Summary
Recent market reports make the business case for design. Yet, each falls short in defining the steps required to scale design for maximum impact within organizations. Demystifying how to scale the impact of design was the intent behind a recently completed user research initiative, called “Pathways.” This research sponsored by the IIT Institute of Design and in partnership with Capital One, Ford, Google, Phillips Healthcare, Salesforce, and VMLY&R establishes how to scale design operations within organizations and how future roles of design, inclusive of user research, will need to evolve to yield maximum impact.
Key Insights
-
•
The Flywheel of Design framework includes four components: design leadership, problem-driven pathway, generalized design competency, and specialized design competency.
-
•
Optimal design leadership requires CEO support, a chief design officer with direct CEO access, and funding tied to business units for accountability.
-
•
Many organizations remain solution-focused, often locking in decisions before research can reshape the problem space.
-
•
A problem-driven organization clearly defines customer problems first without predetermined solutions, enabling research to guide innovation.
-
•
Building generalized design competency involves immersing non-designers in tangible, relevant design experiences focused on problems they care about.
-
•
Specialized design competency involves mastering storytelling, prototyping, foresight, facilitation, collaboration, and systems thinking.
-
•
Designers and researchers must upskill in business acumen and technical or specialty disciplines to increase their organizational value.
-
•
Researchers can influence design appropriation by surfacing strategic insights and connecting research outcomes to organizational priorities.
-
•
Becoming indispensable to business partners requires consistently delivering valuable insights that influence strategic decisions.
-
•
Operationalizing and scaling design impact requires collective organizational effort, with researchers playing a key role in advancing the Flywheel of Design.
Notable Quotes
"I work in an organization where its leaders don’t understand design and don’t value it. It just doesn’t get resourced."
"We confuse that solution with what our clients have actually asked for or wanted or need. We need to allow for design to do what it does best, which is understanding problems and people."
"If you’re a designer or researcher, you have a responsibility to inspire your organization to lead with greater purpose."
"Optimal design leadership looked like a CEO who promoted design as strategy and a chief design officer with the ear of the CEO."
"Funding structures for design tied specifically to business units bring accountability and early surfacing of value breaks."
"You have to become seen as an indispensable resource to your business partners by constantly asking what value you bring."
"A problem-driven organization says this is the problem to solve, not the solution we think we want."
"People really don’t get what we do until they can experience design in a tangible way around something they care about."
"Great designers and researchers must embody storytelling, prototyping, foresight, facilitation, collaboration, and systems thinking."
"To elevate design, you have to upskill in business acumen and one or more technical or specialty disciplines."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Don’t be afraid to poke the bear; controversy can help make your talk stand out and provoke meaningful discussion."
Louis Rosenfeld Jemma Ahmed Christian Crumlish Uday Gajendar Chris GeisonCoffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?
May 2, 2024
"Having cameras on during meetings, even for those in the same room, really helps remote employees feel included."
Jilanna WilsonDistributed Design Operations Management
October 23, 2019
"Our existing software is becoming adaptive, allowing end users to vibe code features themselves."
Matt WebbContext Window: Five Futures for AI
June 11, 2025
"Diverse teams build diverse products that work for more people."
Sam ProulxAccessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
September 8, 2022
"You aren't going to understand the healthcare ecosystem right off the bat; it’s incredibly complex."
Theresa NeilDesigning for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare
May 22, 2024
"Use custom systems for experts to quickly review and rate outputs, making feedback cycles much faster."
Peter Van DijckHands-on AI #2: Understanding evals: LLM as a Judge
October 15, 2025
"AI is not just a tool; it will be a worker, a reviewer, or even an end user in design processes."
Rachel Posman John Calhoun"Ask Me Anything" with Rachel Posman and John Calhoun, Authors of the Upcoming Rosenfeld Book, The Design Conductors
September 25, 2024
"It's not about going out to communities but changing your team and leadership to genuinely reflect those communities."
Tricia WangThe most popular design thinking strategy is BS
January 27, 2022
"Building trust within organizations toward methods and processes is essential to onboarding new ways of working."
Sarah Auslander Betsy Ramaccia Gordon RossInsights Panel
November 18, 2022
