Thoughts

What is UX maturity

… and why can it decide whether your next digital project succeeds?

Scenario: you and your team are working on a new project – say, a donation form, a members' portal for a website, or an app. Everything's going brilliantly! The design looks fantastic, development is on it, on time and on point. The whole team is motivated – no: HYPED, because you're building something really great here. Then, suddenly, somewhere along the way, they appear: the first grains of sand in the works. Whatever you do, they only seem to multiply, never become fewer. The end result: half as good as you imagined. Sound familiar?

Welcome to the execution gap

This phenomenon has a name: the execution gap. It describes the gap between a compelling concept and what a team can actually implement, maintain and develop further in its day-to-day work. It happens more often than you'd think: in companies, organisations, universities and public institutions. To almost everyone who works on digital projects, in fact. So the question is: how does this gap come about? Who or what is to blame? And why does it happen so often that it has its own name? One of the key causes is your organisation's UX maturity.

UX maturity explained

UX maturity describes how deeply human-centred design is embedded in an organisation. Human-centred (or user-centred) design is design that starts from real user needs – in other words, it's informed and therefore shaped by them. Importantly, 'human-centred design' doesn't only mean the work done by the design team, but every shaping activity influenced by a company's strategy, processes and culture. So design here doesn't just mean (conceptual and visual) design work; it means human-centred thinking and working – across every discipline.

Danish UX researcher Rolf Molich defines UX maturity like this:

„UX maturity is the ability of an organization or a product team to define and meet UX goals that help to achieve business goals.“ – Rolf Molich

In short: the higher the UX maturity, the more systematically, reliably and sustainably human-centred work happens – whether or not a digital project is currently being delivered.

Where does the concept come from? A brief history

UX-specific maturity models have been around for roughly 30 years, and their roots go back to the 1980s. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) – developed from 1986 onwards at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute on behalf of the US Department of Defense – was the original blueprint. It was based on analysing software development processes and described, in five levels, how well or badly those processes worked. The aim wasn't perfection but orientation: what makes sense at which level? And how do you get to the next one?

On this foundation, UX-specific models emerged later, such as the Nielsen Norman Group's maturity models (2006, revised 2021) or the model by Chapman & Plewes (2014). Like the CMM, they are based on analysing the results of client project work. Other models draw on ISO standards such as ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE) or ISO/IEC 33020.

UX maturity models differ not only in their origins, but also in how many levels they have and what those levels are called. What they all have in common: they're not meant as a template you lay over digital project processes, marking everything outside the lines in red. Models are simplified representations of reality – and that's precisely why they're useful: they give direction, not prescriptions.

The most-cited UX maturity model

The most-cited UX maturity model worldwide is probably the one by the Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g), which works with six levels:

  1. Absent: UX is non-existent or ignored
  2. Limited: UX happens sporadically and depends on individuals
  3. Emergent: UX approaches are emerging but inconsistent
  4. Structured: UX processes are defined but not yet embedded everywhere
  5. Integrated: UX is part of the regular workflow
  6. User-driven: human-centred thinking drives the entire strategy

Like every other UX maturity model, it describes an organisation's UX strengths and weaknesses: from organisations that don't (yet) work in a human-centred way (level 1: 'Absent') through to organisations where human-centred thinking and working have become second nature (level 6: 'User-driven'). You'll find a detailed description of the levels on the Nielsen Norman Group website (www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-maturity-model).

How do you progress your UX maturity?

It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n' roll ... or is it?

Now that you know a bit more about UX maturity, you've probably started wondering which level your team or organisation might be at. Perhaps you suspect you're at level 1 and are now thinking that the road to level 6 is long and rocky, and better not attempted at all.

Moving up in UX maturity certainly isn't easy, but there's one very important, very good piece of news: you don't have to reach the top level to do excellent human-centred work that has a lasting, positive impact on your organisation.

There's no public ranking, no competition and no gold standard everyone has to hit. UX maturity isn't a destination – it's a navigation tool. What matters isn't the level you and your team are at today, but that you honestly know where you stand. Because only then can projects be designed to actually work for you.

Is it worth assessing your UX maturity?

In short: absolutely! Assessing your UX maturity lays the most important cornerstone for a successful project. Not because it's the done thing, but because you'll then know what's sensible for you and your team – and, because it's achievable, realistic. If you know which level of UX maturity you're designing for, you're far more likely to deliver a project that succeeds rather than one that falls short. Lorraine Chapman and Scott Plewes put it like this:

„Understanding the organization’s ‘maturity’ level is a necessary first step for improving the effective delivery of UX design and for enabling the organization to advance to the proverbial ‘next level.’“ – Lorraine Chapman und Scott Plewes

Further reading

Fancy a look at your UX maturity?

Within a week, the UX Maturity Snapshot gives you and your team more clarity about where you currently stand on UX maturity. It's part of the Truly XD capability-building series and the ideal place to start.

I'd be happy to tell you more in a free, no-obligation 30-minute intro call.

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