You think you’re measuring design’s value. But are you? Many design teams invest time in creating OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) only to find they aren’t moving the needle. The reality? Too often, design OKRs are chosen based on ease of measurement — not strategic relevance. Metrics become theater, not action.
At a recent Design Leaders Mastermind I hosted, we tackled this challenge head-on. The conversation was rich, practical, and — most importantly — actionable.
Here’s the distilled wisdom.
The Problem: Easy Metrics, Little Meaning
One leader shared how their design team’s OKRs had devolved into a checklist of what’s easily measured — not what matters. A leadership shift toward operational efficiency heightened the pressure to prove value. The design team needed to show impact through:
- Revenue generation
- Cost reduction
- Future growth opportunities
And they needed to do it in ways that resonated with senior business and technology leaders — without reducing their work to simplistic “headcount saved” metrics.
Sound familiar?
The Shift: From “Are We Busy?” to “Are We Effective?”
The group offered several powerful strategies for reframing OKRs around business impact:
- Anchor in Strategic Intent: Effective OKRs don’t stand alone. They anchor directly into the organization’s strategic priorities — whether that’s growth, efficiency, or customer experience. Without that clear line of sight, design metrics risk becoming irrelevant.
- Measure Both Effectiveness and Efficiency: One leader introduced a simple but potent framework: Always ask two questions.
• Is the product or service effective?
• Is it efficient?
Then build a Metrics Card that links strategic intent to measurable outcomes — across external users, internal users, and the organization itself.
- Start Small, Think Long-Term: Another leader’s advice hit home: Pilot your OKRs with a small subset of projects. Collect baseline data. Test your assumptions. Review quarterly. Adjust without ego.
Real OKR maturity isn’t built in a quarter — it’s built in two to three years.
- Balance Quantitative and Qualitative: Quantitative metrics (time, cost, effort reduction) tell a powerful story, especially when tied to returns like 1x, 2x, 10x. But don’t ignore qualitative signals: systemic impacts, customer experience shifts, organizational learning.
Design’s value often shows up in places spreadsheets alone can’t see.
- Make It a Team Sport: OKRs are not a solo exercise for design leaders. Treat them as a cross-functional collaboration — involve product owners and technologists. Work alongside leaders who understand how to design and deliver business value: value stream architects, business value strategists, lean transformation specialists. Build a coalition of credibility.
The more perspectives you integrate, the more robust — and believable — your metrics will be.
The power of positive feedback loops that grow over time
Like growth rings in a tree, ripples in a lake, or the slow ascent of a spiral staircase, building strategic OKRs is a compounding journey — not a one-time act. Each cycle deepens our leverage and expands design’s impact across the organization.
My Take: Build Leverage and Create Positive Feedback Loops
Beyond measurement, design leaders must ask: Where does design create the most leverage toward strategic goals?
Leverage is not static. It must be discovered, nurtured, and expanded over time.
This demands a developmental approach — one that creates positive feedback loops between what is learned externally (from measurement and outcomes) and what is codified internally (in the design team’s methods, mindsets, and practices).
The best teams continuously:
- Sense where design is creating outsized impact — whether improving conversion rates, reducing onboarding time, or unlocking new service opportunities.
- Codify these lessons into repeatable practices — making what’s working visible, learnable, and teachable.
- Evolve their craft and capacity over time — not just to deliver more, but to deliver more leverage with every cycle.
When design teams focus on building leverage, they stop chasing validation. They start compounding their value.
In a world where strategic priorities shift rapidly, a design team’s ability to sense, learn, codify, and adapt becomes its greatest strategic asset.
The Takeaway: Design Must Speak the Language of Business
If we want design to be seen as a driver of business value, we must measure what matters. Not just what’s easy.
We must move beyond measuring effort to measuring impact.
Beyond counting activities to demonstrating outcomes.
And beyond validation to compounding value.
This work is complex. It’s systemic. It demands curiosity, humility, and persistence.
The question is: Are you ready to build OKRs that show the real value of design — and not just the shadow of it?
Mark Kuznicki
Mark (he/him) is the kind of person you want around when things feel messy. He has a knack for bringing clarity to complexity, helping teams, leaders, and organizations navigate change in a way that makes them more sustainable and ready for the future.