Top 6 Points Why UX Design is Important for Business?

By Design Studio • March 28, 2024 edit

UX is crucial for business because it directly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. A positive user experience increases conversions and fosters brand loyalty, leading to long-term success and growth.

Remember that age-old question, “Why is UX Important for Business?” Heard the answers to this question a million times? No problem! Because in 2024, the ‘updated’ answers to this question will surprise you:

AI tools are streamlining and automating the work of all designers (including UX designers) within large companies.
In smaller agencies, Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI (Gen-AI) technologies are eliminating all types of manual tasks from the designer’s plate, rendering them almost useless, especially in low-stakes projects.
While all of this is happening, impressing users is becoming harder every year. In a recent survey, 88% of users claimed they won’t return to websites after just one negative experience.
Over 47% said they wouldn’t wait for more than two seconds for a website to load.

However, it is not all doom and gloom in the world of UX design.

According to a recent study, over the past ten years, design-led companies have drastically outperformed the S&P 500 index in terms of ‘rate-of-return’ with approx. 228% higher returns.
Plus, in the early 2010s, the average time users spent on business websites was just 10-20 seconds (on average). In 2023, that figure was up to an average of 54 seconds.

Many business websites are currently beating the odds and keeping their demanding user bases engaged for longer-than-average periods. These are the sites with strong UX design. These are the sites that consistently deliver positive user experiences to build client loyalty, encourage repeat visits, and ultimately earn more and more revenue.

In this article, we will answer why UX is important for business in detail. But first, let us clarify UX design and then understand what makes it important for businesses.

How UX Design Impacts Business Success

Day-to-day business involves competing departments and priorities. KPIs and OKRs are fine for marketing and sales departments. But, the UX designer’s job is to fight for the user – putting their needs front and center of the plans.

Here is what happens when UX designers engage with product managers and help shape the roadmap and business plan:

Customer Satisfaction and Retention

Good UX design significantly enhances customer satisfaction
When users find a product to be intuitive, enjoyable, and designed for their needs – they’re more likely to have a positive perception of the brand
Seamless experiences reduce frustration
When users consistently receive frustration-free value from their interactions, they are more inclined to return
This way, good UX design helps foster user loyalty
Satisfied and loyal users often become repeat buyers
All of this leads to increased sales and long-term business success

Conversion Rate Optimization

Empathy and objectivity are the two core skills of UX designers:

Their empathy helps them understand users’ needs, goals, and frustrations
Their objectivity helps them look at digital products with fresh eyes, spot the flaws, and fix them

Here’s how both of these skills combine to boost conversions and sales:

A well-designed product guides users effortlessly through their journey,
It objectively reduces all the obstacles in the user journey that might lead to abandonment
By understanding user pain points and optimizing their experiences, UX designers convert more visitors into paying customers

According to a recent survey by Zendesk:

76% of customers expect apps and websites to be empathetic and intuitive to their personal needs
When digital products fail to meet these expectations, users are less likely to convert

Good UX design ensures that products have both of these essential, conversion-rate-boosting qualities. Here is another example:

Zenprint used Hotjar to boost its website’s UX design quality
Within a month of implementing user-centric UX design changes, the site’s conversion rate increased by 2%

Brand Credibility and Trust

Nobody cares about brands:

We are not talking about Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, or other multi-billion-dollar brands
Yes, people do care about those major brands
We are talking about the brands of small companies and newly launched start-ups
Users do not care about smaller brands – they only care how those brands’ products or services improve their lives

When it comes to digital products and services – the experience they provide is their brand. That is why, UX design directly influences brand perception:

A consistent and user-centered design establishes credibility
Users associate quality experiences with reliable, bugger brands
When the experiences a smaller brand delivers consistently align with user expectations and needs, trust is built
Over time, good UX design definitely strengthens the emotional connections between the brand, its products, and its users

UX design is the voice of the user. But, it cannot be just that. It needs to support business goals. UX design would not be a successful field if it did not enable quantifiable results for the business. Thankfully, there are many ways UX design directly impacts business success

Competitive Advantage

Back in the 90s, Google had no “brand” or “grand business strategy” to speak of. It did not have a clear corporate vision or an ambitious mission statement. All it had was a killer feature – the ability to generate search results in a more user-centric way than all of its competitors.

It had a good UX design and that is what made it the major brand that it is today. Similarly, your product does not need a ton of features or a grand brand strategy to succeed. It just needs to help users achieve a specific goal in a better, more enjoyable way than your competitors.

