the HFI UX Maturity Survey
2009 Findings
Kath Straub
Mona Patel
Arno Bublitz
Javier Broch
Human Factors Interna<onal, Inc.
Permanent loca<on: www.humanfactors.com/UXMSurvey‐2009

Introduc<on
User experience is the new differenAator in customer service. To beYer understand the state of the industry, Human Factors
Just as service is key to customer saAsfacAon in face‐to‐face InternaAonal has conducted the first survey of UX maturity
environments, customer saAsfacAon in the internet age turns within organizaAons. Our primary goal was to develop a
on user‐centered design, whether your work faces the snapshot of the user experience operaAons within usability
customer or the organizaAon’s staff. Providing websites that aware organizaAons world‐wide. Second, we developed The
customers can easily learn and confidently use leads to User Experience Maturity Checklist. Taken together, the findings
improved customer saAsfacAon and increased loyalty. Sites, and checklist help usability/user experience professionals
applicaAons, and tools that are task‐relevant and usable allow understand where their organizaAon is on the path to maturity,
staff to complete tasks more efficiently and cost effecAvely. and what to do next.
But how rouAne is usability, really? Do organizaAons have While Schaffer’s Usability Maturity model, below, idenAfies the
established user experience groups? Or do user experience hallmarks of a fully mature user experience program, there is no
professionals sAll float through, doing just‐in‐(me work and single template for any organizaAon to achieve usability
grass roots evangelizing? What do teams look like? How maturity. As we note in our concluding remarks, interpreAng the
established are the established groups? Do they use a survey results as part of a larger user experience strategy is a
common method? Published standards? Tools that support separate step requiring a full assessment of your organizaAon’s
robust research best pracAce design? Training? Do size, culture, market, and management challenges.
pracAAoners aggregate and share their findings or does each
project team reinvent the wheel each Ame? And who really
does the work?
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

© 2004: Human Factors InternaAonal www.humanfactors.com

What makes a usability group mature?
In his 2004 book, InsAtuAonalizaAon of Usability: A Step‐by‐ Execu<ve Champions
Step Guide, Eric Schaffer describes a roadmap to An execuAve who has made a clear and visible commitment to
insAtuAonalizaAon within organizaAons. Based on 25 years of promoAng usability throughout the organizaAon. The execuAve
observaAon, he describes the elements and characterisAcs of champion’s role is to educate his or her peers, secure funding,
maturing and mature usability pracAces. He defines the stages and remove organizaAonal obstacles. To be effecAve, the
of maturaAon, and describes the landmines that typically execuAve champion must be at the SVP or C‐ level of the
thwart progress and the contexts in which they occur. organizaAon, or equivalent, in order to reach across the “silos”
of parAcular groups and departments.
HFI’s Usability Maturity Model
User Interface Standards
Schaffer indicates that usability operaAons are mature when Design standards go beyond brand and idenAty to define the
they integrate all of the following components: underlying look, feel, and flow of websites and applicaAons
within an organizaAon. To be meaningful, User Experience
• An ExecuAve Champion
Standards must be easy to find and easy to use. (Straub, 2004)
• User Interface Standards
• Professional Staff
Professional Staff
• Tools
To be effecAve, usability teams need staff to support both
• Training
tacAcal and strategic iniAaAves. Most esAmates suggest that an
• Showcase Projects
opAmal usability staff would be 1/10th the size of the
development team(s). Further, team members should represent
the range of mulA‐disciplinary skills that define user experience
design in that business sector, including psychologists and
researchers, as well as human factors engineering, interacAon
design, visual design and analyAcs/measurement specialists.
Team members should have formal usability training that is
substanAated by degrees or cerAficaAons.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

What makes a usability group mature?
Tools All individuals who are tasked with interface design Showcase Projects Mature user experience programs
should have open access to a common set of resources to understand that usability awareness begins with exposure.
educate and support best pracAces in research processes and Showcase projects are high‐visibility projects that receive
interface design. The toolset should include reusable arAfacts support and recogniAon throughout the project Ameline across
that pracAAoners can employ to streamline their work. The the organizaAon. Mature programs create and distribute case
tools should be customized to reflect the user interface and studies to recognize, validate, and disseminate the successes of
branding standards. As with standards, to be useful, tools the usability group.
must be easy to find and easy to use.
Training Different individuals at different levels within
organizaAons need to understand different informaAon about
usability. PracAAoners need ongoing, advanced training on
emerging methods, evolving best pracAces, and current
trends across industries. Developers need to understand how
to apply best pracAces and where/how to look for addiAonal
guidance or tools. ExecuAves must be able to calculate return
on investment (ROI)—whether in improved revenues,
enhanced customer saAsfacAon, or any other criteria specific
to that organizaAon— without necessarily knowing the
mechanics of usability or the current best pracAces in user
experience design. Mature organizaAons offer ongoing,
regular, level‐appropriate training opportuniAes to individuals
across the organizaAon.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

