A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach to User-Centric Maturity at Scale
Summary
User-centric design and development mindset and maturity has been low in an enterprise context. UX departments struggle a lot to gain momentum and help organizations create better products in various different ways with RoI of their efforts being low. How might we increase the user-centric maturity and mindset of the enterprise in a more organic way and help as many product teams as possible while having insufficient UX specialists? Vasilieos will present a case study for top-down and bottom-up approach taken at LEGO with practical information, learnings and reflections so far.
Key Insights
-
•
Enterprise UX maturity requires both top-down executive buy-in and bottom-up grassroots training.
-
•
Starting UX without support leads to ‘lipstick on a pig’ outcomes where UX is superficial.
-
•
Treating the UX department as a business with responsibilities increases influence and strategic impact.
-
•
With only seven UX designers for 400 products, focusing on highest ROI products is necessary but causes coverage gaps.
-
•
Embedding a UX partner at leadership level within business streams aligns UX vision with product strategy.
-
•
Using system usability scale (SUS) scores as a KPI standardizes measurement across a large product portfolio.
-
•
Vendor selection criteria incorporating usability prevents long-term failure from poor off-the-shelf solutions.
-
•
The UX academy trains non-designers on practical UX methods, increasing UX capacity organically by upskilling existing staff.
-
•
Securing dedicated time (20%) for UX activities within product teams is crucial for effective bottom-up adoption.
-
•
User-centric mindset spreads more successfully when peer colleagues, not external UX teams, lead the change.
Notable Quotes
"User experience is not like the sauce you put on your steak to make it taste better. It is the actual protein within the steak."
"Before, UX was usually brought in very late and expected to just put lipstick on a pig."
"We cleared three weeks of calendars to detach and look at the big picture — that was our UX reboot."
"We run our UX department as a business, with responsibilities, requirements, and expectations."
"With seven UXters for 400 products, the math doesn’t add up, so we must choose where we focus."
"A UX partner needs to develop a thick skin when engaging senior VPs and directors."
"We set the system usability scale score as a KPI for all products to improve measurement and usability."
"The UX academy gave non-designers 20% of their time to learn and practice user experience methods."
"The colleagues sitting next to you, not outsiders, are the best champions to spread UX mindset."
"One of our UX ambassadors transitioned to a full-time UX designer role after the academy."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Just start building a quick little service to get a taste of what this technology can do."
Greg NudelmanDesigning Conversational Interfaces
November 14, 2019
"Christopher Valerie will share how a designer and developer can collide without the typical matter-antimatter explosion."
Bud CaddellTheme 2 Intro
September 30, 2021
"The first thing your eyes see is usually the highest-contrast or largest element, then you flow downwards."
Billy CarlsonPro-level UI Tips for Beginners
September 9, 2022
"The people who work traditional hours are not the end all be all of the world when designing research participation."
Robert Fabricant Sahibzada Mayed Nidhi Singh RathoreIndustry junctures: Paths forwards for UXR and the critical decisions that get us there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
October 2, 2024
"We balance AI speed with human depth to maximize value without sacrificing empathy or rigor."
Gillian Salerno-Rebic Mark MicheliFrom Insight to Impact: How JourneySpark Used WEVO Pulse + Pro to Drive a 50% Lift in Ad Engagement
June 11, 2025
"Excel is the mental model of the scientific research world—a two-dimensional grid of literal data."
Victor Lombardi Ted Booth HK Dunston Andrew OtwellBridging Design and Climate Science
February 14, 2024
"Leading change in a century-old company is a very different challenge."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 1: Intro
January 8, 2024
"Make an uncredible experience credible. That was the directive from organizational resistance to UX."
Dan WillisEnterprise Storytelling Sessions
June 3, 2019
"Sometimes you just have to be a little bit bold and be willing to use your power and privilege to advocate for what you know to be true."
Emily Williams Nora FioreWhen UX Research and Institutional Racism Collide: A Case Study
March 12, 2021