UX maturity measures an organization’s desire and ability to successfully deliver user-centered design. It encompasses the quality and consistency of research and design processes, resources, tools, and operations, as well as the organization’s propensity to support and strengthen UX now and in the future, through its leadership, workforce, and culture.
Background
In 2006, Jakob Nielsen developed one of the earliest UX-maturity models, defining 8 phases of UX maturity. Each stage described UX presence in different organizational circumstances — from companies that engaged in absolutely no user research to ones that achieved peak focus.
Since then, much has changed in the field of UX: how we perform design and research, our knowledge about jobs, work, processes, tools, deliverables, leadership involvement, and, how enterprises view and prioritize UX into overall strategy. With these changes in mind, we have revised how UX maturity should be modeled and measured to incorporate the new norms and to describe the organizational evolutions we’ve witnessed in our thousands of clients and students over the past decade and a half.
This article details the NN/g UX-maturity model. For information about how the model was designed and how it differs from the 2006 model, please see the forthcoming companion article, The Making of a UX Maturity Model. As we continue to work with organizations to assess UX maturity and gather additional data about the evolution and outcomes of UX maturity, we plan to continue refining this model.
The UX-Maturity Model
The UX-maturity model provides a framework to assess each organization’s UX-related strengths and weaknesses. We can use that assessment to determine which of the 6 stages an organization currently occupies. Further, this model provides insights about how an organization can increase its UX maturity.
The 6 stages of UX maturity are:
- Absent: UX is ignored or nonexistent.
- Limited: UX work is rare, done haphazardly, and lacking importance.
- Emergent: The UX work is functional and promising but done inconsistently and inefficiently.
- Structured: The organization has semisystematic UX-related methodology that is widespread, but with varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency.
- Integrated: UX work is comprehensive, effective, and pervasive.
- User-driven: Dedication to UX at all levels leads to deep insights and exceptional user-centered–design outcomes.
Factors in UX Maturity
Improving UX maturity requires growth and evolution across several different factors, including:
- Strategy: UX leadership, planning, and resource prioritization
- Culture: UX knowledge and cultivating UX careers and practitioners’ growth
- Process: the systematic use of UX research and design methods
- Outcomes: intentionally defining and measuring the results produced by UX work
None of these factors stand alone; rather, they reinforce and enable each other. Knowledge of UX processes does not create a great UX team if UX work is not prioritized by the organization’s leadership; likewise, belief in the value of UX only becomes actionable when there are methodologies in place to ‘practice what you preach.’ Organizations must progress in all these dimensions in order to reach high levels of UX maturity and realize the full value of user-centered design.
Stage 1: Absent
A company at this stage is either oblivious to UX or believes it does not need it. User-centered thinking is not at all part of how it works. (A company has a user-centered mindset if users are the driver behind its strategy, tactics, and decisions.)
At this stage, UX work is not planned, let alone incorporated into the organization’s vision. The few people at the organization who think about users are likely ignored or dismissed.
Most companies at this stage fall outside the technology and software fields (which spurred the recent UX growth) and exist in industries where UX is unknown or rarely practiced. Other organizations at this level might be anything from startups to established organizations with inherited work processes that were not focused on users.
Variations Within This Stage
When UX is absent, there may complete ignorance about UX, apathy, or half-hearted intentions which favor the idea of UX but never follow through with actions. In some cases, there may even be hostility towards the entire concept of adopting UX practices.
This stage also includes organizations where developers are aware that UX is important and attempt to create good experiences, but do not have any access to methods, resources, or organizational support. (In our original model, this ‘developer-centered’ UX was a separate, higher stage; we now group these organizations within stage 1 because even the best intentions of hard-working developers are not enough to yield meaningful results in the absence of organizational support.)
Obstacles to Overcome When UX Maturity Is Absent
The primary obstacle is a lack of education:
- What UX is
- Its benefits to the organization and customers
- Possible internal UX processes
- How to begin doing UX work
To progress from this stage, organizations should focus on building UX awareness.
(Detailed article about Stage 1: Absent UX Maturity.)
Stage 2: Limited
An organization in the limited stage approaches UX erratically. Small UX efforts are made, usually for one of three reasons:
- Legal necessity
- A UX-aware individual (maybe a leader) who takes initiative
- An experimental team that attempts UX methods
While organizations at this stage may show some UX awareness and engage in occasional UX activities, UX work is not done routinely, nor is it consistently well-executed or incorporated into strategy and planning. UX falls low among priorities. There's no official recognition of user experience as a discipline and there are no UX-dedicated roles, processes, or budget.
