Make Impact

OVERVIEW

Design teams make greater impact when their goals are clear, measurable, and directly tied to business strategy. By defining what good design looks like and connecting outcomes to real business value, teams can consistently deliver stronger results. As organizations mature in their design practices, they build alignment, improve execution, and elevate design’s influence in strategic decision‑making.

Goals

Create clear, measurable goals that connect design work directly to business strategy. When the team understands what success looks like — and why it matters — they make better decisions and deliver stronger outcomes.

CORE SKILLS

SMART goal setting, Socialize, Harmonize, Measure value, KPI, create, communicate value

Design Performance

Define what “good” looks like. Establish standards for quality, effectiveness, and execution. Connect design outcomes to business impact, whether through improved customer experience, reduced friction, increased conversions, operational efficiency, or better decision‑making across teams.

Design Maturity

Continuously raise the maturity of design across the organization. Build repeatable practices, improve cross‑functional alignment, and strengthen the influence of design in strategic conversations. Mature design organizations communicate clearly, execute consistently, and show measurable value.

Goals

Align Design Goals With Business Objectives

Design must show measurable value. Ensure all design initiatives connect directly to business priorities—whether that means improving customer experience, reducing friction, increasing adoption, or enabling other teams to deliver key outcomes.

Goals

Set clear, SMART goals that create a culture of growth, collaboration, and creativity. Goals should give people direction while still allowing space for honest reflection and authentic conversations. When leaders model openness and vulnerability, teams feel safe to learn, experiment, and push their work further.

SMART goals help teams:

Clear goals anchor the work. Humanity and authenticity strengthen the team. Both are required to create meaningful impact.

  • Stay focused on what matters

  • Understand expectations

  • Measure progress

  • Build accountability

  • Grow with confidence

Design Performance

Design and Business Impact

Connect design outcomes directly to business impact. Show how design improves customer experience, reduces friction, drives adoption, or enables better decision‑making. When design links its work to measurable business results, it earns influence and trust.

Define What “Good” Looks Like

Create clear quality standards for design work. Align on what strong execution means across research, interaction design, visual design, content design, and accessibility. Shared expectations help teams deliver consistent, high‑quality work.

Performance Metrics

Establish KPIs that measure both user experience outcomes and business results. Metrics may include:

  • Task completion or success rates

  • Reduced support tickets

  • Increased engagement or conversion

  • Time‑to‑value improvements

  • Efficiency gains for internal users

Clear metrics help teams understand impact, prioritize correctly, and improve over time.

Feedback Loops

Create reliable systems for gathering feedback from users, stakeholders, and cross‑functional partners. Use this feedback to refine solutions, improve quality, and strengthen relationships. Continuous feedback makes the work better and accelerates learning.

What is Design Maturity

Design maturity reflects how effectively design is integrated into the organization — from basic execution to strategic influence. As maturity increases, design becomes more consistent, more predictable, and more connected to business outcomes.

1. Build Repeatable Practices

Create shared processes, systems, and standards that make design work reliable and scalable. Mature teams reduce ad‑hoc workflows and replace them with clear, documented ways of working.

4. Increase Influence in Strategy

As design maturity grows, design moves beyond execution. It supports strategic planning, informs prioritization, and shapes long‑term product direction. Mature design teams bring customer insights, systems thinking, and clarity into executive conversations.

Design Maturity

2. Strengthen Cross‑Functional Alignment

Ensure design is tightly connected with product, engineering, marketing, and business operations. Mature design organizations collaborate early, communicate clearly, and influence decisions before solutions are defined.

5. Measure and Demonstrate Value

Track the impact of design through clear metrics tied to user experience and business outcomes. Mature organizations use data to guide decisions, allocate resources, and show design’s measurable contribution.

3. Improve Quality and Consistency

Use design systems, guidelines, and regular review rituals to ensure predictable quality across all work. As consistency increases, delivery becomes faster and outcomes improve.

6. Continuous Improvement

Design maturity is not a destination — it is an ongoing practice. Teams evolve through cycles of reflection, learning, process refinement, and stronger alignment with the business.