Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) 📌 Prompts

SUMMARY

Purpose: The OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) method aligns product design with measurable success metrics, ensuring UX work drives tangible business and user outcomes.

Design Thinking Phase: Define

Time: 60–90 min collaborative workshop + 1–2 hours refinement

Difficulty: ⭐⭐

When to use:Scoping a new product or major feature redesignAligning cross-functional stakeholders on UX prioritiesEstablishing accountability within the design team

What it is

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a strategic goal-setting framework used to define ambitious objectives and measurable outcomes. Originally popularised by Google, OKRs help design teams stay focused on high-impact work by aligning UX initiatives to broader business goals and tracking design-specific success metrics.

📺 Video by NNgroup. Embedded for educational reference.

Why it matters

Defining OKRs gives the UX function measurable traction. It increases clarity, fosters stakeholder trust, and helps teams differentiate vanity metrics from true user impact. More importantly, OKRs serve as a translation layer—bridging user-centred design with business viability.

When to use

• During quarterly planning or roadmap alignment
• Before starting user research or major design sprints
• Post-launch to monitor usability and adoption outcomes

Benefits

• Rich Insights: Helps uncover user needs that aren’t visible in metrics.
• Flexibility: Works across various project types and timelines.
• User Empathy: Deepens understanding of behaviours and motivations.

How to use it

Follow these five steps to establish effective UX-focused OKRs:

1. Frame the Objective: Start with a user-centred goal. Think aspirational, yet specific (e.g., “Improve new user onboarding experience”).
2. Define Key Results: List 2–4 measurable outcomes that reflect progress toward the objective. Make them time-bound and impactful (e.g., “Reduce drop-off rate at step 2 from 35% to 15% in 60 days”).
3. Co-Create with Stakeholders: Align with Product, Engineering, and Research to validate both technical feasibility and business relevance.
4. Link to Design Activities: Tie each KR to clear UX efforts—usability testing, benchmarking, content audits, prototyping, etc.
5. Track and Reflect: Review progress at weekly rituals; recalibrate based on changing user insights or priorities.

Example Output

Objective: Improve the mobile app’s booking flow to drive higher completion and satisfaction

• Key Result 1: Increase booking flow completion rate from 68% to 85% by end of Q3
• Key Result 2: Achieve task success in usability tests ≥90% for personas A and B
• Key Result 3: Reduce CSAT-related complaints about booking from 18/month to under 5/month

Common Pitfalls

• Vague Objectives: Avoid goals like “improve UX” without defining what “better” means. Be user-specific.
• Misaligned Metrics: Ensure your KRs measure real usage, not just internal milestones (e.g., wireframes delivered).
• One-and-done Setup: Without regular check-ins, even strong OKRs lose momentum. Build review into your rituals.

10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for OKRs – UX/UI Edition

How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)

Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.

C.S.I.R. stands for:

• Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
• Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
• Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
• Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)

Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.

Prompt Template 1: “Define UX-Focused OKRs for a New Feature”

Define UX-Focused OKRs for a New Feature

Context: You are a Lead Product Designer working on a new [feature] within a [larger product ecosystem].  
Specific Info: The feature aims to [improve/consolidate/replace], and currently lacks any baseline design metrics.  
Intent: Generate 1 objective and 2–3 key results that align UX impact with product success.  
Response Format: List format with reasoning for each KR, focused on qualitative and quantitative outcomes.

Ask follow-up questions if any user goals or executive priorities are unclear.
Then suggest one usability metric that could be tracked post-launch.