Why UX is critical: every $1 invested in UX yields a $2 to $100 return

User Experience is more critical than most think

User Experience (UX) is an often neglected step in the design process of technology companies, yet is a tremendous part of how a consumer connects technically and emotionally with an app or software.

Web-based software application design firm, UpTop‘s Chief Creative Strategist, Charlie Claxton is focused heavily on the impact of great UX design and conversion strategy on business success, having led design efforts for companies like Amazon, Boeing, Expedia, and Microsoft.

Claxton notes, If you’re wondering about the power and value of user experience design, let me offer one of those statistics that makes you blink and read it twice to make sure you’re not seeing things. Every dollar invested in UX yields a return between $2 and $100. Let me repeat it another way: UX yields a return between $2 and $100 on every dollar invested.”

Noting that this research first surfaced in Tom Gilb’s 1988 book, Principles of Software Engineering Management, Claxton asserts that the stat is even more relevant today than when the book was released, particularly because of the importance of ecommerce in today’s retail environment.

Claxton notes, “Yet what’s nearly as surprising as that one statistic is the number of companies and entrepreneurs that still consider UX design as icing on the cake, a “nice to have” discipline instead of a “must-have.”
Enlightened retailers know better. They understand that UX design is an important, valuable business tool that delivers specific, quantifiable return on investment. They don’t need to be reminded that you hire UX design experts to improve your bottom line, not simply to make things pretty.”

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He offers in his own words below, two common examples of how great user-centered design can help your bottom line:

• An ecommerce web site has to perform well at every level. It must be fast and reliable, yet incorporate attractive, logical design and navigation that enables visitors to easily find what they are looking for. It makes buying (or whatever ultimate goal you’ve set for them) both tempting and easy. They come, they stay and they buy … and their experience is reflected in your gross revenues and profit margin.
• A UX-driven business intelligence dashboard that corrals information in a clear, inviting way on the back-end makes it easy for people in varied roles and locations to find and use it. It saves time and makes employees far more productive and strategic.

Claxton closes with the note that if you’re considering your company’s success, the importance of UX design cannot be overlooked. “After all, what successful business person wouldn’t want to invest in a tool that at the very least generates a dollar of profit for every dollar you spent?”