Transforming Design into Business Strategy: A Practical Guide for Middle Managers and Senior ICs
“70% of design professionals say their biggest barrier isn’t executive buy-in — it’s middle management. Why?”
The Leadership Gap in Middle Management
Many design professionals believe that the C-suite influences them. The real battleground for the impact of design on business is middle management and senior IC roles. You are the ones shaping how Design is perceived, how it integrates into company goals, and how executives invest in it.
Yet, challenges persist:
Executives focus on business outcomes, not design processes.
Cross-functional peers often see design as a service, not a strategic function.
Design teams may be craft-focused rather than business-oriented.
So, how do you elevate design maturity as a middle manager or senior IC in an organization where leaders think about revenue, not wireframes?
1. Move Beyond Design to Business Outcomes
One of the most significant challenges for design professionals in gaining executive buy-in is translating design impact into business terms. Many middle managers and senior ICs understand the value of great design. Still, without a clear financial case, leadership may see design as a “nice-to-have” rather than a core business driver. To change this perception, design professionals must go beyond usability improvements and demonstrate how their work directly influences revenue, reduces costs, and drives efficiency. Here’s how to make that shift.
Instead of saying:
🚫 “We need more researchers to improve usability.”
Say:
✅ “User friction in onboarding costs us $5M in lost conversions per year. A better experience can increase activation by 20%, leading to an estimated $2M in additional revenue.”
How to shift your mindset:
1️⃣ Tie design Work to Financial Metrics (Conversion, Support Costs, etc.)
Executives prioritize metrics directly impacting the bottom line — revenue growth, retention rates, and operational efficiency. If design leaders want to influence decision-making, they must frame their initiatives in these financial terms. Instead of advocating for better design purely from a usability perspective, they should connect design improvements to measurable outcomes.
For example, a better checkout experience isn’t just a smoother flow — it’s a way to reduce cart abandonment and increase completed transactions, leading to higher revenue. A redesigned onboarding experience isn’t just about aesthetics — it’s about increasing activation rates, reducing churn, and maximizing customer lifetime value (LTV). By thinking in these terms, design leaders can position their work as a key driver of business success, not just a design enhancement.
Middle managers play a critical role in connecting design efforts to business impact. By gathering data, running experiments, and demonstrating measurable improvements, they can bridge the gap between design and executive priorities. Whether improving conversion rates, reducing operational costs, or increasing engagement, design leaders must position their work as a strategic advantage, not just a user experience improvement.
2️⃣ Use Data Storytelling — Quantify Design Problems in Business Terms
Raw data alone won’t win leadership over—design professionals must translate user struggles into business terms. Instead of saying, “Users struggle with navigation,” reframe it as, “Because users can’t find key features, we’re losing an estimated $1.5M in potential revenue from abandoned transactions.”
A fintech company applied this approach when analyzing password reset failures. They discovered that 15% of users abandoned signup due to a broken reset flow. Rather than just requesting a fix, they quantified the impact: a 10% boost in activation rates, leading to $2.4M in additional revenue.
Design leaders that sse behavioral analytics, A/B testing, and user insights to frame design issues as business-critical. Pairing real user stories with quantifiable data ensures executives see design as an investment, not a cost.
3️⃣ Show How Design Can Reduce Costs (Fewer Support Tickets, Increased Efficiency)
While revenue growth is compelling, design also drives value by cutting operational costs. Poor design leads to more customer support calls, inefficient workflows, and higher employee turnover.
By improving self-service experiences, companies reduce reliance on costly support teams. Similarly, optimizing internal tools enhances productivity and minimizes frustration.
A grocery delivery company that I worked for had discovered that a significant number of support tickets came from shoppers frustrated with inaccurate item availability, leading to canceled orders and lost earnings. By improving real-time inventory tracking and integrating better substitution recommendations, shopper dissatisfaction dropped, cancellations decreased by 30%, and support costs were reduced by a significant amount annually.
As a middle manager I would urge you to identify friction points in both customer and employee experiences. Streamlining workflows improves satisfaction while delivering measurable cost savings, reinforcing design’s role in business success.
🚀 Pro tip: For middle managers and senior ICs looking to drive design impact, the key is always to frame design work within a business context. Before proposing a new design initiative, take the time to identify which key performance indicators (KPIs) it will influence. Will it increase conversion rates? Reduce churn? Lower operational costs? Ensure the initiative is backed by data and framed regarding financial upside or risk mitigation. The more concrete the business case, the more likely executives are to support it.
