What a design health assessment actually finds.

Five costs show up in almost every leaderless design function. None of them appear on a design budget line.

Rework, duplicated tooling, stalled approvals, quiet attrition, and brand drift. Each is measurable, and each traces back to the same missing role.

The five costs

Engineering rework alone typically runs 15–30% of build time in functions without design leadership. The others compound it.

The costs are real and recurring. They are just filed under other departments.

What to do with the findings

Score the function, price the leaks, and decide: hire, contract, or install fractional leadership until the organisation is ready.