This panel explores the significant challenges that UX and product professionals face, particularly in securing executive buy-in for user research and what non-UX executives are looking to see. It delves into the importance of aligning UX strategies with business objectives, demonstrating the tangible impact of user experience on key performance indicators, and leveraging design-driven growth for competitive advantage.
Each person shares their journey and thinking in building a robust UX research operation within a large corporation, emphasizing the critical role of data in demonstrating the business value of UX efforts. The discussion includes practical advice on measuring and presenting UX outcomes to align with executive priorities, the importance of continuous iteration, data-driven design decisions, and integrating UX research throughout the product development lifecycle.
Whether you're a UX professional seeking to elevate your impact across the org, or a product or business leader aiming to harness the power of design, this panel offers essential insights for achieving alignment and driving significant business outcomes.
We discussed the role of UX research, the importance of qualitative and quantitative data, and how to demonstrate the value of design to non-design senior leaders.
The panelists were:
Rima Campbell, VP, User Experience & Strategy at UserTesting
Ryan Leffel, Head of Design at Priceline
Fahad Osmani, VP of Product Design at Capital One
The consensus of the panel was that design-led activities are under pressure...that personnel and budgets are being cut.
To counter this movement, the panel suggested:
Research and design become partners with execs on what matters most to the company
Speak the language of execs when describing the impact of design and research
Connect research and design activities to the numeric outcomes/OKRs the execs are focused on
Define the problem they are working on with numbers
Define the success of their efforts with numbers
Explain that failing in the research phase is much cheaper than failing when a product goes live. If nobody uses a product or service, that's something we could have learned sooner.
Focus on the most important paths a customer can get stuck on. Maybe improving login efficiency is more important than uploading a profile photo?
Learn to explain that each connection to customers is chance to learn even if if the product being tested doesn't succeed...the team still learns.
Each of the panelists had an interesting take on how to gain executive backing for design and research activities that I’ve summarized here.