How to maximize return on investment with UX

Learn how to get the most of your UX research budget by convincing your team that user feedback is essential to a successful product.

Matthew Garvin (高价会)
6 min readNov 2, 2022

There’s no question that UX research is a critical part of any product development process. But what’s the best way to get the most return on investment from your UX research efforts?

Here are a few tips:

1. Focus on formative, rather than summative, research.

Formative research helps you understand users’ needs and how they interact with your product. It’s essential for making informed decisions about the design of your product. Summative research, on the other hand, is more focused on evaluating a product that’s already been designed.

2. Make sure you have buy-in from all stakeholders.

image source: https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-get-buy-in-from-stakeholders

UX research can be costly, so it’s important to ensure that everyone who needs to be involved is on board with the process.

3. Conduct UX research regularly.

image source: https://radiant.digital/what-is-iterative-design/

UX research should be an ongoing effort, not a one-time thing. By conducting regular research, you’ll be able to track users’ needs and how they change over time.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to get the most return on investment from your UX research efforts.

Return on investment, or ROI, is a business metric used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment. To calculate ROI, the gain from an investment is divided by the cost of the investment. For example, if an investor spends $100 on a stock and sells it later for $120, the ROI would be 20%. Generally speaking, investments with a higher ROI are considered to be more efficient than those with a lower ROI. However, it is important to note that ROI is not always a reliable indicator of success, as it does not take into account other factors such as risk. Nevertheless, ROI remains a popular metric for business decision-makers.

How can UX research help increase ROI for a business or organization?

UX research is the process of studying how users interact with a product or service in order to improve the user experience. UX research can help organizations to identify areas where users are struggling and make necessary changes in order to improve the overall user experience. In turn, this can lead to increased ROI for the organization as a result of improved customer satisfaction and increased conversion rates. UX research can also help organizations to reduce the amount of time and money spent on unnecessary features, making the development process more efficient and cost-effective. As UX research becomes more commonplace, organizations that fail to invest in UX research will likely find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

What are some common challenges with conducting UX research, and how can they be overcome?”

One of the biggest challenges in conducting UX research is getting buy-in from stakeholders. Oftentimes, decision-makers are more concerned with short-term gains than long-term benefits, so they’re reluctant to invest in research that may not have an immediate return on investment. Another common challenge is finding the right balance between marketing and UX. On one hand, marketing departments are often focused on generating leads and driving conversions, while UX teams are more concerned with the overall user experience. As a result, it can be difficult to align these two groups and get them to work together effectively. However, there are a few ways to overcome these challenges. First, it’s important to make a case for why UX research is important and how it can help to improve the bottom line. Second, it’s helpful to create a cross-functional team that includes members from both marketing and UX. This way, everyone is on the same page from the start. Finally, it’s crucial to set realistic expectations and timelines so that stakeholders don’t get impatient and give up on the project. By taking these steps, you can overcome the common challenges associated with conducting UX research.

How does one measure the success of UX research projects in order to demonstrate ROI?”

There are a few metrics that can be used to measure the success of UX research projects in order to demonstrate ROI. One metric is the number of insights generated from the research. Another metric is the number of problems that were solved as a result of the research. Finally, the amount of money saved or generated by the research can also be used as a metric.

Metrics are important, but they should not be the only thing considered when determining the success of a UX research project. The value of the insights generated and the problems solved should also be taken into account. Ultimately, it is up to the decision-makers to determine how much weight to give each metric. However, metrics can be a useful tool in demonstrating the ROI of UX research projects.

Are there any other ways that UX research can help a business or organization achieve better ROI?”

While it is certainly important for businesses and organizations to focus on maximizing their ROI, it is also important to remember that innovation and user experience are essential for long-term success. In today’s rapidly changing world, businesses and organizations need to be constantly adapt in order to stay ahead of the competition. This means that they need to be constantly innovating and creating new user experiences. This is where UX research can help. By understanding the needs and wants of users, businesses and organizations can create products and services that meet those needs. In other words, UX research can help businesses and organizations achieve better ROI by helping them to innovate and create better user experiences.

Final thoughts

UX maturity is a process, not an event. It’s something that organizations achieve over time as they continue to invest in UX and integrate UX into their business strategy. There are many different factors that contribute to UX maturity, but one of the most important is having a bold UX vision. A UX strategy that is truly ambitious and transformative can help an organization to reach new levels of UX maturity. By setting ambitious goals and constantly striving to improve the user experience, organizations can build a foundation for long-term success.

UX research can help increase a business or organization’s return on investment (ROI) in a number of ways. By conducting user research, businesses and organizations can uncover areas where they may be experiencing low ROI and make changes that improve their bottom line. Additionally, measuring the success of UX research projects is a critical component to demonstrating ROI; by doing so, it becomes easier to justify the cost of such projects. There are many other ways that UX research can benefit a business or organization beyond just increasing ROI, making it an important tool for any company looking to improve its performance.

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Matthew Garvin (高价会)

Equitable Mobility Service Designer at Walker-Miller | fmr. NASA ExMC & CAS+, Generative Justice Lab