What makes a usability group mature?
The maturity components that Schaffer defined in 2004 sAll Enterprise Knowledge Management The usability knowledge
hold today. However, since the publicaAon of his book, management system should be the single, central repository for
Schaffer has added two addiAonal components to the all resources and arAfacts related to usability and the pracAce of
definiAon of maturity: usability within an organizaAon. Usability groups aggregate and
share their charter, strategy, standards, reusable research, and
• Enterprise Knowledge Management
design arAfacts (e.g., personas, graphics library) in a common
• Digital UX Strategy
locaAon. Mature usability groups also share and cross‐reference
reports and observaAons, streamlining the research process, and
creaAng cost efficiencies. When key learnings can be efficiently
accessed and applied, organizaAons do not have to “start from
scratch” with every subsequent project.
Digital UX Strategy Mature usability organizaAons have a clear,
acAonable Digital UX Strategy that idenAfies touch points and
synergies of usability across the inward and outward‐facing
customer communicaAon systems. The Digital UX Strategy
prioriAzes user experience as an organizaAonal success driver by
creaAng accountability for measurable success criteria which are
reported to an execuAve governance commiYee at regular
intervals.
Building these elements and resources takes leadership, Ame,
and effort. But the first step is awareness. If you parAcipated in
the survey, at least one person at your organizaAon is aware.
Read on to find out how your organizaAon’s usability maturity
compares with that of usability‐aware organizaAons around the
globe.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

The Survey
The Survey
HFI developed the User Experience PracAce Maturity Survey An important note to readers …
to capture a comparaAve snapshot of the maturity of usability
operaAons around the world. The components of maturity The data reported here offers a prac<<oner level analysis of UX
were derived primarily from Schaffer (2004). These maturity. It answers the quesAon : What proporAon of
components were augmented by HFI’s subsequent field (responding) pracAAoners feel they work in a mature usability
research/consulAng observing the sequence for emergence of pracAce?
key success components within developing usability pracAces.
This study is NOT an organizaAonal level analysis. That its, it
Survey respondents were recruited through HFI mailing lists does not answer the ques<on: What percentage organiza<ons
and various affiliated social networking channels. Some have mature usability prac<ces?
evidence of viral responding was observed. The survey was
presented in 3 languages (English, Spanish and German). This is because within the current analysis, mulAple respondents
Individuals could respond from 1 April 2009 through 15 April from the same organizaAon are counted. Individual
2009. In all, 1836 individuals iniAated the survey. 1123 organizaAons are represented more than once.
respondents completed the enAre survey.
When you are thinking about the implicaAons of this survey in
The summaries presented here reflect completed surveys. In relaAon to your organizaAon, please be mindful of that
return for their effort, parAcipants were entered into a disAncAon.
drawing to receive a free 1 hour strategic consulAng session
with Dr. Eric Schaffer, Founder and CEO of HFI, and author of
InsAtuAonalizaAon of Usability: A Step‐by‐Step Guide.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Organiza<on Type
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

How interface design fits….?
Website Builders: We design/build
websites (including web‐based
applicaAons).
Applica<on/So[ware Builder: We
design/build/sell off‐the‐shelf and/or
customized sooware products.
Applica<on/Website Users: We buy
or build applicaAons or websites to
run our business, but our customers
typically don't see them.
eCommerce Business: We do most or
all of our customer‐facing business
via the web.
Website Designers: We design
websites and/or applicaAons, but we
don't build them.
Product Designer: We design physical
products.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Where were the ArgenAna Germany Romania
respondents from? Australia Hong Kong Russian FederaAon
Austria India Serbia
Belgium Ireland Singapore
Bolivia Israel Slovenia
Brazil Italy South Africa
Bulgaria Lithuania Spain
Canada Malaysia Sweden
China Mexico Switzerland
Colombia Netherlands Taiwan
Costa Rica New Zealand Turkey
Country Norway United Arab Emirates
Czech Republic Pakistan United Kingdom
Denmark Panama United States
> 100 respondents Egypt Peru Uruguay
40 ‐ 99 respondents Estonia Philippines
10 ‐ 39 respondents Finland Poland
> 10 respondents France Portugal
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Execu<ve sponsorship ‐ Champion
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Execu<ve sponsorship ‐ Level
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Interface standards
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Interface standards – Ongoing audit process
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Common method
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