When a UX budget exists in limited-maturity organizations, it is not systematically allocated and used.
Variations Within This Stage
In many companies at this stage, UX-focused activities occur in silos, within one or two departments, while the majority of the organization still sits at stage 1. Limited UX work may recur occasionally within the same isolated team or may sporadically be attempted by other teams.
Obstacles to Overcome When UX Maturity Is Limited
Challenges at this phase are often related to process: learning methods for doing UX work, organizing a team of multiple people, and beginning to establish routines and resources.
To progress from this stage, organizations should focus on getting people to listen by showcasing the small UX-related wins, compiling positive case studies, and cultivating relationships with UX champions so UX can gain traction.
(Detailed article about Stage 2: Limited UX Maturity.)
Stage 3: Emergent
When UX maturity is emergent, organizations exhibit UX work in more teams, engage in some UX-related planning, and may have UX budgets. The UX efforts are, however, small, unstable, and based on individual manager initiatives rather than organizational policies. Some teams that use several research and design methods and do multiple research studies may begin to see the benefits and results of their efforts.
In emergent-stage organizations, there are people in UX roles, but not nearly enough and not necessarily with the right skills. At this stage, organizations are still working on proving the value and impact of UX. There are no widespread, systematic UX processes in place. There is some managed usability — some leaders have bought in and may advocate for it. But when tradeoffs are necessary, UX is still the first to go. UX is not yet prioritized as an essential strategy.
It is common to see large enterprises hover at stage 3, especially in traditional fields like finance and healthcare.
Variations Within This Stage
UX work could be happening but inconsistently. Or, work might be somewhat consistent, but it has no impact and people do not see its value.
Obstacles to Overcome When UX Maturity Is Emergent
It's easy to get stuck here thinking “We do UX now” and assuming that this stage is good enough when it is definitely not. To progress from this stage, organizations should focus on building a culture of support for UX at all levels, to gather momentum and move forward across the organization and between projects. Make sure that UX priorities are given due consideration when tradeoffs are made.
(Detailed article about Stage 3: Emergent UX Maturity.)
Stage 4: Structured
Structured UX means that the organization recognizes the value of UX and has established a full UX team or multiple teams. Leadership usually supports UX and sometimes incorporates it into high-level strategies. There is a centralized definition of design and a shared, iterative human-centered design process.
User research is conducted throughout the product lifecycle. Politics and miscommunication may cause a misallocation of resources and overspending on UX-related work, product areas, or products that do not need it.
This level is where most organizations which function acceptably land and is as far as many companies will ever go in their UX maturity.
Variations Within This Stage
Individuals in UX can be comfortable and confident. Other groups (product, development, marketing, QA, etc.) are involved in some parts of UX work. The operations side of UX is usually strong at this level, as is the variety of research and design methods employed.
Obstacles to Overcome When UX Is Structured
Though teams use UX-centered processes and see their benefits at this stage, they still face hidden weaknesses, which can often be traced back to strategy: unsupportive leaders, tensions with responsibilities and ownership as teams scale, success metrics (and bonuses) that have little to do with UX, development processes that don’t include discovery research or iterative design, and focus on catering to a few big customers rather than adhering to a proactive UX strategy.
Stage 5: Integrated
When organizations reach the stage of integrated UX, their UX work has become comprehensive, pervasive, and universal. Almost all teams within the organization usually perform UX-related activities in an efficient, effective manner. There is often innovation in UX methods and processes and even contributions to the field of UX as a whole. The organization’s important success metrics — that leaders care most about — have a focus on UX or are even driven by UX-related work.
Integrated UX is the stage that most organizations should aim to reach. At this stage, UX work has become highly effective at serving business goals. (At the next level, UX work serves not business goals, but users themselves; but that prioritization is not always practical, nor sustainable.)
Variations Within This Stage
The processes and staff may be high-quality and consistent, but the organization may get too focused on process instead of outcome and effects or the leaders may be focused on metrics that are not user-centered.
Obstacles to Overcome When UX Maturity Is Integrated
Although user-centered design is respected, understood, and supported, factors other than user-centeredness are truly driving the business. Focus on establishing user-centered outcome metrics at the highest levels of the organization.