2. Position Design as a Business Partner, Not a Service
One of the biggest challenges design professionals face in organizations with low design maturity is that design is often seen as a tactical service rather than a strategic function. In these environments, design is treated as an execution layer — designers are given requirements and expected to produce screens without questioning the broader business context.
This leads to a reactive, rather than proactive, role for design and diminishes its influence within the company. As a middle manager or senior IC, your role is to change this perception by embedding design into business strategy, product planning, and decision-making. The goal is to move from “order taker” to strategic partner — a shift that requires proactive engagement, business fluency, and a cross-functional mindset.
Instead of saying:
🚫 “We need to be included earlier in the process so we can advocate for better user experiences.”
Say:
✅ “We’ve identified that friction in our dashboard leads to a 25% increase in support calls. If we optimize the workflow, we could reduce these calls by 40%, saving an estimated $1.5M in support costs annually.”
This shift in framing is crucial — executives and cross-functional leaders are more likely to prioritize Design when positioned as a function that impacts business outcomes rather than just advocating for user needs in isolation.
How to shift your mindset:
1️⃣ Get Invited to the Right Meetings
Many design professionals wait for an invitation to product, business, or engineering strategy discussions, but the reality is that these invitations often don’t come automatically. To gain influence, you need to insert yourself into these conversations. This means requesting to join roadmap planning, customer insights meetings, or product growth discussions. The earlier Design is involved, the more impact it can have — if design teams are only brought in at the execution stage, their ability to shape strategy is already lost.
One effective tactic is positioning Design as an insights function — by surfacing user behavior data, pain points, and opportunities, you become indispensable in strategic discussions. For instance, instead of waiting to be included in a product roadmap review, a Design leader could say, “We’ve identified three major friction points causing a drop-off in our key flows — can we set up a time to discuss how these insights can inform upcoming priorities?” Proactively bringing data-backed insights to the table ensures Design is seen as an essential contributor rather than a reactive function.
2️⃣ Speak Their Language
To establish design as a business partner, communicate in terms executives and product leaders prioritize—churn, retention, revenue, and efficiency. While usability and accessibility are important, they don’t always resonate at the leadership level.
For example, instead of saying, “Users find our dashboard confusing,” reframe it as, “Customer support tickets related to dashboard navigation have increased by 30% in the last quarter, costing an additional $500K. Improving usability could reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.” This framing makes design impact clear and actionable.
Align design discussions with business priorities. If leadership is focused on reducing churn, show how design can improve onboarding and simplify workflows. Speaking their language ensures design is seen as a strategic driver, not just a tactical function.
3️⃣ Help Teams Win
Increase design influence by making cross-functional teams more effective. Show how design enhances engineering efficiency, boosts marketing conversions, and drives product adoption.
For example, introducing a design system can reduce engineering rework, while optimizing landing pages can improve marketing conversion rates. With product teams, design-backed insights refine feature development and prioritization. The more design is embedded in workflows, the harder it is to sideline.
Shift from fixing screens to solving business problems. Partner with data and product teams to identify key challenges and drive measurable impact.
3. Build Design Advocacy by Making Executives Your Allies
Design professionals make one of the biggest mistakes when seeking executive buy-in: waiting until they need a budget, headcount, or project approval before building relationships. By then, it’s often too late. Executives don’t invest in design because it’s the right thing to do; they invest because it aligns with their priorities — driving revenue, reducing costs, increasing efficiency, or staying competitive. If the design isn’t positioned as a strategic business function, it risks being deprioritized when budgets get tight or priorities shift.
Middle managers and senior ICs have the best opportunity to embed design into leadership conversations before it becomes a last-minute consideration. To do this effectively, you must build executive relationships early, frame design in business terms, and use compelling storytelling to make the impact of design tangible. Design doesn’t just improve experiences — it solves critical business challenges that leadership cares about.
Instead of saying:
🚫 “We need more design funding to improve usability.”
Say:
✅ “Our current onboarding experience is causing a 20% drop-off rate, leading to an estimated $4M in lost revenue annually. Investing in a streamlined design could increase activation rates and recover at least $1.5M annually.”