Companies that prioritize UX design differentiate themselves by offering products that are functional and more importantly – enjoyable to use
This focus on usability attracts customers in saturated markets where many products may be similar
A strong UX design strategy can be a key driver of market differentiation

Do not chase competitors’ feature sets. A product with a good UX design and 2 or 3 killer features always outcompetes a product with a poor UX design and multiple half-baked features.

Cost Savings and Efficiency

Ask any UX designer where the UX process steps start – the answer is always research. When running the research phase of a project, the UX design team

Interviews users and stakeholders to get a sense of user needs and the business requirements
Performs competitive analyses to analyze competing products
Conducts online surveys to gain a deeper understanding of features that may or may not be included in the project
Creates focus groups to get a deeper understanding of how people might use the product

If budget permits, the UX designer may even:

Create user personas
Determine the information architecture of the digital product
Create basic wireframes and prototypes

When all of this collected data is analyzed, it is used as a basis for decision-making during the actual design process. Investing in this research phase of the UX design process alone saves you a ton of resources:

By addressing user needs early in the design process, you can avoid costly reworks and support issues later on
Intuitively designed products are easier for users to navigate independently
Effective UX design also reduces the need for extensive customer support

Business Growth and Scalability

UX design is a critical driver of long-term business growth:

A well-designed user experience enhances the appeal of a product
When potential customers find a product easy to use and enjoyable, they are more likely to choose it over competitors
Positive word-of-mouth and user recommendations further amplify this effect
Satisfied users keep sharing their experiences with others
All of these effects keep boosting business growth

UX design is also scalable:

UX design is never static – it is always responding to new user needs and changing market demands
By regularly collecting user feedback through surveys, usability tests, etc., UX design teams constantly help businesses identify pain points and areas for improvement
Such scalable UX design practices enable businesses to pivot quickly and integrate new features that meet the next generation of user expectations

UX Design Process for Your Business

Want to make sure that your team’s UX design efforts come with all of the business benefits we just listed? Follow these steps:

Conduct UX Research

Conducting UX research sets the stage for the rest of the UX design process to be successful. To create an effective UX research phase:

Talk to users and stakeholders to identify their needs and expectations
Examine competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Use online surveys to gather broader insights about desired features.
Organize discussions with potential users to explore how they might interact with the product

This phase is also referred to as the problem definition stage. It helps clarify user needs, pain points, and desires regarding your product or product idea. The insights gained here are invaluable for shaping the design process:

The data collected guides design choices throughout the project
Involving developers and stakeholders early in research fosters better discussions about user needs and technical constraints
Addressing user needs upfront also prevents you from investing in the wrong design ideas

Conducting thorough UX research lays a solid foundation for a user-centered design process that also meets your business goals.

Prioritize Usability and Accessibility

Making digital products easy to use and inclusive is essential for reaching all users:

Usability ensures that everyone can navigate your product without confusion
Accessibility guarantees that individuals with disabilities can also engage with it

To guarantee your product’s design has both of these qualities:

Start with Sketches

Every UX design project begins with sketches
Using paper and pencil, designers can quickly visualize ideas
Sketching allows for immediate feedback from stakeholders, including developers and target users
This collaborative approach helps validate concepts early on

Develop Wireframes

Wireframes bring sketches to life
They serve as blueprints that outline the structure of a page without focusing on design details
Wireframes show where elements will be placed, helping stakeholders understand the layout and functionality before development begins
This clarity prevents misunderstandings later in the project

Testing

Test the wireframes to identify early usability issues
Keep testing the wireframes with users as they become more detailed

Enhance Usability and Accessibility

Integrate usability and accessibility from the beginning of the design prototyping process
Adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines every step of the way
Ensure that navigation is simple and intuitive with tree testing and card sorting
Use clear labels, consistent layouts, and logical flows in navigation
Write content in simple, straightforward language.
Use high-contrast colors for text and backgrounds to improve readability
Conduct usability testing on later prototypes with individuals with disabilities
Use their feedback to make design improvements

Commitment to usability and accessibility opens up your product to many more users.

