DesignOps is a human-centered approach that strengthens design teams and supports individuals, processes, and tools to increase creativity and impact. Like DevOps, DesignOps helps organizations to scale rapidly and iterate design processes across teams.
How do you know if your DesignOps strategy is working? Start by monitoring the correct metrics, including the top 10 DesignOps metrics listed below.
1. User Satisfaction Ratings
One way to evaluate the success of your DesignOps processes is by measuring user satisfaction ratings.
Using surveys is one of the most effective ways to calculate how people feel. For example, you can ask them to choose between “Very Satisfied,” “Satisfied,” “Neutral,” “Dissatisfied,” or “Very Dissatisfied” and then calculate the percentage of people who selected each option.
2. Frequency of Use in DesignOps
Frequency of use is another critical factor to consider as a DesignOps metric. In other words, how often are people using your app, visiting your website, etc.?
Pick a specific time frame (the last month, last quarter, etc.) and measure the frequency of use during that period. When reviewing the results, look for patterns and consider how they may be related to your design strategies.
3. Questionnaire Scores
The results of questionnaires like Net Promoter Score (NPS) can help you understand how people are receiving your website or app.
The NPS asks customers to rank themselves on a scale of 0-10 and determine how likely they are to recommend a website, product, or service to a friend or relative.
Once you’ve collected the answers, you can divide them into three groups:
- Promoters: Those with responses of 9 or 10 are highly satisfied and highly likely to recommend your product, indicating strong design elements.
- Detractors: Those with responses of 0 to 6 are dissatisfied and more likely to criticize the product, indicating a need to improve design elements.
- Passives: Those with responses of 7 or 8 are moderately satisfactory but have a low likelihood of recommending your product, which may also indicate a need to improve design elements.
4. Average Time Spent in DesignOps
In addition to measuring results, it’s also important to measure efficiency regarding your design processes., especially in DesignOps One way to do this is by calculating the average amount of time spent on operational tasks compared to maker time (or the time spent designing) each week, month, etc.
Monitoring this metric helps you understand the amount of design work you can reasonably expect your team to complete during a specific period.
5. Design Requests Handled in DesignOps
This DesignOps metric tells you the percentage of design requests that have been handled in a given time period. Similar to the Average Time Spent, monitoring the number of design requests handled helps you set reasonable expectations and realistic goals for your design team.
6. Design Iterations
Iterative design helps with risk management and allows for continuous improvement. However, it’s important to keep track of how many design iterations your team goes through to complete a project, especially in DesignOps projects.
Monitoring design iterations helps you determine the average number of design iterations involved in a project. This information, in turn, can help you set reasonable expectations for the amount of time it will take to complete a project in DesignOps.
7. Deadlines Met
Part of running an effective, competent design team is making sure team members are meeting deadlines. Paying attention to the percentage of deadlines met during a given period will help you understand your team’s efficiency and efficacy.
For example, say you notice that you have a high percentage of deadlines missed. In that case, you will know that you might need to adjust your timelines or address specific bottlenecks occurring during the design process.
8. Time to Delivery
Speaking of timelines, it’s also essential that you measure the average time to delivery for specific tasks or project types. If you know, on average, how long it takes for your team to deliver on tasks or projects, you can set realistic deadlines and reduce the chances of them being missed.
9. Skills
It’s also helpful to monitor metrics related to employees’ abilities.
One of the most effective ways to measure ability and identify areas that need improvement is to compare the existing skills team members have to the number of skills that have been deemed necessary for the design team to accomplish its goals.
For example, if there are 12 skills you expect your design team to possess and they collectively only meet the criteria for 6 of them, you’ll know that there’s a need for more skills development. You can use skills mapping activities to help you identify specific skills and measure employee proficiency.
10. Employee Satisfaction
Satisfied employees are more likely to be productive and deliver high-quality design work on a consistent basis. On average, how happy are your employees with their jobs?
Measuring employee satisfaction with tools like surveys is a good way to gauge how design team members are doing. From there, you can start homing in on specific improvements you can make to increase their satisfaction ratings and help them produce superior designs.
How Can DashboardFox Help in Monitoring DesignOps Metrics?
Monitoring these metrics helps to keep your design processes efficient, customer-centric, and outcome-focused. However, understanding and visualizing these metrics can be a challenge, especially if you lack a robust business intelligence tool.
That’s where DashboardFox comes into play. This self-hosted business intelligence solution provides an array of interactive dashboards and data visualization setups, making it easy to monitor and understand your vital DesignOps metrics.
The beauty of DashboardFox is its simplicity. It's designed for everyone, from data novices to BI experts. With its user-friendly interface and pre-built templates, you can create stunning and insightful dashboards without needing any coding or technical expertise.
DashboardFox - For those who believe in 'Easy does it!' when it comes to data.
DashboardFox also offers real-time data, so you can keep your finger on the pulse of your design processes, making quicker, data-informed decisions. From tracking design efficiency to measuring design ROI, DashboardFox makes it all simple, actionable, and digestible.
By using DashboardFox, even those with little to no computer programming or business intelligence knowledge can easily monitor important DesignOps metrics. Its user-friendly interface, coupled with powerful data visualization tools, makes it a potent ally for any design team seeking to maximize their efficiency and success.
Don't just take our word for it. Experience the power of DashboardFox for yourself. Book a meeting with the DashboardFox team or try the live demo sessions for free.