That’s why The UX School put together a comprehensive report compiling the latest research in the ROI of UX design, with direct input from over 60 UX design experts from around the globe.  

What did we find out?

We found out that UX design is so impactful for companies of every size that worldwide we are set to lose trillions of dollars per year in revenue by 2020 if companies continue to ignore the direct results of investing in UX.

Why is UX design becoming so powerful?

We have all become aware of the power we now have as users. Through social media and online reviews, we can be a lot more vocal about which products or services meet our needs and which fail to do so. Formerly a letter of complaint to a company would likely have fallen upon deaf ears (if it was written at all). These days however, a click of a button or a 140-character tweet is enough to not only complain about an experience but broadcast it to the world.

As the user’s experience becomes ever more transparent it is critical that organisations listen and respond to the user’s needs and wants. User-centric companies already do this, but they are currently still the minority.

In response to users’ growing online presence and the increased volume and importance of their voices, all companies will need to make this adaptation to survive. Investment in UX design will be the difference between category winners and losers, with the user experience becoming a product in itself. Companies which fail to invest in UX design won’t only lose money in the short term, they’ll fall behind their competitors and lose their customers.

In the report, we were able to pin down the financial wins of investment in UX design, as well as the enormous losses of not investing, so next time you need to prove your worth to your employer, you’ve got the figures to back you up.

Check out what we uncovered.

The financial impact of investing in UX

When we took a close look at the studies around investment in UX design, as well as the opinions and feedback of over 60 UX design professionals who we interviewed about it, it became abundantly clear that companies of all shapes and sizes benefited significantly from investment in UX. Even small investments in UX design yielded positive monetary results.

One 2016 design study of 408 companies found that the higher the investment in UX, the greater the increase in sales, the higher their customer retention and customer engagement was, and the faster the company moved through its product cycles. Those companies which invested the most, and who considered themselves to be fully user-centric, saw their sales increase by a staggering 75%.

One of the main areas of saving that a UX focus brought about was development time. UX designers reduce the time developers need to re-work or ‘fix’ a product by up to 50%.

It seems obvious, but with a UX designer on board a product idea can be fully fleshed out, prototyped, reworked and tested before a developer has even come on board. As we all know, it is a lot cheaper to fix a product before implementation, than once development has started.

It also means that developers can spend their valuable time working on products through to completion, rather than reworking the same product over and over. In the same vein, we found that companies that invested in UX design were able to release their products earlier, giving them the edge in innovation and against the competition.

We found out that 70% of projects fail due to an inability of a company to either attract or retain users. UX designers improve navigation, ease of use, and ‘delightful’ interactions, resulting in lower bounce rates. Similarly, sales growth due to products being tailor-made with the user’s needs and goals in mind can be attributed to UX designers.

Some of the other key points our research uncovered were:

• • For every dollar invested in UX design, a company can expect 100 dollars in return

• • The top 10 companies leading in customer experience outperformed the S&P index with more than triple the returns of their peers.

• Other economic advantages of a UX-led company included lower cost of customer acquisition, lower support costs, increased customer retention and increased market share.

What companies lose by not investing in UX design

By far our biggest finding from our research was that if investment in UX design remains at the level it currently is, then globally we can expect a trillion dollar loss in revenue by 2020 in e-commerce alone.

How did we find this out?

We looked at a report from eMarketer, which stated that by 2020, e-commerce sales will grow to a global total of about $4.058 trillion. However the conversion rate for e-commerce could be improved by 35% simply through better checkout flow and design, another report found.

When we looked at this data together we were able to conclude that by 2020, if checkout flow and design isn’t improved in e-commerce on an industrial scale, we can expect a global loss of  $1.420 trillion.

This is supported by the fact that 27% of US online shoppers have abandoned an order in the past quarter solely due to a “too long / complicated checkout process”, while 35% abandoned their order because they needed to create an account to continue.

Already, these companies could have saved millions of dollars through small UX design fixes that put user needs and goals first.

Conclusion

During the compilation of our report, The UX School learned that products and services worldwide are not being built for the user, despite the increasing power and influence the user now has.

Somewhere along the line, the user’s needs are being deprioritized and the goals of the business put first and foremost. Ironically, were this not the case, companies would save money, and significantly increase their revenue. Why? Because users whose needs are met and enjoy interaction with an interface are far more likely to complete transactions, recommend their friends, become loyal to a brand and, crucially, return.   