Continuous Testing and Iteration

It is easy for design teams to become over-focused on other projects once a product is launched. Here is why losing sight of how users actually interact with your launched product is a bad idea

Why Testing Matters

What users say and what they do can be very different
Regular testing reveals these differences
It helps teams understand actual user behavior
Testing throughout and after the design process allows teams to spot issues before they hurt the brand

Steps for Effective Testing

Start with a clear goal for what you want to learn from the test
Select appropriate testing methods (usability tests, A/B testing, surveys) based on your hypothesis
Conduct tests at all stages of development, not just at the start/end
Instead of one large test, conduct a series of smaller tests
Make each test focused on a specific aspect of the product
Involve developers, and keep them informed of testing results
Use the insights gained from testing to make informed changes to the design
Each iteration should be tested again to ensure improvements meet user needs

Continuous testing and iteration are essential for never failing to meet user expectations. That is what makes good products great!

What is UX Design and Why It is Important?

User experience design, or UX design, is the integrated, holistic approach to creating effective, valuable, and memorable digital experiences. It is a multifaceted design process, comprising a broad spectrum of disciplines, including visual design, interaction design, information architecture, and usability optimization. All of these disciplines are focused solely on the user.

Discipline of UX Design	What is It?	Why is it Important?	Tools Used	Example
Interaction Design	– The process of anticipating user needs and designing all the interactions they’ll have on the product. – Navigating through each interaction should feel natural, intuitive, and engaging.	Eliminate confusion and ensure users reach their goals efficiently.	Prototyping tools like Figma, InVision, and Axure RP to create basic user flows, user journeys, and other low-fi wireframes that visualize all possible user interactions.	Design a landing page full of micro-interactions to subtly entice users to take the next step (sign up on the website)
Information Architecture	Organize all information in the product logically using apt categories, easy-to-understand tags, and user-friendly search functions.	Make it easy for users to find what they need, regardless of how complex the information is.	Content strategy tools, tree testing tools, card sorting, and other forms of user testing.	Design progressive disclosure forms that reveal brand-related information in digestible chunks as users explore an app.
Visual Design	– Use color, typography, layouts, and other design elements strategically to guide users through their journeys and highlight key information. – Create design systems to ensure design consistency using reusable UI components and well-defined style guides.	Enhance usability; create a friction-free & visually appealing user experience that aligns with brand goals and identity.	Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, and other advanced design tools have libraries of design elements, layout templates, etc.	– Use color to differentiate user roles (e.g., blue for admin, green for user) in a web app. – Use typography to emphasize key brand-related info on the app.
Usability Optimization	– Conduct user research (one-on-one interviews, surveys, etc.) to create design prototypes. – Run usability tests on the prototypes to identify and fix user pain points.	Ensure the product’s design consistently exceeds user expectations.	Usability testing tools like Hotjar, Crazy Egg, and User-Testing.	– Analyze heatmaps to see where users click most and least on the website. – Make appropriate design updates in the areas where their attention drops the most.

The users are at the center of everything in UX design; they guide every design decision, from how the product will look to how intuitively it will function to how it will meet and exceed user expectations. Since UX designers treat users with so much reverence, digital products with strong UX design have always resonated with users. Here’s how:

Enhanced Usability

With user research and testing, to integral UX process steps, designers optimize product interfaces, streamlining user journeys, workflows, and experiences.

Engaged Users = Thriving Business

Smooth and streamlined experiences foster loyalty, encourage repeat visits, and help businesses build strong user-product bonds. Captivating interfaces keep users immersed in the product leading to higher conversions, higher ad revenues, and increased customer retention.

Aesthetic Edge

Irrespective of a website or app’s overall quality, visually appealing design can give any product an edge in making first impressions and positively influence user choices.

Cost Savings

Early focus on UX design helps teams deliver ‘market fit’ products that do not require expensive reworks in the long run.

Continuous Improvement

Constant testing, user feedback, analysis, and other forms of data-driven design changes refine products, keeping them relevant and up-to-date with evolving user needs. For example, businesses that had connections with mobile-first UX designers were able to adapt and benefit from the mobile wave quickly throughout the 2010s.

Rapid prototyping, iterative feedback, and constant refinement are three key pillars of UX design and they are the main reasons why UX is important for business success. By involving users early on in the process and iterating quickly, UX designers drive faster and more user-centric product development cycles. The benefits of these actions range from reducing market risks to lowering costs to improving user retention. In the next section of the article, we’ll explore ten more ways UX is still critical for business success:

Conclusion

Hope we have been able to explain what UX design is and why it is important for business. At Design Studio, a trusted user experience design company, we have leveraged the power of world-class UX design to elevate many brands and drive their digital products to success. To learn more about how important good UX design is for our clients, contact us now!