Maximizing the ROI of UX for Small Businesses

User experience (UX) is now essential for business success. This is true for small businesses that aim to compete in a crowded marketplace selling similar products and services. Small businesses also face the risk of receiving an ADA demand letter or, worse, being sued for having an inaccessible website.

Forrester’s Six Steps For Justifying Better UX research provides a framework that helps businesses measure the value of investing in user experience (UX). The six steps are:

1. Define your business goals.

• What do you want to achieve by improving your UX?
• Do you want to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, or reduce churn?

2. Understand your users.

• Who are your users?
• What are their needs and pain points?
• How do they currently interact with your product or service?

3. Measure your current UX.

• How easy is it for users to find what they need?
• How satisfied are they with the overall experience?

4. Quantify the benefits of better UX.

• How much money could you save by reducing customer support costs?
• How much more revenue could you generate by increasing sales?

5. Develop a plan to improve UX.

• This could involve changes to the user interface, the user journey, or the underlying technology. It depends on the individual business.

6. Measure the results of your UX improvements.

• Did you achieve your business goals?
• Were the benefits of better UX worth the investment?

The Forrester research also provides a number of case studies that illustrate the benefits of investing in UX. For example, one case study found that a company that improved its UX was able to reduce customer support costs by 30% and increase sales by 15%.

Let’s expand on each step, illustrating the concepts with examples specific to a small business website.

Define Your Business Goals

Every user experience investment should link to clear business goals. This includes boosting sales, making customers happier, or cutting down on churn. Such goals help focus on the most important UX efforts.

For example, a small online bookstore might aim to increase sales by 20% year-over-year. One way to achieve this goal is by improving the user experience of the website. Making the website easier to navigate would help users find what they need. It would allow people to buy faster and more often. This could boost sales and also improve the shopping experience for customers.

What is a specific goal you want to achieve in your business this year?

Understand Your Users

For any business, understanding what the users need is the most important place to start. For the bookstore, it would be important to know a few things. Who are the primary users of the website? Are they avid readers? They might be seeking specific titles and need to use an advanced search functionality. Or are they casual shoppers? These users might be willing to browse for book recommendations. Your website needs good information architecture so they can discover related topics and titles. What are their pain points when it comes to purchasing books online? By gaining insights into the needs and preferences of users, the bookstore can tailor the website to better serve its core audience.

What information do you currently have about your users?

Measuring Your Current UX

Assessing the current user experience is essential to identify areas for improvement. How easy is it for users to find the books they are looking for? Are there any bottlenecks in the checkout process that lead to abandoned carts? Gathering data on user behavior and feedback will help the small online bookstore. It will pinpoint specific pain points and areas of friction; these are the areas that need attention. If it’s not feasible or cost effective to conduct user research, a website evaluation is the best first place to start. Conduct a basic accessibility and usability review to spotlight some essential areas where UX can improve.

Which area of your website should you assess first?

Quantifying the Benefits of Better UX

The bookstore can see the advantages of enhancing its user experience (UX) by examining the impact on sales and customer satisfaction. When the bookstore streamlines the checkout process and enhances product recommendations, it can decrease the number of customers leaving items in their carts without completing their purchase. Additionally, these improvements can result in customers spending more on each order. Also, simpler navigation can bring back more customers. They will then, ideally, make more repeat purchases.

Developing a Plan to Improve UX

Based on the insights gathered, the online bookstore can come up with a comprehensive plan to enhance the UX of its website. This may involve redesigning the user interface. The goal is to streamline browsing and buying. It may also involve adding personalized recommendation algorithms. And, it may involve improving the mobile shopping experience. All of these improvements, by the way, also improve the user experience for shoppers with various disabilities.

Measuring the Results of Your UX Improvements

After improving the user experience, the bookstore can track important metrics. These include conversion rates, order value, and customer satisfaction. Tracking these metrics will give clear evidence of the impact of the UX improvements on meeting the business goals. Additionally, the bookstore can gather feedback through surveys and user testing. These efforts can offer qualitative, meaningful insights into the success of the UX improvements.

By following these steps and adjusting them to your business context, it’s easy to justify investments in user experience. These investments will drive tangible business results.