Outputs & Outcomes

Overview

A designer exists to keep learning about the people we serve, create efficient experiences, and make sure the design is delightful, measurably better than the alternatives, and achieves the product goals. Their outputs are the steady stream of research, designs, and tests. Their outcomes are what those designs do once they ship.

Outputs

Outputs are tracked monthly, with a 90% minimum.

• Design system. Updated every month.
• Persona interviews. Weekly contact with the people we design for.
• Research synthesis. Written up monthly.
• Usability tests. Monthly, including a regression test of a rotating area of the product.
• Designs. A steady flow of lo-fi and hi-fi designs each month.
• Design horizon. Designs complete at least a month ahead of development.
• Learnings in production. What we learn from released designs feeds back into the next ones.

Outcomes

Every design ships with stated goals for adoption and business results.

• ROI. Within a month of release, the design meets its goals. Anything under 80% of the goal at three months is paused or removed.
• Usability. At least a 90% pass rate on user tests, with at least five unbiased subjects from the target persona.
• Perception. At least a 90% pass rate on a quarterly perception test against the design principles, with at least ten subjects.
• Velocity. At least one design completed a week and one released to users each month.

How I measure it

Designers are measured the same way as product managers: outputs by month, outcomes month over month, and feedback from themselves, peers, their manager, and a strategic manager.