If you’ve been looking for facts and figures to prove your value as a UX designer, download the full report here. Together, let’s make the world a more user-friendly place.  

Do you have any tips for explaining the value of UX design to stakeholders? Let’s chat in the forums, or leave a comment.

The post What’s the Impact of Investing in UX? appeared first on UX Mastery.

Job interviews are nerve-wracking at the best of times. Whether you’re just starting out in UX or need a little inspiration, here are five ways you can prepare to nail your next interview. 

1. Your portfolio is everything (well, almost!)

Portfolios are the standard for showing work for designers. But the trouble with creating a UX design portfolio is that so much of what we do isn’t strictly visual. This makes it hard to showcase your work in a portfolio in the same way as a graphic designer or UI designer.

Because many UX designers come from a UI or graphic design background, many employers still expect to see a portfolio of your work. They often expect UX designers to have traditional design skills.

This attitude is starting to change, but even so, you need to a way to show your previous work. You just might need to get a bit creative. Here’s how:

Write about what you do

Blogging about UX design shows your knowledge of the field in a creative way that potential employers can easily understand. It demonstrates your passion for the field and helps you learn (and teach) difficult or new concepts. Try guest blogging for other UX design sites to boost your SEO and make your blog easier to find.

Create a website

A website is essential for employers to find you, and a platform to talk about the work you’ve done for previous clients. If your work wasn’t visual, present it in an engaging way using images, logos and photographs.

Wireframes

Wireframing is a visual element of UX design work, even if it’s not the prettiest or most polished part of what you do. Upload project wireframes to your website under client projects. This way you can show your interviewer the ‘back end’ of design – the thought that goes into the navigation, information architecture and user flow for each site.

2. Know what UX design means to you

It’s common to be asked about you define UX design in an interview, as it gives a clear insight into how you work, and how you’ll fit in with the rest of the team. If you’re a junior, you need to be able to work effectively with the company’s senior UX designer. For senior roles, your approach to the field shapes the company’s approach.

Where do you sit on the UX/UI debate?

A commonly used definition of UX design is:

“The process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.”

Compare that against a common definition of UI design:

“UI design is focused on the design of the actual interface elements that the user interacts with to accomplish a goal within an application.”

It’s useful to understand both, and where you sit on the continuum, as it helps to place you within the existing skills of the team. If there’s no UI designer, for example, you might be expected to work in this area too.

3. You are not an island

Teamwork and communication are core skills of a good UX designer – we work with lots of different types of people in this job. Interviewers need to see that you can explain complex concepts simply and clearly, and that you’re a team player.

If you’re the sole UX designer at a startup it’s likely you’ll be working with everybody – from the copywriter to the CEO herself. You’ll be responsible for seeing projects through from end to end, with the help of user groups, of course. If you’re lucky enough to be part of a large UX team, you’ll probably work with user researchers, UI designers, graphic designers and content strategists.

Whether flying solo or in a team of UXers, you’ll always have an ongoing dialogue with the web development team. They’ll work with you to scope out your ideas, plan your timelines and ultimately implement your designs.  

4. Describe your unique process

Because there’s so much ambiguity surrounding UX design, it’s a good idea to talk your interviewer through how you work.

Try speaking on their terms, and explain (based on your research of the company) what you’d do if you worked there. This helps your prospective employer visualise you working there, which is handy trick that can help you land the job.

If you’re new to the field, a standard process can guide you until you’ve figured out exactly how you like to work.

The general UX design process involves:

1. User research: Collating information from your target persona via interviews, user groups, surveys and questionnaires to understand the needs and behaviour of the user.
2. Design: Structuring, labelling and organising content on the site (information architecture), wireframing, prototyping.  
3. Testing: Usability testing (observations, questionnaires, surveys), A/B testing, remote user testing.
4. Implementation: Working with web developers and UI designers to get your design built and functioning.

5. Engage with your field online

Show your interviewer that you’re passionate about what you do. They want to see that you’re in it for more than paying the rent. In addition to blogging, make sure to mention blogs you read, influential people you follow and sites you admire for their UX design.

Need some inspiration? Here are a few of my favourites:  

Blogs

• UXMastery
• CareerFoundry
• UXBeginner
• UX Motel
• UXReview
• UXMatters
• UXMag

Sites with great UX:

• Medium
• Herrlich Media
• Harry’s

Influencers on Twitter

• Abby Covert @Abby_the_IA
• Jared M Spool @jmspool
• Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
• Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane
• Peter Merholz @peterme
• Liz Danzico @bobulate 
• Doug Collins @DougCollinsUX

The post 5 ways to ace your next UX design interview appeared first on UX Mastery.

