UX: Invest or Get Left Behind

What is UX?

According to UserTesting.com, UX design is the process of designing (digital or physical) products that are useful, easy to use, and delightful to interact with.

Why is UX important?

In case it’s not obvious, UX is important because no one likes useless, hard to use, unpleasant things to interact with!!

Treat your users as you want to be treated. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that all those faceless user id’s in Google Analytics actually represent individuals. Those Id’s are just people just trying to find and utilise something that helps them with the task at hand and feels good to use.

Understanding this and empathising with your users is the only way to provide them with a phenomenal experience that’ll keep them coming back time and time again, and that’s what you want right?

10 UX stats that’ll probably surprise you:

1. Only 55% of companies are currently conducting any online user experience testing. – Econsultancy.
2. Only a feeble 11.5% of budgets assigned to develop products is spent on user experience design. – Sapient.
3. 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. – Econsultancy.
4. It’s 6 times more expensive on average to gain a new customer than to keep a current one. Parature.
5. 95% of users think that good UX pays off. – Econsultancy.
6. 48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business. – Ironpaper Inc.
7. 95% of customers share bad customer service experiences whereas 87% share good customer service experiences with others. – Zendesk/Dimensional Research.
8. A site with a well-designed user interface can have up to 200% higher conversion rates than one that was poorly designed. – Naturalinterraction.
9. 85% of UX problems can be solved by testing with only 5 users. – UltraLinx.
10. “Every dollar invested in UX generates around $100 dollars return” – IBM.

Case studies and return on investment.
So you want some more tangible data? You got it, read on….

Taking a user centric approach, Dulux created the “Visualizer App” to improve customer confidence and to address the thought in the back of everyone’s mind when choosing what colour to paint a room…Will the paint look like that when it’s actually up on the walls?! With the aim to make the process and all interaction simple and intuitive and several rounds of user testing later, the results were in…

• 5+ million app downloads
• Increase in tester sales of 65%
• 92% increase in stockist searches
• And a whopping 247% increase in usage!

Javafly undertook a UX audit with goal being to reduce the bounce rate on their e-commerce platform whilst bettering conversion, improving usability and boosting brand perception. The UX audit laid bare users pain points and illuminated quick wins to address and make improvements fast. The audit resulted in…

• A boost in conversions of 20%+
• An increase in revenue of 112%
• A 74%+ increase in transactions
• An average order value increase of 22%
• Reduced number of clicks required to complete a transaction
• Perception of usability improved.

You can find more details about these case studies and further information about the return on investment of user experience here, but as you’re hopefully coming to realise, there are so many reasons to and excellent results to be had from improving your user’s experience!

Other ways UX can benefit your business.
Aside from the fact you’ll generate more sales, higher conversions rates and reap financial reward in return for investing in UX…there’s more!

• Boost user satisfaction and customer loyalty.
• Generate more referrals through word of mouth and social proof.
• Reduce development costs.
• Save time fixing issues that UX design best practises would have prevented.
• Decrease marketing spend, market more effectively through an intimate knowledge of your users.
• Shine a light on emerging opportunities through a greater knowledge of your target market and empathy with your users.
• Great user experience markets itself.
• Stand out in saturated market places and get a competitive advantage.
• Use great user experience as a brand differentiator.
• Don’t get left behind. With more and more business getting wise to the benefits, if you don’t get on the bandwagon, you risk getting left in the dust….

UserTesting’s 2015 Industry Survey Report states:

• The average company spend on UX in 2014 per month was between $1 and $500.
• That average figure rose in 2015 to between $1,001 and $5,500 with some businesses doing more…
• 4.27% of the companies surveyed reported spending between $5,001 and $10,000 per month
• A further 7.29% reported UX expenditure of $10,000 to $50,000 monthly.
• 75% of business not already regularly user experience testing, reported that they would be over the coming year.

Inducting UX thinking and design practises into your business has the potential to be both a complete game changer and lifeline. Hey, I may be biased (only a little!) but hopefully I’ve made a compelling case! :)

Where do I go from here?
Well, that depends on what stage your business is at, but it is never too late or too soon to make a start. Likewise large budget or small there’s always a way to put it to really good use. If you’re new to the concept of UX though, do ensure you get help, don’t go it alone! Designing for great user experiences requires deep knowledge and very specific set of skills that aren’t easy to pick up quickly, a good UX’er is empathetic, experienced, curious and has a good grip of psychology. Whether you choose to hire an in house UX’er or partner up with an independent expert, ensure you don’t rush the process and that they possess the skills needed and a drive to really make a difference.