The hidden cost of ignoring User Experience design in Product Development

Avoid the pitfall of underestimating User Experience design (UX) in your product development journey. Sure, the temptation of quick savings and rapid time-to-market is strong. But here is the catch: in the long run, neglecting UX could cost you a fortune. The sprint might get you to the finish line faster, but the marathon – though demanding – prepares you for the long haul. UX designers are your invaluable marathon trainers. They make your product not only usable, but also enjoyable for the people who matter most: your users.

Our UX designers do not just make assumptions; they dive deep into the world of your users, understanding their needs, wants, and behaviors. This knowledge is not just useful; it is a gold mine. Knowing your users means knowing your customers. And knowing your customers is the key to creating a product that does not just meet their needs but exceeds their expectations.

To delve deeper into the power of UX design, we invite you to read our previous article: The power of UX design for your product and business. It provides a comprehensive look at what UX is and how you can use it to achieve business objectives.

Now, despite UX’s crucial role in Product Development, it is surprising how often it gets ignored, with organizations primarily focusing on production. Let’s take a look at what that decision might cost you.

Development time and cost

Consider this: without a clear understanding of your users’ needs and behaviors, your development team may spend countless hours creating features that users do not want or need. Jumping straight into the production phase of product development, while ignoring UX, might give the impression that the team is well-equipped with the necessary knowledge to create a product that satisfies both user needs and business objectives. However, without prior validation, the knowledge the team has may be mere assumptions. More often than not, this leads to a product that does not meet the user needs and business goals. Once real users start to interact with the product, issues start to surface. Ignoring UX in the early stages of product development can lead to costly redesigns and iterations later on. It is like building a house without a blueprint; you are bound to make costly mistakes and corrections along the way.

Customer support cost

One of the issues that will arise is the following: when your product, developed without a strong focus on UX, has just hit the market. It is not long before your customer support lines start buzzing (or not, if no one is using your product at all). Your early users are finding your product difficult to use, they are encountering issues and they will turn to your customer support team for help. Every moment of support, whether that would be a phone call, an e-mail or chat, means more money and resources spent on customer support. The cost of this could be decreasing when approaching product development from a more user-centric view. Let’s take a look at the following example:

Low or decreasing conversion

Let’s consider another critical aspect of your business: the conversion rate. This metric represents the amount of users who undertake a desirable action, such as purchasing a product or subscribing to a service. Without UX, users may find it challenging to reach their goal, and will not find what they are looking for. This will most likely lead to frustrated users that withdraw from the product.

Consider this through the lens of the ‘leaky bucket’ metaphor. The resources you spend to acquire users to your product will fill the bucket, but due to poor UX, users will depart without converting – the metaphorical leakage in the bucket. As more users depart without converting, the potential revenue loss increases. 

To illustrate this with an example, let’s assume your product acquires 10.000 new users every month. With a conversion rate of 5% that means 500 users performing the desired action. However, when the conversion rates drop to 4% due to poor UX, your converting users drop from 500 to 400. 1% may seem like an insignificant drop in converting users, but this translates into a loss of 100 potential customers monthly, and 1.200 yearly. This could make the difference between growing a sustainable and profitable business, or a business that will not make it bottom line.

By prioritizing UX from the get-go you are effectively ‘plugging the leaks’ in your metaphorical bucket. And remember, acquiring new customers is often more costly than retaining existing ones. So, make sure they stick around.

Inclusivity and accessibility

Another often overlooked aspect of UX is inclusivity and accessibility. According to the World Health Organization it is estimated that 16% of the world's population lives with some sort of disability. That is more than 1 billion people. By not considering their needs in your product, you are potentially excluding a huge proportion of potential users. Make sure to cater to their needs. It is not only the right thing to do, but it also opens up a potential user base.

Issues trying to scale and expand your product

Growing a sustainable business means expanding your product, and scaling your business. When ignoring UX, UX debt will pile up. As we have talked about before, this will cut in your revenue growth, making it financially more complicated to scale the business. But not only a lack of financial resources will undermine scaling and expanding your product. The poorer the UX, the more usability problems arise. You will eventually end up with a product that has a lot of loose ends, which will make it even less usable. And we have learned: usability problems lead to frustrated users, frustrated users lead to increased support costs and decreased revenue, and low revenue coupled with high costs results in an unhealthy business. So even when you do have a lucky start with poor usability, without UX in the long run it is bound to go downhill.

Make sure to include UX

In essence, prioritizing UX from the get-go is an investment in your future product. It is about plugging the leaks in your metaphorical bucket (or preventing leaks altogether) and making sure that your product is not just usable, but enjoyable for all users. About building a sustainable business that can grow and adapt to changing users needs and market conditions. Embrace UX as a strategic tool in product development, and you will be well-equipped to seize opportunities, maximize your market potential and ensure the longevity of your product.

How we incorporate UX in our projects at ihomer

At ihomer, we recognize the value of UX and incorporated it in our product development process. We operate with non-hierarchical, self-steering teams where UX designers play a crucial role. They take full responsibility for the design process, using methodologies like Design Thinking in an Agile environment, working alongside our talented Software Engineers. This approach allows us to stay user-centric, and adapt to changing user needs. By prioritizing UX, we are not just building products; we are crafting experiences that drive business.

To delve deeper into the power of UX design, we invite you to read our previous article: The power of UX design for your product and business. It provides a comprehensive look at what UX is and how you can use it to achieve business objectives.