From Snake-Oil to Science

Abstract

A growing number of organizations want to better understand how to properly grow and implement a User Experience practice. While there is a general sentiment that a more mature UX practice leads to organizational success, there is surprisingly little data about what constitutes UX maturity. This case study describes the first steps into an empirically derived maturity model and describes what we've learned from interviewing seasoned UX professionals and surveying practitioners from dozens of organizations. Preliminary results indicate that our empirically-based approach is understandable and flexible enough to be applied across a broad range of organizations and industries. Ultimately, our objective is to move the practice of assessing UX maturity from snake-oil to science. To do so, we aim to identify the variables that differentiate immature from mature UX practices and establish a link between UX maturity and company success.