Why you need design maturity in a product organisation, and how to get it

"High‑performing product organisations depend on maturity across all disciplines - design, product management, engineering, data, editorial, architecture. When one discipline is not being fully utilised, the whole organisation suffers, because maturity is systemic. But design maturity is sometimes misunderstood as a craft issue. Sometimes design is equated with usability. But true design maturity expands an organisation's capacity to work well in uncertainty. So if you want to create the future, rather than just predict it, you need to find ways to achieve design maturity."

"Design maturity is more than usability I'm a design leader, so this matters to me personally. But a lack of understanding and investment in design maturity matters to everyone in a product organisation. When one function is underutilised, the entire system suffers. IDEO defines design as "sensemaking + imagination". It's the reason design is such a valuable partner to product management - design extends sense-making into difference-making."

"Product management excels at sense-making. It synthesises data and combines analytical skills with empathy to make decisions and provide direction - ultimately holding accountability for the success of the product. But without design maturity, an organisation can lose out on the creativity and divergent thinking strengths of design. This comes with costs. McKinsey's Business Value of Design (2018) found that design maturity correlates directly with financial and product performance."

Design maturity requires organisational-wide capability across disciplines and enables working well in uncertainty and creating the future rather than only predicting it. When one discipline is underutilised the entire product system degrades because maturity is systemic. IDEO defines design as "sensemaking + imagination", which positions design to extend sense-making into difference-making alongside product management. Product management synthesises data and empathy for decisions and direction, but without design maturity organisations forfeit creativity and divergent thinking. A 2018 McKinsey study found design maturity correlates with better financial and product performance. Narrowly equating design with usability limits its strategic contribution.

Read at Medium