Beyond Pixels: How Systems Thinking Gives UX a Seat at the Table

“How Would You Evangelize UX?”

It was a conversation I will not forget anytime soon – not because it was inspiring, but because it was so unbelievably frustrating.

I was speaking with a senior leader at a Fortune 100 company about a UX design approach.

And then she asked me this:

“How would you evangelize UX in the organization?”

I was shocked.

Evangelize? It’s 2025. The term UX has been around since 1988. Do we ask marketing executives how they would evangelize branding? Do we ask engineering leaders how they would get buy-in for writing code?

Why are design leaders still being asked to justify their existence?

At that moment, I realized something: UX doesn’t need evangelists any more. It needs system architects.

If UX leaders are still fighting for influence, the problem isn’t awareness. It’s that UX is still being treated as a service, not a system. And until senior design leaders start thinking like system designers, not just experience designers, we’ll keep getting asked to prove our value – again and again.

Why UX Is Still Struggling for Influence

If you’re a design leader, chances are you’ve been here before. You’ve spent years proving that good design isn’t just about making things “pretty.” You’ve built UX maturity in your organisation, integrated research into decision-making, and maybe even helped shift leadership’s mindset.

And yet…

• You’re still brought into projects too late.
• You’re still asked to “justify UX” to executives.
• You’re still watching product and engineering make key strategic calls without UX in the room.

The “Technician Trap”: Why Design Thinking Isn’t Enough

For years, design thinking was our rallying cry. We used it to prove our strategic value – teaching teams how to empathize with users, ideate creatively, and test solutions iteratively.

It worked – to an extent.

Design thinking helped UX become a problem-solving discipline, but it didn’t change how organizations fundamentally operate.

What we ended up with was better-designed products, but the same flawed systems:

• UX teams solve usability issues while the business model remains broken.
• Researchers identify critical insights that never make it into the roadmap.
• Service designers mapping beautiful workflows for departments that still operate in silos.

Design thinking got us a foot in the door, but it didn’t redefine the system we’re working in.

And that’s where systems thinking comes in.

What is Systems Thinking?

Most UX challenges aren’t design problems. They’re system problems.

Instead of looking at single pain points, systems thinking helps leaders see the big picture – how different elements interact, influence one another, and create emergent behaviours.

Defining Systems Thinking

Coined by Jay Forrester, systems thinking is a holistic approach to problem-solving that looks at entire systems rather than isolated components.

Systems aren’t just collections of parts – they have structures, behaviours, and feedback loops that influence how they evolve over time.

A UX problem never exists in isolation – it’s connected to business strategy, engineering constraints, operations, and even cultural factors.

Instead of fixing just the UI, UX leaders must fix the entire system that causes friction in the first place.

Key Systems Thinking Concepts for UX Leaders

1. Feedback Loops: UX Doesn’t Exist in a Vacuum

A feedback loop is when an outcome of a system feeds back into the system itself, creating a cycle of reinforcement or correction.

Example: A bad customer experience (long checkout times) leads to frustrated users abandoning carts, which triggers leadership to push marketing harder but never fixes the slow fulfilment system.

UX leaders need to identify these cycles and break them at the right leverage points.

2. Leverage Points: Finding the Places Where UX Can Have the Greatest Impact

A leverage point is where a small change in a system creates an outsized impact.

Created by Donella Meadows, leverage points help leaders focus on interventions that actually move the needle.

Example: Instead of fighting for UX buy-in, a design leader might find that improving a single backend integration could fix multiple UX friction points across the business.

UX leaders must learn to identify these high-impact leverage points instead of just iterating on UI improvements.

3. Interdependencies: UX as an Ecosystem, not a Touchpoint

Every UX decision affects multiple other parts of the system – design is not an isolated function.

Example: A beautifully redesigned healthcare portal won’t improve the patient experience if the call centre can’t access the same information.

Good UX leaders don’t just fix screens – they align systems.

A Real-World Example: Fixing the System, Not Just the App

Our team was redesigning several applications for a client, and we encountered a problem: end-users weren’t using the apps designed specifically for them. Instead, they preferred calling customer service.

To understand why, we conducted research, and the findings were eye-opening:

1. The customer base was trained to use the phone instead of digital tools.
2. They did not trust the applications.
3. The applications themselves were disconnected from one another, forcing users to operate them separately instead of viewing them as an ecosystem.

Instead of just redesigning the UI, we took a systems-thinking approach – retraining users, building trust through transparent communication, and integrating applications into a seamless ecosystem.

As a result, engagement increased, and reliance on inefficient phone support decreased.

UX Needs Architects, Not Advocates

The real challenge for UX leaders isn’t evangelizing design. It’s changing the system that keeps UX marginalized.

UX won’t gain influence by pushing for more design thinking—it happens when leaders drive systems thinking across their organizations.

If UX is still being treated as a service, the problem isn’t UX awareness—it’s the system itself.

Senior design leaders don’t need to fight for a seat at the table—they need to redesign the table itself.

So, the next time someone asks, “How would you evangelize UX?”, don’t answer. Ask them why UX still needs evangelizing in the first place.

At UX Design Lab, we specialize in helping organizations transition from isolated UX improvements to holistic, system-driven design solutions. Our team partners with businesses to ensure UX isn’t just a function – but a core driver of innovation and strategy.

Let’s talk about how we can transform your organization’s design approach. Reach out today.