“Investment in UX often makes the difference between companies that thrive and those that fail, as well as between companies that care about their end users and those that don’t.” according to Roman Nurik – Designer and UX Lead – Google
UX is the complete experience a person experiments when using your product. If you’ve been ignoring user confusion, feedback on failures, or have peace of mind because there’s no feedback at all, achieving user retention or even higher sales volumes becomes challenging. This is because you’ll be neglecting the people who interact with your products the most.
In today’s article, we’ll share 5 reasons to start investing in and prioritizing UX design for your business.
- High ROI Performance:
McKinsey & Company, in their report ‘The Business Value of Design‘, which compiles findings from companies that invested in UX design for their products or services, among other insights, concluded that, “For every $1 invested in design, there was a return on investment of $100. That’s why it’s vital to treat ‘UX design’ as a central piece of your business.”
This means that by prioritizing the creation of a new user experience, your business can generate investment returns at almost twice the rate compared to your competitors.
For example, Airbnb used UX to build trust among its users through intuitive designs. Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, attributes the investment in UX to achieving a value of USD $30 billion. This success story is a result of a focused UX investment that increased its value in just a few years, and the same holds true for other major companies.
2. Enhances Product and Business Value:
UX/UI design bridges the gap between perceived value and the actual value users identify in your product and business.
For the product, usability studies and user research are conducted to understand and identify user expectations, how they decide to explore the product, and the effectiveness of the design in meeting those expectations. The result is accessible and intuitive designs that excite users and increase retention.
Similarly, if the product meets user needs and increases user retention, it communicates a genuine benefit that is associated with your business. This leads to better recommendations, referrals, and builds trust and loyalty among your current and potential customers.
3. Higher Conversion Rates and SEO:
A digital product (app, website, or software) with good UX/UI design is designed to make it easy for users to navigate and find what they’re looking for, leading to increased revenue and business growth.
Additionally, when designed to create a positive user experience, these products can lead to longer visit times and lower bounce rates, both of which are crucial factors for ranking your product in search engines.
For example, HubSpot transformed the UX of its website based on user research, resulting in 10 million visits per month and a tripling of its conversion rate.
4. Cost and Error Reduction:
A well-executed user-centered design and UX consulting process not only improves product quality but also saves money across the board. Wondering why? It’s pretty straightforward. One of the biggest costs associated with any product is the software development expenses. If the initial design isn’t efficient, it often leads to costly rework once the solution hits the market. This can come after substantial marketing investments, not to mention the time it takes to identify and fix product design issues.
Think of it like trying to cut corners in the architectural and geological planning of a building. If you make mistakes there, correcting them down the road can be a thousand times more expensive than getting it right from the start. So, saving on these critical aspects doesn’t make much sense.
Now, it’s true that UX expertise doesn’t come cheap. Finding a skilled and experienced UX designer can be a challenge, and the field itself requires a broad range of knowledge beyond design. Additionally, assembling a multidisciplinary team, as typically found in specialized agencies and companies, is essential for a successful project.
Nevertheless, the cost of UX is genuinely small compared to the economic benefits it brings later on. This is backed by a high Return on Investment (ROI), as we explained in the first point.
In summary, thoroughly understanding user needs, challenges, and their environment to craft an intelligent technological solution that enhances their lives from the outset will save you substantial costs in re-development, maintenance, and wasted investments in unsuccessful marketing endeavors.
5. Increased Productivity:
Most companies need a disruptive enough interface to help their organization market their products or services for profit. Developing a solution using a user experience and simple yet effective design can also inspire employees, especially sales teams, to work with enthusiasm.
For example, Google created the HEART framework (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task Success) to measure UX at scale and improve the decision-making process for their designs and products. Today, Google is one of the most highly valued brands in the world.
As you can see, there are increasingly compelling reasons and successful outcomes for why UX is becoming one of the investments with the best Return on Investment (ROI). Therefore, having senior consultants specializing in business-products, like those provided by UZER, optimizes UX design processes and further enhances all these benefits for your business.
Let’s start building user-centric successful digital products together. Let’s talk.
