Your Assumptions Are Costing You
Your bias and hesitancy to conduct research are costing you. The price? Time and an impressive return on investment.
User research develops an understanding of customer behavior, needs, and attitudes. It uncovers feedback and unlocks a new perspective on your business. Not only is it a key factor in shaping a lovable experience, but investing in UX pays off. Forrester Research has shown that companies that embedded user experience into their strategy achieved 43% higher performance over 6 years, whereas S&P 500 companies achieved only 14.5% [1]. This means that UX strategy can nearly triple your performance.
Yet, many companies do not lead with a UX strategy that involves user research. In an extensive study, McKinsey reports that, although strong design is correlated with business performance, 40% of companies do not engage with their end users [5]. This lack of user research stems from assumptions, time constraints, and cost. However, these reasons do not withstand scrutiny.
Myth #1: You already have the knowledge.
The mantra “you are not the user” has gained traction in the user experience industry for good reason. It’s no secret that, as humans, we have biases that affect our decisions; but these biases hurt the success of user-centric design. Consensus bias and availability bias lead us to assume that others share our beliefs, or we make quick judgments based on readily available examples. If our designs are rooted in generalizations from our own experiences or another company’s user research, the design may not be solving for a true user/customer need, which hurts the user experience.
The Design Thinking framework and primary user research safeguards against bias. Empathize with your users, define the problem, and ideate solutions. But don’t stop there. Put your ideas in front of users to investigate and refine the solution.
Myth #2: Research takes too much time.
Actually, it is both time-consuming and expensive to build the wrong experience. With the insights and confidence gained from user research, you can save development time and avoid multiple rounds of revisions. UX industry sources note that user research reduces product development by 33-50% [2]. With readily available research tools and methods, quality research can be conducted efficiently to save time and resources.
Myth #3: Research is costly.
User research can save money and provide an exceptional return on your investment. According to the 1:10:100 rule for change, as described by UX researcher Clare-Marie Karat, every $1 invested in research saves $10 in development and $100 in maintenance [2]. Not only does that $1 save money, but it also has an even greater return. Forrester states that for every $1 invested in UX, $100 is returned [3]. If you’re avoiding user research, you’re leaving cost savings and results on the table.
Do the research to mitigate risk and reap the reward.
A bad experience can ruin it all for a user. PwC research shows that one in three (32%) customers will walk away from a brand they love after one bad experience [4]. It is essential to embed user research throughout the process, from problem definition to development. This will protect you from bias, save time and money, and increase your business performance. While you may be hesitant to include user research in your next project, in truth, you can’t afford not to.
References:
- Bodine, Kerry, and Moira Dorsey. The Business Impact of Customer Experience. Forrester Research, Inc., 2013.
- Dam, Rikke Friis. “Improve Customer Experience with UX Investments That Increase ROI.” Interaction Design Foundation, 29 July 2020, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/improve-customer-experience-with-ux-investments-that-increase-roi
- Kucheriavy, Andrew. “How UX Is Transforming Business (Whether You Want It To or Not).” Forbes, 23 Jan. 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/01/23/how-ux-is-transforming-business-whether-you-want-it-to-or-not/
- PwC. Experience Is Everything: Here’s How to Get It Right. PwC, 2018, https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/pwc-consumer-intelligence-series-customer-experience.pdf.
- Sheppard, Benedict, Hugo Sarrazin, Garen Kouyoumjian, and Fabricio Dore. “The Business Value of Design.” McKinsey & Company, 25 Oct. 2018, www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-business-value-of-design.