If you have comments or questions about UX career myths, join our conversation here.

Myth: UX designers and UI designers do the same thing

A commonly held misunderstanding is that UX design and UI design are the same thing. This is far from the truth. Although UX designers and UI designers often work together on a product, they perform very different roles within the team. So, what’s the difference?

UX design is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.

UI design, on the other hand, is focused on the design of the actual interface elements that the user interacts with to accomplish a goal within an application.

During the UX design process the questions a UX designer is concerned with are: Was it easy to navigate? Did you ever feel lost or confused? How did you know where to click to get to where you needed to go?

While the questions a UI designer is concerned with are: How did it make you feel? Was there a logical hierarchy to the interface and typography? Was the color scheme consistent? Were there design patterns that you recognized from other interfaces?

Myth: Anyone can become a UX designer

Wrong. Not everyone can work as a UX designer. Why? Because working in UX requires you to not only LOVE people, but to be endlessly curious about why they do the things they do. If you’re not a people-person, and you have no curiosity about human behaviour then this simply isn’t the career choice for you. Sorry!

Here are some essential personal skills and traits of successful UX designers:

Empathy

During user research you will be regularly interacting with individuals and groups as they navigate your product. You need to be able to see that product from their perspective, irrespective of what your own is. Being able to put yourself in the shoes of the user means you are able to understand how to make that user experience even better for them.

Curiosity

Being curious about people is not essential to doing your job right, but it will have a marked effect on how much you enjoy it. Most UX designers are fascinated by the workings of the human mind, and love to study human behaviour. Wanting to find out why people behave the way they do should be what gets you out of bed in the morning.

Communication skills

It’s not just your target users who you’ll be interacting with both online, over the phone and in person; you’ll also be communicating regularly with developers, CEOs, project managers and designers. This means you’ve got to be able to communicate clearly with people of all levels of knowledge and experience. In some cases you will even have to explain what it is you do, as there is still so much ignorance about UX out there.

Myth: You need programming skills to become a UX designer

You definitely do not need programming skills to become a UX designer. Being able to communicate with and understand how teams of programmers work (and at what stage in the UX design process you need their involvement) is very important though. Whether at a startup or large corporation, you will be working intimately with developers to reach your end goal for a project. The developers will be working to transform your design ideas into a real, working website, so how you approach this relationship will determine the success or failure of your project.

Here are some tips to working with the development team:

• Honesty – UX designers need to be open with developers about what the end goal of the product is.
• Transparency – Developers need to be transparent about what and how they need to do something to achieve the desired result. They need to explain clearly why something won’t work, not just that it won’t.
• Involvement – UX designers need to communicate with the development team right from the start of the project, not just when they need them. That way, they have a much clearer idea of what might or might not work early on.
• Work on the same team – If possible, make sure that you sit on the same team as the programmers at your company. There is much less chance of miscommunication or disagreement when you are freely communicating all the time.
• Be realistic – When sending over a final design for implementation, talk to the developers about what a realistic timeframe for the project would be. That way, everybody is on the same page with their expectations.

Myth: You need graphic design skills to become a UX designer

Graphic design and UX design are dramatically different. Graphic design is concerned with the aesthetics of the product – the decoration, colours and fonts. Essentially it dictates how things should look. UX design is, as we have already discussed, much more about making the user experience as delightful as it can be so that the user can reach their end goal in the quickest and easiest way possible. It focuses on the logic and structure behind the elements that you actually see and interact with, whereas the graphic designer is concerned with how those elements look.

If you’re thinking about moving from graphic design into UX design then keep the following in mind:

• It’s more important to know what questions to ask than to have all the answers.
• Keep your eye on the end goal of both the user and the business.
• Plan roughly, don’t put too much effort in the early designs, and focus on the content and where it is, rather than what it looks like.
• Think about the hierarchy of the content in relation to the user’s goal – what do they need to see first?

If you have comments or questions about UX career myths, join our conversation here.

Resources

Get Started in UX
What Is UX Design? 15 User Experience Experts Weigh In
7 Signs This Person Isn’t Actually A UX Designer
The Difference Between UX & UI – A Layman’s Guide
UX – A Process Or A Task

The post 4 Myths About A Career In UX Design appeared first on UX Mastery.