One of the many conversations I had early in my career as a UX professional was, basically, “Why UX?” That is, why are UX designers and processes needed on a project? The initial way I and others responded to that question was to create detailed design specifications and deliverables. “Why UX? Well, you need UX because you need documentation so the development team will know what the UI looks like and how it works!”
As the discipline has matured over the years, and the value of UX is proven by more and more case studies and examples, the need to justify or rationalize the need for UX has lessened… but the case still has to be made. Budgets are always limited, and executives have to make tough decisions on spending every day.
So, we go back to the question of “Why UX?” The way we answer that can be simple, and based on case studies: “Look at Apple! Look at Amazon!” Or we can talk the language business leaders understand… we can talk about traceability, and quantifiable metrics.
This is not something many designers are used to discussing – we are creative folks, mostly, and having conversations about key performance metrics and ROI may give some of us the hives. But it’s important. We HAVE to start using these terms, and thinking about UX in this way. It is the only way that UX can get discussed at the right level – in the corporate board room.
The metaphor I often use is it’s like the three legs of a sitting stool. Technology is the first leg: a great experience takes advantage of the best tech to satisfy users. The business drivers and the metrics the business deems important – that’s the second leg: Their business goals inform what solutions need to be produced/designed and also inform what “success” looks like to the decision makers. Users are the final (and obvious) leg: Knowing what the end users expect and need allows you to find the right balance of technology and prioritize what business case(s) should be focused on. All of these legs should be “even”, otherwise… you get a wobbly stool.
So, before engaging on a project – or while you are selling a potential UX engagement – identify what metrics are appropriate. What does success look like? What is the value add that user experience design can bring to the table.
Here’s some suggestions of potential metrics to look at…
Increased collaboration: After the proposed scenario is implemented the collaboration between team members will increase in the business area being researched.
Reduced Time on Task: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented the process/task that is the focus of the research will be accomplished in less time.
Improved Traceability: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented there will be better record keeping and traceability involved in the business area being researched.
Employee/Customer Satisfaction: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented employees (or customers) will have higher customer satisfaction scores than were previously recorded for the same user group.
Reduced errors: After the proposed scenario is implemented the number of errors will decrease in the business domain being researched.
Self service: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented users will be able to self service a specific need that previously required intervention of support personnel, reducing support costs.
Streamlined process: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented the process aligned to the area of research focus will be streamlined, saving time and money and allowing for users to complete tasks quicker.
Increased adoption/usage: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented the application that is being researched will be adopted and used by more users.
Improved document findability and retention: After the proposed scenario(s)/experience is implemented documentation will be easier to find and processes will be defined around document retention.
The challenge is to identify a metric that has easy “traceability” – either defining what the baseline is through analysis or user testing, or identifying the data point(s) that can form the baseline. You want as clear a “before” and “after” view as you can get. And this clarity will let you tell a much better story around the engagement – you will have numbers to “prove” the value of UX.
This becomes a virtuous cycle – one successful UX project then helps sell the next one, and so on. And it’s a lot easier to sell UX when you have hard numbers helping to explain “Why UX?”