Q&A
impact, so designers can understand exactly what
will move the needle for their company.Do you think business underestimates the value of
design and, if so, is that changing?
No matter your business, chances are that your
customers engage with your brand significantly – and
often entirely – through the screens of phones and
laptops. This has dramatically changed the way that
business perceives design and investment in it is now
at record levels. Nevertheless, even companies that
understand the value of design sometimes struggle to
get the most out of their design spend.
Our new global study, ‘The New Design Frontier’,
sets out to uncover the reasons why and offer
practical guidance for businesses to ensure their
design spend generates maximum returns.What are the key findings in the report?
Companies with a more sophisticated understanding
of design have a powerful impact on their company’s
bottom line. For example, 92 per cent of the
companies who ranked at the highest levels of design
maturity could draw a straight line between their
designers’ efforts and company revenue. Another 85
per cent said they had delivered cost savings through
design, while 84 per cent said design had improved
their time to market.
The key to achieving these kinds of results is to
examine your design practices. Our study found that
the designers with the greatest bottom-line impact
are nearly three times more likely to be involved in
critical business decisions than their peers. They
were also treated as equals by their counterparts in
engineering and product management and were four
times more likely to jointly own and develop core
products with these key partners.What’s the most common mistake that leads to
unsuccessful design teams?
Conventional wisdom says that the larger your design
team, the more impact it will generate. Our study
debunks that. The average size of design teams with
the lowest design maturity was over 30, whereas
the teams with the greatest business impact had an
average of 15 designers.
This doesn’t necessarily mean big teams are bad. It
just means that in order to have impact, businesses
must first make sure that designers are set up for
success, with design practices properly calibrated
across the organisation.LEAH BULEY
Q&ACould you briefly introduce yourself?
I’ve been working in the experience design industry
for almost 20 years, so I guess you could call me a
veteran. Before I joined the design education team at
InVision, I was a principal analyst at Forrester, where
I researched the business impact of design. I’ve also
worked at Intuit and Adaptive Path and am the author
of The User Experience Team of One, a research and
design survival guide for UX practitioners.‘Director of design education’ is an interesting job
title. What does it actually involve?
InVision is the digital product design platform
used to create some of the world’s best digital
experiences. Our technology is used by a wide range
of businesses, including Uber, Netflix and IKEA. The
design education team works closely with leaders to
research and share the behaviours and best practices
empowering the world’s most effective design teams.
Companies know they need to invest in digital
product design but don’t always know how to do it.
Design education exists to support the people driving
these changes within their companies.
My role involves uncovering, analysing and sharing
the design behaviours that help drive businessInVision’s director of design education reveals
how design impacts businesses’ bottom lines
INFOjob: Director of design
education at
InVision
w: invisionapp.com
t: @LeahBuley
InVision’s global study, The New Design Frontier, is
available to download now (https://www.invisionapp.
com/design-better/design-maturity-model/).