“Without having a metric, I don’t think design will ever have a place in the organization.” A Design Director told me, working for a large multinational corporation with a very extensive design team.

That statement might make many designers uncomfortable. We’ve been trained to think about user needs, not metrics. What’s more, “Quantifying users” almost sounds like we’re betraying our user-centered approach.

But this is what I’ve learned, interviewing design leaders this month: co-owning metrics isn’t about becoming a businessperson. It’s about translation.

Effective design leaders don’t just hear about metrics in passing. They’re something that they must co-own to make a difference and bring identifiable value to organizations.

Here’s why it’s less scary than you might think.

Executives don’t “Get” design value, because you don’t translate it

“You’ll always have to translate. Always, always have to translate.” — Design Director

Designers don’t have a value problem: they have a translation problem.