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Modify and organize this sample list for your own team
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Source Material: InVision Design Maturity Model and Nielsen Norman Group Design Maturity
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Design ActivityToday's RatingNear-Future AspirationWhen to AddressNotes
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A/B or multivariate tests conducted
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Ability to easily search across research insights
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Accessibility reviews conducted
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Advancement paths for designers including non-managerial roles
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Annual design planning for adequate headcount, budget, etc.
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Clear division of roles and responsibilities with key partners
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Clear milestones and goals for new design hires, with regular progress checkins
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Comfortable operating capacity (i.e., designers are not assigned too much or too little work)
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Communication channels or meetings for team members who share interests or passions
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Competitive analysis run on a regular cadence
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Consistent design metrics
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Consistent hiring and interviewing practices that encourage objective assessment of candidates
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Consistent methods for proactively sharing the role and value of design with external partners
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Consistent, complementary toolset for design work
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Consistent, objective process for measuring design quality
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Content strategy fully developed and understood
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Content/editorial guidelines fully developed and understood
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Continuous improvements made on previously launched work
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Copy style guide followed consistently
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Copy writing developed as an intentional craft
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Customer interviews conducted regularly
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Customer satisfaction tracked and shared (e.g., NPS, SUS)
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Dedicated team to build and maintain the design system
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Defined design charter, including mission, values, and principles
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Defined, regularly occurring meetings for sharing design work and research insights among designers
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Design briefs to create agreements with stakeholders
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Design co-creation with users
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Design leaders are peers with product management and engineering leaders
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Design outcomes measured and shared
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Design principles clearly articulated
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Design projects planned and prioritized
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Design strategy clearly articulated
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Design system accessible to others
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Design system elements used consistently
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Design team happiness intentionally crafted
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Design well-integrated in the product development process
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Design work communicated widely (all-hands, executive meetings, and influential gatherings)
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Design-skills training (e.g., workshops or classes) for nondesigners
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Design-specific measurements and metrics established at the start of a project
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Designer and developer tools integrated for smooth collaboration
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Designers practice trendspotting and forecasting user expectations
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Designers work outside of silos to develop holistic design decisions
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Development process that integrates design
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Documented, shared career ladder or growth path for designers
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Documented, shared organizational structure
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Documented, standardized design process
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Employees outside of design have a good sense of customers and their needs
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Employees outside of design participate in design process
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Employees outside of design participate in user/customer research
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Employees outside of design receive design-oriented training (e.g., design thinking, human-centered design, etc.)
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Employees outside of design understand why human-centered design is valuable
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Executives allocate appropriate resources for design
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Executives call attention to design team’s work
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Executives empower design group to identify and pursue unplanned or unrequested ideas
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Executives evaluate and incentivize design-centric behavior
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Executives involve senior design leaders in critical decisions
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Executives monitor and measure design's contribution to the business
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Executives personally invested in design outcomes
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Executives prioritize decisions that lead to the best design/customer experience
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Executives talk about the value of design externally
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Executives talk about the value of design internally
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Funding is available to designers for ongoing training
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Funnel and conversion metrics available to relevant designers
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Hiring and onboarding process is consistent, clear, and easy to follow
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Hiring enables high-quality design talent (e.g., knowledgeable recruiters, good job descriptions, etc.)
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Ideation is part of the design process
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Information architecture is well-defined
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Interaction patterns exist across product suite
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Interactive prototypes are standard deliverables
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Joint working sessions consistently occur with key partners (e.g., workshops, stand-ups, etc.)
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Key organizational partners align with design priorities
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Key partners can collaborate with designers in the same/integrated software
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Key partners well-integrated in design process (e.g. participating in design sprints)
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Knowledge sharing is clear, findable, and scalable
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Market research and analysis available to the design team
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Metrics tracked over time and across projects
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Motion and microinteraction design patterns established
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Multiple design concepts explored for a given project
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Non-designers participate in the design and research process
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Non-designers recognized and rewarded for championing user-centered design or research activities
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Other companies see and understand the value of the design practice
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Personas and user scenarios established and understood
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Pre-mortems conducted before projects kick off (identifying potential issues/risks)
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Prioritization criteria determines what projects the design org works on
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Product/feature ideas jointly developed and owned between design and key partners
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Project teams communicate daily
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Rapid sketching is a regular part of the design process
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Reasonable project-budget and timeline estimation
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Regular skill-assessment activities to understand team strengths and growth opportunities
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Research reports shared and widely available
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Results of tests and experiments tracked and shared (e.g., A/B, beta, etc.)
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Retrospectives and post-mortems conducted consistently
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Shared design-team case studies or success stories documented and shared
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Shared software tools among designers and external partners
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Shared understanding of design’s role across design, leadership, and key partners