How to shift your mindset:
1️⃣ Find an Executive Champion
Not every executive instinctively values design, but the right champion can amplify its impact. Look for leaders who prioritize customer experience, efficiency, or innovation—whether it’s a CPO, CTO, or CMO. Align design goals with their priorities to gain visibility and resources.
One of my coaching clients at an enterprise software company noticed the Chief Customer Officer was focused on reducing churn. Instead of pitching a generic design initiative, they framed their work as a way to streamline key workflows, reducing user frustration and support escalations. This secured funding for an internal design research team.
I would urge you to Identify executives who champion customer experience or efficiency. Listen to leadership calls, find alignment with their goals, and position design as a business enabler, not just a creative function.
2️⃣ Share Quick Wins
Many design professionals try to advocate for large-scale redesigns or organizational change, but big asks often meet resistance — especially in companies with low design maturity. Instead of pushing for sweeping initiatives, start with small, measurable wins that demonstrate design’s business value.
The best quick wins are those that:
✅ Solve a clear business pain point (e.g., reducing drop-off, improving conversion).
✅ Require minimal investment (e.g., A/B test a high-traffic page, optimize a key workflow).
✅ Provide measurable results that can be shared with leadership.Instead of asking for an expanded design research team, prove the value of research by running a small study that uncovers a usability issue costing the company money. Instead of advocating for a complete site redesign, conduct a simple checkout optimization experiment that increases conversion rates. You create momentum for more significant design investments by delivering early impact with minimal friction.
3️⃣ Use Storytelling to Make Design Memorable
Executives are bombarded with data, reports, and KPIs every day — but what they remember most are stories. Data alone won’t prioritize design, but a compelling user story and business impact can be transformative.
Advocate for design effectively and frame challenges and successes through customer pain points. Instead of showing a heatmap or usability report, tell the story of a frustrated customer who abandoned the product due to a confusing experience. Instead of sharing retention metrics, highlight a before-and-after scenario where design improvements led to a noticeable behavior change.
Pair qualitative insights with quantitative data to create a complete picture when possible. Executives might ignore a usability score, but they’ll pay attention if you say, “One customer told us they spent 40 minutes trying to complete this form. That’s why we’re seeing a 30% abandonment rate — fixing this could bring in an additional $5M annually.”
A design leader at a healthcare startup used session recordings of real users struggling to book an appointment to highlight a critical usability issue. When leadership saw firsthand frustration, they immediately prioritized a design-led redesign of the scheduling system, leading to a 20% increase in completed appointments.
🚀 Pro Tip: Use Competitive Benchmarks to Build a Business Case
Executives don’t just think about what’s happening inside their company — they’re constantly evaluating how they compare to competitors. If another company in your industry is winning on design, use that as leverage to push for investment.
For example, if a competitor’s onboarding experience is smoother and leads to higher retention, show leadership how a similar approach could drive better business outcomes. Use industry reports, customer reviews, and competitor case studies to highlight where your company is falling behind — and what design can do to close the gap.
Other things to consider:
Bridge the Gap Between Design and Cross-functional Teams
A design team is most substantial when embedded into product, engineering, and data workflows. To do this, you need to work like a cross-functional leader.
How to break silos:
Join engineering and product discussions early. Don’t just present final designs — co-create solutions.
Advocate for design in processes. Show how design research speeds up product decisions.
Collaborate with data teams. Use A/B tests and analytics to prove the impact of design.
Scale Design Maturity Through Systems, Not Just Talent
If your company’s design practice isn’t mature, hiring more designers won’t solve the problem. Instead, focus on building scalable processes that enable design to thrive.
How to scale design maturity:
Build a design system. It’s not just about consistency — it makes design more straightforward and faster across teams.
Introduce frameworks. Teach PMs and engineers how to think about design. (e.g., Jobs to Be Done, design thinking).
Develop self-service research. Empower non-designers with design insights they can use themselves.
Conclusion: How Middle Managers and Senior ICs Shape Design’s Future
Driving design maturity doesn’t require a VP title — it requires strategic influence.
✔️ Frame design as a business driver, not just a design function.
✔️ Position design as a cross-functional partner.
✔️ Get executive buy-in through small, high-impact wins.
✔️ Embed design into product and engineering workflows.
✔️ Scale design through systems and processes.
The future of design isn’t about seats at the table — it’s about driving business value and making design indispensable.
🚀 Your challenge: What’s one thing you can do this quarter to align design with your company’s strategic goals?
