We were recently having problems with our water at home–sediment coming through our lines, clogging up our faucets. A local plumber suggested that we add a sediment filter before the hot water heater in order to address the problem.

But that would have only worked if the sediment is coming in with the incoming water. The problem, it turned out, was sediment in our water heater. Putting a filter on new water coming in wouldn’t help.

We often see a similar fallacy inside organizations. The customer experience needs work, so the company hires designers. They are installed at a certain point in the process and assigned specific tasks.

Design this new feature. Design this email. Design this web page.

Does that fix the customer experience?

No. It can turn into a conversation about how "we hired design, and it didn’t solve the problem."

But that’s because creating great experience involves more than just hiring specialists. They've got to be installed in the right parts of the process, empowered to "filter out" bad design choices, while helping the organization generate more of what WILL work.

Everyone in the organization is making decisions that make the customer’s "job" of using the user interface either easier or harder. Everyone is contributing to the design of the customer’s experience.

So unless your whole organization is thinking about the customer, bad experiences will slip through the cracks and out into the wild. Sometimes, good UX means organizational change.

To encourage good design throughout the organization, Tanner Christensen, Head of Design at Gem.com, suggests:

• Design principles

• Design systems

• Open design reviews and shareouts

We often hear from clients that moving through the steps of our signature design process helped them to understand what all goes into good experiences. If you’re interested in getting to a more customer-centered place, let’s talk!