Proving ROI for User Experience Teams

1. ROI and User Experience Proving Value By Don Burnett don@uxmagic.com

2. ROI is broadly defined as the measurement of what you get back minus what you put in, often used tocompare one potential investment to another. What is Return on Investment for UX ?

3. Showing clients that designing their products and services with a holistic approach from the user’s perspective will reap larger returns than other potential business investments. What does it mean to Prove the ROI of UX to a client ?

4. Just as you do when designing an experience, you must take a critical look at the different type of people to whom you are trying to prove. Steps Identify: Decision makers, key influencers, and those who make decisions. These are the people whose opinions matter most. Advocates of UX: Build strategic alliances with them; Word of mouth enhances trust and credibility. Detractors: Not everyone will understand the value of UX. It’s important to recognize whether (or NOT) a person’s opinion is integral to your overall success. Don’t waste time or emotion trying to prove yourself or your role to someone whose opinion doesn’t really matter in the end. Proving Value of UX DesignUnderstand your target

5. Ask yourself these questions Who you are trying to convert ? What’s important to their boss? What metrics are they responsible for? What is their academic background? What is their career history? Focus on changing beliefs. The only way to change behavior and incite an investment decision is to change the underlying beliefs which drive the status quo. Do your clients or stakeholders believe the same things you do regarding user experience? What would it take to alter their beliefs? Proving Value of UX DesignUNDERSTAND YOUR TARGET Continued..

7. What are your client’s buzzwords?

8. Organizational efficiency?

9. Market penetration?

10. Brand recognition?

11. Reduced abandonment?

12. Observe the language they speak so that you can phrase things in their terms.

13. Beware the geek speak.

14. Trying to prove that you’re the smartest person in the room never pays off, and you probably don’t need business decision-makers to understand every detail of the technical implementation.

15. When you allow yourself to indulge in geek speak, you run the risk of losing your client’s attention and making them feel defensive.Proving Value of UX DesignUnderstand your target

17. Be sure to consider your complete set of tools each time you diagnose a UX problem or opportunity, and you’ll retain credibility.

18. Develop expertise in “quick and dirty”

19. clients will only invest in safeguards in accordance with the level of the risk they perceive.

20. The lower the perceived risks, the less a business will want to invest in removing those risks. Proving Value of UX DesignYour Tools

21. Each step or phase you recommend comes between your client and his desired outcome: the project’s completion. You must be able to describe the purpose of each step, be succinct and meaningful. Have the adaptability to drop specific steps when you can’t build a case for them. Proving Value of UX DesignKnow how to sell your steps

22. Identify the top 3-5 descriptors that the creative design would ideally invoke. Put these in your creative brief. When the design is complete, prepare multiple creative concepts which include web comps with the same layout and content but differing aesthetics. Arrange a set of test participants for each concept you plan to test. Develop a set of descriptive vocabulary that participants might use to describe the site. Proving Value of UX DesignMatch research methodology to desired outcome When the client doesn’t want to hear something is “wrong”..

24. Ask them why they selected each of the words they did.

25. Track responses.Proving Value of UX DesignMatch research methodology to desired outcome When the client doesn’t want to hear something is “wrong”..

27. Do whatever is necessary to document the goals of the business or organization.

28. Solid goals are integral to the success of a project and its metrics.

29. Clients see ux assets: Integrate the client in your pre-deliverable deliverables often .Share every ux asset you produce.

30. Diagrams, narratives, sketches, wireframes: these are tools for reaching alignment, but limited to their scope of exposure .

31. The more you share these ux assets, the broader the alignment. Some may argue that “this particular client just doesn’t get wireframes” This is when you have to change and to be that teacher and communicator.Proving Value of UX DesignMapping UX ASSETS TO Business GOALs Business Goals -> Users -> Desired Behaviors -> User Objections -> Content Component

33. Create a user experience which is a strategic argument against the user’s possible objections.

34. Report on usability, it’s impact to brand equity, and impact to revenue and other metrics.

35. Map wireframes and other UX visualizations back to business goals. Show top level stakeholders how business goals are being met with the experience you’re planning.Proving Value of UX DesignMapping UX ASSETS TO Business GOALs Business Goals -> Users -> Desired Behaviors -> User Objections -> Content Component Business Goals -> Users -> Desired Behaviors ->User Objections -> Content Component

37. Tread carefully on others roles.

38. Stay user-centered — if you share your personal opinion, do so with disclaimer.

39. Never let your team take UX/usability risk without warning. Balance risk and reward.

40. Anticipate potential problems and communicate them to stakeholders so that there are no surprises come testing.

41. ABOVE ALL BE HEARD.. Proving Value of UX DesignMapping UX ASSETS TO Business GOALs Business Goals -> Users -> Desired Behaviors -> User Objections -> Content Component

42. ROI and User Experience Proving Value By Don Burnett don@uxmagic.com