UX methods ‐ Required
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

UX methods – Required ac<vi<es
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Knowledge management: Shared tools
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Knowledge Management: Shared learnings
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Professional Staff – Recognizing UX
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Professional staff – Full <me prac<<oners
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Professional staff – Cer<fied prac<<oners
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Training – Advanced training (Prac<<oners)
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Training – Outreach and awareness
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Showcase projects – Recognizing achievement
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Digital Strategy – Governance commiiee
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Digital Strategy – Repor<ng outcomes
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Conclusions
If you eavesdrop in elevators, you will hear that usability has No Real Execu<ve Champion Over half of respondents indicated
transformed from a business differenAator to a rouAne that their usability efforts lacked a true execuAve champion.
component of business pracAce. To some extent this is true. Because of the lack of organizaAonal recogniAon and, by
HFI’s UX Maturity Survey indicates that stable, visible, internal extension, funding, these teams are constantly in “triage” mode.
usability and user experience groups with execuAve support They do great work – but it is just‐in‐Ame. Because they are just
have become significantly more prevalent since Schaffer keeping up, the group rarely has Ame to develop – much less
(2004) outlined the elements of a mature usability/user disseminate – the foundaAonal research or tools that could be
experience pracAce. But having a presence is not the same as benefit the organizaAon as a whole. Over Ame, teams in this
having a pracAce. situaAon lose their momentum. Team members are reabsorbed
into roles that sound like usability roles (e.g., Business Analyst)
The most common challenges faced by developing Usability or related components of the organizaAon. CulAvaAng a true
PracAces today are: execuAve champion is the necessary next step for usability
pracAces at this stage.
• No real execuAve champion
• No centralized funcAon
No Centralized Func<on OrganizaAons – even those with
• Energy and ExecuAve support, but no Strategy
usability awareness – can fail to recognize the importance of a
• A team that reinvents the wheel
visible, centralized funcAon. Free‐floaAng talent improves user
experience, but in a spoYy way. Usability pracAAoners tend to
find themselves doing other types of work (e.g., coding.) Further,
the lack of visible recogniAon that usability/user experience
represents a discrete skill set reinforces the myth that usability is
just common sense. Individuals without a usability background
conAnue to “do usability.” Even with a real champion, distributed
professionals can rarely achieve the momentum necessary to
build the resources that mark a mature pracAce. (Those who do,
find themselves part of a centralized group.) CreaAng a
centralized pracAce or funcAon is the next step for organizaAons
at this stage.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

Conclusions
Energy and Execu<ve Support, but No Strategy An Having a presence is not the same as having a prac<ce
unanAcipated number of organizaAons have established
usability groups which operate with no clear charter, As many survey parAcipants (and readers) know, having a talent
governance, or accountability. Within this configuraAon, and passion for usability is not enough. For a team to be truly
usability groups can drive substanAal and valuable successful, senior leadership must parAcipate acAvely.
improvements to user experience. But these improvements UlAmately, each of these scenarios reflects a failure of execuAve
are not opAmally linked to the current business strategy or leadership to understand and commit the necessary energy,
prioriAes. support and resources to realize the full promise of usability.
As such, Ame‐sensiAve opportuniAes can ooen be missed.
Engaging the execuAve suite to create a vision & direcAon
document and engage in strategy is the next step for
organizaAons at this stage.
A Team that Reinvents the Wheel OrganizaAons – including
those with mature Usability pracAces – systemaAcally fail to
recognize the value in reusable work. Reports are generated
but rarely collected and categorized for future use. Without a
central repository to gather findings and an infrastructure that
supports meta‐tagging and access, organizaAons may gather
the same insights over and over. The insights are there – if you
know the right person to ask. LongAme team members can
become a “warehouse” for insights on a given consumer
group or product. The perceived contribuAons and value‐to‐
cost raAo of usability groups in this situaAon is limited.
OrganizaAons in this situaAon need to create a system to
archive and tag their output that encourages findability, use,
and reuse.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

What’s next …
Where do you stand?
Human Factors InternaAonal conducted this survey to develop a HFI’s long‐standing relaAonship with numerous Fortune 500
snapshot of the user experience operaAons within usability‐aware companies – half of the Fortune 50, in fact – enables us to
organizaAons around the world. Then we developed the User perform ongoing research on the synergisAc benefits that long‐
Experience Maturity Checklist (see Appendix A). The checklist term insAtuAonalizaAon of user experience, supported by
evaluates your own organizaAon’s usability maturity and acts as a conAnuous execuAve championship, is providing successful
next‐step guide. Even with Schaffer’s usability maturity criteria, enterprise organizaAons. Usability maturity is by definiAon long‐
however, there is no one‐size‐fits‐all approach to usability maturity. term rather than a quick fix, and our analysis consistently reveals
In the final analysis, the set of usability challenges your increasingly deep levels of benefit that accrue to the
organizaAon faces is unique. The size, structure, market and culture organizaAon.
of your organizaAon all determine the path it needs to take to
usability maturity, in addiAon to its present level of user‐centricity
and the types of management “syndromes” that must be
overcome. For some organizaAons, the results of this survey will
clearly suggest a user experience strategy that will move it towards
the insAtuAonalizaAon of usability. For many, however, working
with the experienced user experience strategists at Human Factors
InternaAonal will be the most effecAve way to interpret and apply
the survey data from this survey to their present level of usability
maturity.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

References
Schaffer, E. (2004), The InsAtuAonalizaAon of Usability: A step‐
by‐step guide. Addison Wesley: New York.
Straub, K. (2004), On the Meta‐Usability of User Interface
Standards (or If the developer can't use it, the standard is not
there). User Interface Design Update newsleYer, available from
www.humanfactors.com/downloads/aug04.asp.
The HFI UX Maturity Survey – 2009 / Findings

19 June 2009