When I joined Xceptor, UX did not exist as a defined discipline. The product was developer-led, with inconsistent design and no research or usability standards. I built the company’s first global UX organisation—a six-person team across the UK and Europe—while defining processes, standards, and measurable outcomes.
We launched Xceptor’s first design system, implemented heuristic evaluations, and established usability testing and System Usability Scale (SUS) benchmarking for every major release. Within three years, the company’s UX maturity rose from Nielsen Norman Group Level 2 (“Limited”) to Level 4 (“Structured”). Design-related rework dropped 30%, and average SUS scores improved by more than 20 points. UX is now represented in executive planning forums and company OKRs.