Lead With Purpose
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
"Becoming a UX researcher is a process that will never end, not a fixed state you reach."
Victor M. GonzalezPracticing Learners and Learning Practitioners
March 10, 2021
"Toxic stress makes people dumb, reducing their cognitive ability by half."
Alla WeinbergHealing Toxic Stress
September 23, 2024
"Maybe I too had joined another tech company that really wasn’t walking the walk when it came to diversity."
Libby MaurerTreating Diversity & Inclusion in Hiring as a Design Problem
December 5, 2019
"When design ops comes in hot, it means honest, orchestrated, and timely."
Briana Thomas Christina RodriguezWhen Design Ops Comes in H.O.T. : A Tale of a Transformed Design Org
September 30, 2021
"Sketch made it possible to build a scalable library that millions of customers rely on with just a couple clicks."
Mitchell BernsteinOrganizing Chaos: How IBM is Defining Design Systems with Sketch for an Ever-Changing AI Landscape
September 29, 2021
"Building strong relationships with procurement helps you understand and navigate their constraints and speeds up processes."
Jon Temple Kalee Dankner Bruce Falk Lauren GalanterPanel: Stacks, Security, and Stakeholders: The Hidden Work of UXR Tool Procurement
March 12, 2026
"Situational disabilities like glare or temporary injuries affect a large portion of your audience and need to be considered in design."
Sheri Byrne-HaberThe Importance of Accessible Design Systems
January 8, 2024
"Asynchronous communication allows us hours of deep and focused work."
Ana FerreiraDesigning Distributed: Leading Doist’s Fully Remote Design Team in Six Countries
January 8, 2024
"Implicit methods alone can explain around 80% of the purchase decision, with half of it due to unconscious measurements."
Daniela Magaña Flores Ariane Rahn Jeff Ephraim BanderAhead of Competition: Learn What UX Benchmarking Can Do for Your Business Today
March 10, 2022
