps (make sure to also check out step 4-6). Hike One can support you every step of the way. We arrange workshops to identify your current level of maturity and we create an actionable, scalable, and achievable plan to level up. We help you organise events or roundtables to discuss your challenges with peers who are in the same situation and learn from one another.

We help identify and fill skills gaps, we facilitate UX research and transformation, we refine and improve in-house design systems and much more. Talk to us today to find out more.