top of page

Organizational Design Maturity

Leading Teams Toward a More Human-Centered Culture

Scope

Leading organizational UX maturity to benefit student, faculty, and staff digital platforms

Role

Sr. UX Designer

 

Digital Experience

​

Duration

Present (1.5 years)

​​

​

​

Industry

Public Sector

​

Education
​

Overview

As Senior UX Designer at Wilfrid Laurier University, I have taken on the responsibility to lead the transformation of UX practices by developing a web style guide aligned with brand standards, implementing best-practice UX tools, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and capturing measurable KPIs. This initiative began with a thorough assessment of existing UX processes and has evolved into a unified, scalable UX strategy that multiple teams can easily understand and support.

The Problems

When I joined Wilfrid Laurier University, I was unaware of the issues the institution was facing until I really understood the digital landscape. There are currently:
 

  • Minimal UX Foundations: Little UX process know-how and insufficient tools hinder proper UX workflows.

  • Aging Systems: Web properties built on outdated foundations that ignored user needs.

  • Opaque Third-Party Controls: Lack of internal documentation on what can and cannot be modified.

  • Fragmented Experiences: Design decisions scattered across groups, creating inconsistency.

  • Limited Scalability: UI improvements are applied in patches, not holistically.

  • UX-Resistant Culture: Ideas and processes are poorly adopted; processes are deeply rooted.

  • Conflicting Personas: Diverse users with different objectives make meeting expectations difficult.

To alleviate these problems, I have set these goals:

  1. Empower The Team: Teach UX processes and tools to elevate user experiences.

  2. Uncover Problems: Use audits, research, and stakeholder alignment to define challenges.

  3. Document Constraints: Reduce wasted effort by clarifying limits upfront.

  4. Strengthen Control: Equip editors with the knowledge to manage content confidently.

  5. Align Brand Digitally: Create web-based guidelines for consistent, unified experiences.

  6. Amplify Wins: Highlight and share small successes to expand UX influence organization-wide.

  7. Deep Dive Strategically: Leverage foundations to embrace iteration and improve churn.

The Approach

I structured the approach around the defined goals, dividing it into three phases with measurable success criteria.

Phase 1: Educate (In progress)

The Challenge: The team has minimal exposure to a fleshed-out, proper UX process in a working capacity with deeply rooted existing operations. Goals 1,2, and 3.

My Guidance

  • Introduced and implemented a new, cost-free UX tool, periodically training the team to effectively use it and improve design workflows.

  • Implemented an existing project management tool to track initiatives, increase accountability, and monitor KPIs.

  • Led knowledge-sharing sessions to strengthen the team’s understanding of UX fundamentals.

  • Audited existing systems to uncover usability gaps, advocate for improvements, and drive awareness of key issues.

  • Documented system constraints to reduce confusion, streamline collaboration, and enhance onboarding efficiency.

  • Developed process documentation for the university’s analytics platform to ensure consistency and transparency.

Success criteria

Phase 1 will be deemed successful when the team consistently applies design thinking methodologies and fully integrates the new UX tools into daily workflows. A baseline indicator of adoption will be the completion of at least five end-to-end project tasks—tracked from initiation to closure—within the project management system.

Results

Influenced stakeholders to shift from reactive fixes to evidence-based design strategies, leveraging user research and design thinking for lasting impact. The team is working towards meeting processes in the middle of the current implementation and the ideal implementation to lessen the impact of the learning curve.

Phase 2: Condense and Inform (Forecast)

The Challenge: Audits and stakeholder interviews revealed inconsistencies in UX across fragmented university web properties. Goals 4, 5, and 6 focus on strengthening governance, aligning digital experiences with the university’s brand, and showcasing measurable successes.

Forecast

​To meet goals 4, 5, and 6, and drive towards the success of phase 2, I have forecasted to:

  • Produce a comprehensive brand-aligned style guide for both internal and external audiences 

  • ​Develop and implement improved training documentation and success criteria for editors to be granted editing access that aligns with style guide requirements

  • ​Isolate editor roles and permissions to reduce complexities in templates

  • Improve communication channels to receive feedback and deliver the release notes​

Success criteria

Phase 2 will be deemed successful upon the launch of a private web style guide and the identification of areas within existing web properties that deviate from its standards. To ensure alignment, editors will complete an enhanced training module on maintaining consistency before receiving editing access. Establishing a dedicated communication channel for sharing change logs and gathering feedback will serve as a key indicator of successful implementation.

Phase 3: Champion Iteration (Forecast)

The Challenge: Existing UX/UI processes are are not holistic in nature and do not support collaborative design or user-centred iteration. Goal 7 focuses on leveraging the built foundations to embrace iteration and improve churn on deliverables.

Forecast

​To meet goal 7 and drive towards the success of phase 3, I have forecasted to:

  • Champion culture transformation to continue to drive towards ​iterative cycles from concept to close and delivery monitoring

  • Facilitate and monitor collaboration and feedback channels

  • Create process documentation to support future design efforts

  • Reflect on processes through conversations with stakeholders and senior leaders to identify where adjustments can be made and improved

  • ​Establish a cross-functional communication channel with UX and Development teams â€‹â€‹

Success criteria

Phase 3 will be deemed successful when the team fully embraces iterative, user-centred design practices that encourage collaboration and continuous improvement. Cross-functional participation in design reviews becomes standard practice, and workflows demonstrate measurable efficiency gains through reduced turnaround times on deliverables. Success will also be reflected in the documentation and adoption of a repeatable, university-wide process that supports ongoing iteration and refinement.

The Impact & Results

This is an ongoing initiative with many slow moving parts, but clear short and long-term positive impacts are emerging.

Short-term Immediate Impacts

  • Operational transformations: UX has evolved from implementing small, isolated changes to driving holistic, organization-wide system updates across web properties.​​

  • Organizational alignment: The team is increasingly recognized as a strategic partner, contributing directly to the achievement of organizational goals.

  • Technological education: Team members are being trained across various technologies and following standardized SOPs to execute effective, consistent UX practices.

  • Best practices: Adoption of best practices has strengthened team confidence in applying robust UX methodologies.

  • Culture shift: The team now prioritizes research-backed insights over ad-hoc requests, enabling broader, long-term positive impact.

Long-term positive return on investment

  • User-centred culture: Users are now central to decision-making, with research-driven processes guiding choices that impact a larger audience over the long term.

  • ​Improving market leadership: By integrating UX practices across the institution, WLU is increasingly recognized as a top choice for prospective students. Notably, WLU became the first Canadian university to offer a four-year undergraduate Bachelor of Design (BDes) in User Experience, demonstrating its commitment to both user-centric design and education.

  • Increased uniformity: The creation and implementation of a comprehensive style guide supports consistent design practices and alignment across all web properties.

Reflections (Thus far)
Assessing team readiness is critical

Overestimating UX maturity can create misalignment; understanding the team’s starting point ensures smoother adoption.
 

Research drives influence

Stakeholders respond best to insights grounded in data and user research, rather than anecdotal requests.
 

Process clarity matters

Structured, phased approaches with measurable success criteria improve team alignment and adoption of new practices.
 

Culture change is gradual

Sustained behavior shifts require repetition, mentorship, and visible wins to gain trust and commitment.
 

Documentation prevents confusion

Clearly recording constraints, decisions, and workflows streamlines onboarding and maintains consistency.
 

Leadership is facilitation

Guiding teams through change requires translating complex UX concepts into clear, actionable language for all.

Other case studies:
Image by Balázs Kétyi
Modernizing Legacy Systems Through Design Systems and Code

Creating and Developing a Responsive Design System

bottom of page