Summary
UX is being recognized as a significant business differentiator for new as well as established organizations. This recognition has come with inevitable questions regarding how best to express the value of design teams and quantify the influence of design thinking methods and practices on a company’s bottom line. Design teams are seeking new ways to develop and refine UX return on investment (UX ROI) models for use as communication tools across a wide range of products, services and complex business environments. In this talk, JD Buckley will discuss an emerging model to communicate and measure the impact UX teams provide to businesses. Further, she’ll examine how this evolving process framework and model might be applied across other intricate environments inside and outside enterprises, including as a tool to reflect the impact of an anti-gun violence educational toolkit for middle-schoolers and educators.
Key Insights
-
•
Benchmarking current user experiences is essential before measuring UX ROI to provide a meaningful point of comparison.
-
•
Combining qualitative and quantitative data creates a more convincing case for UX value, especially to executives.
-
•
Identifying primary users and their top tasks helps focus UX efforts and align them with strategic business goals.
-
•
Connecting UX metrics to company KPIs often requires collaboration with finance partners who understand revenue metrics.
-
•
Even in complex enterprise environments like ADP, user-centered design can lead to a measurable impact on product success.
-
•
A flexible UX ROI framework can be adapted to social design contexts, such as LAUSD’s anti-gun violence program.
-
•
Embedding UX metrics within recognized standards (e.g., health education standards) strengthens funding and stakeholder buy-in.
-
•
Ongoing data collection enables continuous improvement and more effective communication of UX value over time.
-
•
Social design projects face unique challenges due to limited federal data, making UX measurement critical for advocacy.
-
•
User-centered research in underserved communities uncovers complex realities like widespread childhood exposure to violence, informing better design.
Notable Quotes
"After years of fighting to be included in strategic boardroom decision making, many UX professionals are now finding themselves seated at the grown-up table."
"We couldn’t even begin to demonstrate our team’s impact unless we could answer the question compared to what."
"Conducting the first benchmark study always leaves you questioning, and the first comparison study is less of a big bang and more likely to be a subtle sigh of relief."
"Connecting your UX metrics to company KPIs requires the heart of a UXer but the soul of an economist."
"Our CFO seemed to get UX, especially when it came to metrics like customer satisfaction, referrals, and reduction in call center contacts."
"It’s starting to shift the conversation about design from colors and fonts to associating design with having a measurable impact on the company’s bottom line."
"If you can’t measure the impact and scale of a problem, then it’s hard to communicate that the problem exists or the value of a UX team that could possibly solve it."
"Many teachers told us more than half their middle schoolers have first-hand experience with guns."
"Embedding health education standards in the program became our KPIs for the entire project."
"The LAUSD stakeholder felt armed with data and designs to articulate future benefits in a language the school board could understand and quantify."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Business leaders are super busy, data-driven, competitive, and have a finely tuned bullshit meter."
Doug PowellClosing Keynote: Design at Scale
November 8, 2018
"Power dynamics exist in every session. People don’t want to be embarrassed or feel put on the spot."
Mila Kuznetsova Lucy DentonHow Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices
March 9, 2022
"Backcast from preferred or risky futures to start thinking about what we need to do today to get there or avoid that outcome."
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"You can’t really advocate for UX or move an organization forward without interacting with your team and business colleagues."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"The hackathon is a low-commitment way to get people creatively engaged and having fun."
Alnie FigueroaThe Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft
September 10, 2025
"If you measure an infinite number of customers, every change would be statistically significant, but not every change would be meaningful."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"We have the Big C and the Little C: our external customers and our salespeople using the tools every day."
Emily EagleCan't Rewind: Radio and Retail
June 3, 2019
"There is no solid way to control the course of your re-platforming project; being flexible is essential."
Malini RaoLessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey
June 9, 2021
"Designers are often seen as bottlenecks because our work is harder to estimate and track than engineering’s."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023
