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Architecting a UX-First Organization

How I applied Systems Engineering principles to transform a software development culture into a "UX Company."

Organizational Transformation Systems Thinking Scaled Portfolio Management Executive Leadership
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"Brady was almost single-handedly responsible for turning the culture of this software development company into what the CEO proudly termed, 'a UX company'."

Bret Swan
Director of Product Development, MetaSource

The Challenge: Breaking the Engineering Silo

Upon entering the organization, the primary execution hurdle was a waterfall culture where features were designed by engineering constraints rather than user needs. This led to high development rework costs (35%) and stagnant customer satisfaction. I treated this not as a design problem, but as a **Systems Engineering** challenge: the feedback loops between the customer and the codebase were broken.

Leadership Principles Applied

  • 1. Systems Over Sprints: I rebuilt the delivery cadence to prioritize discovery before engineering commitment.
  • 2. Data as Influence: I used rapid validation sprints (200 interfaces in 60 days) to prove ROI through cost-avoidance.
  • 3. Radical Transparency: Integrated UX KPIs directly into executive scorecards.

The 18-Month Transformation Pipeline

Phase I: Assessment & Buy-In

Months 1-3

Conducted organizational maturity audits and secured C-suite sponsorship by defining UX as a revenue driver, not an aesthetic cost center.

Phase II: Systems Integration

Months 4-10

Built the core UX team (0 to 8 professionals) and established a design system reducing time-to-design by 50% across 15+ product lines.

Phase III: Cultural Embedding

Months 11-18

Institutionalized "Definition of Done" standards. Mentored 200+ employees in user-centered principles, making the methodology self-sustaining.

Quantifiable Outcomes

UX Maturity Score
1/5 → 4/5

+300% Maturity Increase

Dev Rework Costs
35% → 12%

$200K Estimated Annual Savings

Delivery Capacity
3x

Scaled without head-count explosion

Scale Ambiguity. Deliver Clarity.

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