The design field has long struggled to quantify the business value of quality User Experience (UX) design. While costs are easily demonstrated, calculating return on investment remains elusive. This article explores how to measure and prove UX value for internal business applications.
The Measuring Points (KPIs)
Key Performance Indicators allow departments to track performance improvements. UX metrics divide into two categories:
'Behavior' KPIs
- Abandonment rate
- Pageviews / time on site / number of clicks
- Problems and frustrations
- Task successfulness
- Task time
'Feeling' KPIs
- Loyalty
- Usability
- Credibility
- Look and feel
'Behavior' Measurement
How to Measure and Improve
Behavior KPIs are measured monthly or quarterly through task analysis. Results should be compared against previous scores or competitors to track improvement.
Abandonment Rate
This metric tracks the ratio of initiated actions to completed actions. For internal applications, user research surveys determine satisfaction levels, since employees must use the software regardless.
Pageviews / Time on Site / Number of Clicks
Optimizing user flows and reducing required clicks directly saves employee time and improves experience. Internal applications benefit significantly from streamlining navigation paths.
Problems and Frustrations
Conduct user surveys where participants think aloud while using the application. Document, quantify, and group reported issues to identify patterns affecting multiple users.
Task Succeeded and Task Time
Track completion rates and duration metrics. Analyze which tasks are abandoned or take unexpectedly long.
'Feeling' Measurement
These metrics use standardized surveys repeated over time to track improvements.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
Questionnaire-based measurement of user satisfaction, ranging from single-question surveys to comprehensive assessments.
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
Single question rating likelihood of recommendation (0-10 scale). Detractors score 0-6, promoters score 9-10. Formula: Promoters - Detractors.
System Usability Scale (SUS)
Post-task questionnaire using Likert scale responses ("strongly agree" to "strongly disagree") across multiple items.
TPI (Task Performance Indicator)
Immediate post-task questions across different categories measuring various experience dimensions.
SUPR-Q (Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire)
Certified 8-item assessment measuring user-friendliness, reliability, loyalty, and appearance.
How These Efforts Generate ROI
Productivity Gains Through Reduced Friction
Example Scenario:
An employee uses a search function 10 times daily. The current design requires clicking a search button, navigating cluttered fields, and scrolling to find the execute button, adding approximately 2 seconds per search.
Calculation:
- 20 employees × 20 seconds daily = 400 seconds (≈7 minutes)
- 200 working days annually = 1,400 minutes (≈24 hours)
- A 2-hour design fix saves 22 hours yearly per employee
Your employees will be frustrated by poor design, reducing productivity and willingness to work efficiently.
However, most applications have multiple inefficient flows, multiplying these time savings significantly.
Adding It All Up
Better Sales
Products with intuitive interfaces sell more effectively. Prospects evaluate ease-of-use alongside technical capabilities. Superior UX makes demonstrations more convincing and reliable.
Support Costs
Poor UX inflates support desk expenses through:
- How-to questions from users
- Extended employee onboarding
- Higher learning curves for complex interfaces
Productivity Improvements
Thoughtful research, wireframes, prototypes, and user testing identify optimal workflows. Streamlined processes significantly increase productivity by eliminating unnecessary steps.
Preventing Rebuilds
Insufficient user research leads to misaligned interfaces. Users may reject poorly designed applications, necessitating expensive rebuilds, entirely preventable through proper research.
Avoiding Unnecessary Features
Unvalidated feature development creates unused functionality. Internal applications benefit most from eliminating features nobody needs.
So, What Is the ROI of UX?
If you want to reduce departmental costs or improve employee productivity, consider UX next time. The surprising finding: organizations often incur massive unnecessary costs from poor UX. When calculating potential improvements within your organization using these measurement methods, user experience becomes a critical business asset.
