Scaling UX Maturity for a Global Brand
Elevating the UX foundation at citizenM Hotels
citizenM, a global hotel brand, is committed to delivering the best digital experience in the hospitality industry. To match the quality and ambiance of its hotels, the company needed a strong UX foundation to scale its digital strategy.
As the first full-time Head of UX, I was brought in to establish and scale UX maturity, ensuring UX research, DesignOps, and experience strategy were embedded into executive decision-making and product development.
Recognizing that true UX impact requires long-term scalability, I focused on team development, research maturity, and operational structure—laying the groundwork for sustained innovation and guest experience improvements.
SECTOR - Global hotel group, privately owned
SETTING - UX team in Product department in mid-size organization
MY ROLE - Head of UX. Leadership position responsible for UX maturity and team development
TIMELINE - 9 months; ongoing
COMPLEXITY - High
The Challenge
Before my arrival, citizenM’s UX function was in its early stages, leading to:
Inconsistent digital journey
Lack of a structured design system caused inconsistencies across products
Limited customer insights
Product decisions not backed by data or customer insights
Siloed decision-making
UX seen as a design function rather than a strategic driver
Team experience
The team needed stronger mentorship, skill development, and strategic alignment to operate effectively
To achieve best-in-class digital experiences, UX needed to be embedded into the company’s core strategy, tools, and culture while also fostering a high-performing, mature UX team.
UX strategy
To scale UX maturity effectively, I implemented a five-pillar strategy:
UX Strategy Development
Team Building & Development
DesignOps Implementation
Building a UX Research Function
UX Organizational Alignment
The Execution
Over nine months, we executed this focused UX strategy to drive transformation and scale maturity.
01
UX Strategy Development
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Defined a long-term UX roadmap with clear goals and KPIs
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Benchmarked UX maturity and established a measurement framework
02
Team Building & Development
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Strengthened the UX team by hiring, mentoring, and upskilling talent
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Created career growth paths to develop strategic and technical expertise
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Encouraged a hands-on and supportive culture, with agency and ownership
03
DesignOps Implementation
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Established UX principles to ensure design consistency
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Built a scalable design system for efficiency across products with the team
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Created a centralized repository for UX documentation and assets
04
Building a UX Research Function
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Hired a dedicated UX researcher to integrate research into product decisions
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Established UX metrics and benchmarks to measure impact
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Implemented continuous feedback analysis to refine experiences
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Building a VOC program
05
UX Organizational Alignment
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Championed UX advocacy & training across teams
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Aligned UX with business strategy and Agile cadences to improve collaboration
The impact after one year
01
UX maturity from Level 3 to Level 5 within a year
03
Established a DesignOps practice
05
10% increase in Customer satisfaction (CPS, CLV, NPS
02
Built a structured UX function & coherent team
04
Established a VOC program incl. UX metrics
06
Improved UX integration in executive decision-making
"Focusing on our UX maturity has really transformed how we work and connect with our guests. It's been a game-changer for our growth and success."
Director of Product
citizenM hotels