DesignOps for Enterprise UX: Developing and Validating an HCI-Based Enterprise Design Operations Assessment Framework

Abstract

DesignOps is becoming a standard practice in organisations to enhance the quality of design, collaboration, consistency and scale of delivery. But how to measure DesignOps maturity is frequently done informally with checklists or other operational measures that don't fully encompass human-centered outcomes, organizational context, accessibility, research integration, or the quality of design and product-development team collaboration. The aim of this research is to propose a new framework for Enterprise Design Operations Assessment (EDAF) that can be developed and validated based on HCI principles and organisational design theory. The study utilized a sequential mixed-methods design with five sequential phases: Systematic Literature Review of DesignOps, UX maturity, design systems, ResearchOps, and HCI scholarship; Semi-structured interviews with 42 practitioners from 6 different roles; Three rounds of the Delphi study to reach consensus on dimensions and indicators in the framework; Validation of the framework through a survey with 386 respondents from 94 organizations, testing the psychometric properties of the instrument; and Six in-depth case studies assessing ecological validity. The framework assesses ten areas of strategic alignment, governance and standards, workflow, research operations, design-system usage, accessibility and inclusion, knowledge management, cross-functional collaboration, measurement and metrics, and responsible adoption of AI. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91), construct validity (CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.058), and convergent validity with existing validated UX maturity measures were validated statistically. The framework's ability to effectively identify operational strengths, systemic barriers, and improvement opportunities was illustrated by case studies of organizations from across industries, sizes, and levels of maturity. The biggest contribution is a validated assessment instrument that extends beyond the design output into the organizational factors that enable sustainable UX quality, along with a five-level maturity model and evidence-based suggestions for capability development.