In a period where every penny is scrutinised and the global market faces unpredictability, businesses across sectors are demanding value for their investments. The UX design market, essential for improving user experiences, has faced a real challenge: How can the UX industry demonstrate a clear, quantifiable return on investment (ROI), especially during these economic downturns? This question has resonated with many of the UX leaders within our network and is a collective concern. In a recent poll conducted by Consortia's senior UX recruitment specialist, an overwhelming number of UX leaders wanted to understand better and effectively communicate the financial and strategic value of UX.
We've long known the value of UX Design within businesses. Passion for UX runs deep within our company, with some of our recruitment staff starting careers in the UX field themselves! While we know that at its core, UX Design revolves around creating products that offer meaningful and relevant experiences to its users, a common misconception is that UX solely orbits around the user's needs. While the user is undeniably central, the value of the intertwined relationship between UX and business objectives needs to be more widely recognised. Exceptional UX design integrates both user needs and business goals with a perfect balance, creating a win-win situation that UX professionals constantly aspire to achieve.
So how can you get that balance and prove to stakeholders that the business's best interests are being taken care of while keeping the end-users at heart? Whether you are a UX leader, an experienced UX designer or just getting into the UX industry, remember that the responsibility to prove the value of your work rests on you, not just those at the top.
The following five strategic approaches and how to showcase their effectiveness should be a valuable reminder to any UX professional currently struggling to juggle it all and prove the worth of UX in a business.
Approach #1: Value-Driven Design
Value-driven design aims to create products that add value to the user's life. This doesn't just mean monetary value; it can also refer to emotional, social, or practical value. By focusing on what your users genuinely value, you can design experiences that resonate with them and encourage loyalty to your brand.
Showcasing the value of this approach
Internal Demonstrations: Conduct internal presentations showing how UX designs align with and enhance user values. This could involve case studies, user testimonials, or before-and-after user scenarios.
Value Mapping: Create a visual map or flowchart that connects specific UX initiatives with the values they promote. This visual representation can clarify how the UX team's designs directly benefit users.
Approach #2: ROI-Centric Design
Any business-related activity, including UX design, eventually boils down to the return on the investment made. A plan that enhances user satisfaction, conversion rates, and customer retention and does so at an optimal cost showcases a positive ROI. Making design decisions that improve ROI while ensuring an optimal user experience is a critical balancing act.
Showcasing the value of this approach
Quantitative Reports: Regularly presenting data on metrics like increased conversion rates, reduced churn, and customer lifetime value since implementing specific UX improvements.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Illustrate how investing in UX has led to cost savings in other areas, such as reduced customer support inquiries or fewer required iterations.
Approach #3: Metric-Based Design
The digital age has made collecting and analysing vast amounts of data more accessible than ever. This means a more informed and objective design process for UX, where user interaction metrics guide design decisions. By focusing on key performance metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and user satisfaction, UX professionals can continually refine and improve designs to achieve user satisfaction and business objectives.
Showcasing the value of this approach
Performance Dashboards: Maintain a live dashboard that showcases real-time metrics impacted by UX changes, such as engagement rates, bounce rates, and user retention.
A/B Testing Results: Conduct and present results from A/B tests demonstrating how UX-driven variants perform better in achieving business goals.
Approach #4: Customer Oriented Design
This approach is foundational to user experience. Designers can create products that genuinely resonate by understanding and empathising with users.
Understanding your customers' needs and designing experiences that satisfy those needs will drive your business forward with this approach.
Showcasing the value of this approach
User Feedback: Regularly share positive user feedback, testimonials, and case studies that reflect the success of the UX team's customer-centric designs.
Journey Maps: Use journey maps to illustrate how the UX team has simplified and enhanced critical user pathways, demonstrating a deep understanding of customer needs and pain points.
Approach #5: Product Specific Design
A nod to the principle of uniqueness in design. Generic designs can miss the mark because they don't tap into a product's unique strengths or selling points. Tailoring UX designs to accentuate a product's unique features ensures it stands out in the market and appeals directly to its target audience.
Showcasing the value of this approach
Competitive Analysis: Show how the product stands out from competitors due to unique UX features and how these specific designs cater to the product's unique selling points.
Feature Highlighting: Run workshops or sessions showcasing how the UX team has tailored designs to enhance and highlight product-specific features, making them more accessible and appealing to users.
Additional Overall Strategies:
Regular Show & Tell: Establish a regular meeting (e.g., monthly or quarterly) where the UX team presents recent design achievements, improvements, and their impacts.
Collaboration with Other Teams: Collaborate with other teams, like marketing or sales, to gather data on how UX improvements have impacted their metrics or made their jobs easier.
Stakeholder Interviews: Regularly interview stakeholders for feedback on the product after UX improvements to provide valuable testimonials about the UX team's impact.
Conclusion: Bridging the UX-Business Gap for Optimal Outcomes
Most of you will know these five strategic approaches, and while we aren't trying to teach you to suck lemons, we want to remind those of you struggling of the basic ways in which to consider your approach when discussing UX strategies with stakeholders, especially when they aren't as invested in UX as you might hope.
As businesses become more discerning with their investments, a UX approach that intertwines highlighting value-driven, ROI-centric, metric-based, customer-oriented, and product-specific design principles is the key to enhancing real-time user experiences and fortifying the bottom line. As the saying goes: "Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works." In today's context, this resonates profoundly!
