Design maturity is something you do, not something you are.
- Steven Sommer
Arguably, the first UX Maturity Model was developed in 1995 by G. A. Flanagan, with four stages of evolution - initializing, centralizing, maturing, and transforming.
These models have evolved over time and with in depth research. One of the most prevalent of the modern UX Maturity Models comes from Nielsen/Norman Group, providing for six stages of growth.
Absent: UX is ignored or nonexistent.
Limited: UX work is rare, done haphazardly, and lacking importance
Emergent: The UX work is functional and promising but done inconsistently and inefficiently.
Structured: The organization has semi-systematic UX-related methodology that is widespread, but with varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency.
Integrated: UX work is comprehensive, effective, and pervasive.
User-driven: Dedication to UX at all levels leads to deep insights and exceptional user-centered–design outcomes.
TIBCO’s UX team was non-existent when I joined in 2004. Through sheer force of will and a dozen copies of Alan Cooper’s The Inmates are Running the Asylum, I launched their UX practice which grew to 80+ globally as the org grew from $150M to +$1B in revenue.
Sumologic had a team of three designers when I joined in 2014. By 2017, the team had 25 designers, researchers, and content writers designing integrated experiences across product and marketing, growing with the company from Series B to Series D.
Ringcentral had a small US-based team and a handful of off-shore designers in 2017. Over the next five years, I initiated UX Research, DesignOps, and Content Strategy practices, built a design system shared by UX and dev, and grew influence at the executive level for a team of 100+ as the organization grew from $3B to $37B in market capitalization.
ZeroWall launched with the benefit of starting at a solid Level 5 in the NN/g model, with all hires coming into the organization with an existing grounding in UX and solid working processes as we iterated on early product-market fit experimentation.
