Design Thinking Metrics and KPIs

To align goals with organizational-wide outcomes, it is helpful to develop design thinking metrics or KPIs. Measuring progress along a funnel or stage process can be useful in determining tangible and measurable metrics through each stage of the process. The article provides a simple 3-stage design thinking model (Challenge, Ideas, and Action) and outlines the metrics and KPIs that may be applied to each stage. For the Challenge stage: number of interviews with target stakeholders and number of questions defined from empathy-gaining activities. For the Ideation stage: number of ideas. For the Action stage: number of prototypes and number of tests run of prototypes. These early-stage design thinking metrics and KPIs help teams stay focused and motivated to achieve their goals.