Stage 6: User-Driven
In Stage 6, UX is the norm — habitual, reproducible, and beloved across the organization. Few companies operate at this stage.
At this stage, everyone is fully enlightened about user-centered design. Understanding user needs through research is the primary driver of the organization’s strategy and project prioritization. Development encompasses user-focused, iterative design. Leaders, teams, and individuals are user-centered and look to UX in day-to-day work — from the highest level of strategy to the tiniest design elements or research studies. They plan for change and innovation.
Organizations at this maturity level have invested in contributing back to industry standards and rely on user research to drive new investments and markets.
No Real Variations Within This Stage
Unlike the other stages, this stage has no variations: The business' vision is user-centered design or is highly intertwined with user-centeredness.
However, this stage may not be sustainable for long durations of time. For example, a large tech company may have been entirely user-driven 10 years ago, but gradually, through growth, acquisitions, and changes in leadership and culture, may allow the focus to shift away from users. When conversions or other business-focused metrics displace user-centered thinking, organizations slip back down to structured (stage 4) or even emergent (stage 3) UX-maturity levels.
Obstacles to Overcome in the User-Driven Maturity Stage
While this stage is the ultimate UX-maturity goal, it is difficult to achieve and tough to maintain for long durations before issues arise (resource bloat, conflicting goals, or politics) and maturity regresses. Focus on keeping momentum of the UX effort, championing UX values, and educating new team members, to prevent the organization from falling back.
Team Maturity vs. Organization Maturity
When it comes to UX maturity, no team is an island. A single team or division within a company cannot reach the highest maturity levels, integrated and user-driven stages, while other teams lag behind. It is the consistency among teams which enables these highest maturity levels. Good information, tools, and other resources shared across teams and groups increase UX maturity. Also, UX-focused leadership and knowledge sharing must happen at the organization-wide level, not just within teams. Thus, true UX maturity should be evaluated for an entire organization rather than for a single team.
UX maturity also goes beyond one product, because any product can affect both 1) how UX work gets done and 2) how users and customers perceive other products and brands. To assess organizational maturity, the organization as a whole, including all product groups and teams, should be evaluated.
All of that said, individual product teams or functional groups can evaluate how UX-mature their siloed area is. Looking at their own operations can help them see how they affect the organization’s UX maturity.
Judging Your Organization’s UX Maturity
A complete evaluation of an organization’s UX maturity should be based on diverse assessment methods to thoroughly understand current UX work and output, including observation of and interviews about work practices; analysis of processes, people, and tools; assessment of deliverables; and surveys of people from across the organization.
Self-Assessment Quiz
As a first step to help you begin thinking about maturity and where your organization might be, we’ve created a free, self-reported UX-maturity quiz, which you can use to estimate maturity based on your current knowledge. This quiz takes most people fewer than 10 minutes to answer.
Conclusion
Understanding your organization’s UX maturity is important so you can identify your strengths and weaknesses, uphold and reward what’s done well, and acknowledge and improve what is not. Even if UX work seems fine at your organization, know that there are probably things you could be doing better that would improve the product- or service-creation process, people’s work, your organization and its credibility, and your customers’ and users’ experiences.
Whatever your current level, a realistic goal is to progress to the next-higher level. It is unrealistic to expect to leapfrog levels and go directly from level N to level N+2. The organization must spend time in level N+1 while the practices that characterize that level permeate it and create the necessary readiness to advance to the subsequent level. (Of course, once at level N+1, you might set the goal to reach level N+2 a few years later.) It can take several years to uplift an organization by a single maturity level, so don’t give up!
Regardless of your organization’s current UX activities, increasing understanding and self-awareness about your UX maturity can only improve and sustain the quality of your UX work and, ultimately, the experiences you create for your users. Even organizations performing at high UX-maturity levels benefit from assessing what works and why. This knowledge allows systemizing UX work to make it truly part of the organization’s DNA, so that good UX practices survive through big organizational changes.
We thank Jakob Nielsen, Kate Kaplan, Rachel Krause, Kim Salazar, Feifei Liu, Raluca Budiu, Kelley Gordon and the rest of our colleagues at NN/g for their work and contributions to this model.
We offer a variety of consulting projects to help you assess and improve your UX Maturity. Please contact us if you are interested: [email protected].
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