Strategic Mindsets Split Between Enhancement and Innovation

Organizations approach UX with two dominant philosophies, each representing different levels of strategic ambition. Once again, our data shows UX has moved mainly beyond support functions, but organizations remain divided on whether UX should primarily enhance existing operations or drive transformational change.

‍The enhancement mindset leads at 44%, with organizations using UX primarily to improve usability and customer satisfaction. This approach treats UX as a refinement tool—making existing products and services work better for users. While fundamentally valuable, this mindset focuses on incremental improvements rather than breakthrough innovation.

‍The innovation mindset follows closely at 37%, with organizations leveraging design and UX to drive innovation and differentiation. This approach positions UX as a competitive weapon capable of creating new market opportunities and distinguishing offerings from competitors. The relatively close split between enhancement and innovation suggests the discipline is transitioning toward more strategic applications.

Support function thinking has diminished significantly, with only 15% viewing UX as primarily supporting product or engineering teams. This represents a substantial shift from earlier eras when UX was often subordinated to technical or product management priorities. The decline of support thinking indicates UX has established independent value rather than merely facilitating other functions.

Strategic marginalization remains minimal at just 3% who say UX has a limited influence on strategic decisions. This low percentage suggests that even organizations with support-focused mindsets still recognize UX contributions to broader business outcomes.

The mindset distribution suggests most organizations have moved UX beyond tactical execution, but many remain focused on improvement rather than innovation. The 37% pursuing innovation-driven approaches may represent early indicators of where the discipline is heading as AI capabilities enable more ambitious UX applications.