June 6, 2024
4 min

Event Recap: Measuring the Value of UX Research at UXDX

Last week Optimal Workshop was delighted to sponsor UXDX USA 2024 in New York. The User Experience event brings together Product, Design, UX, CX, and Engineering professionals and our team had an amazing time meeting with customers, industry experts, and colleagues throughout the conference. This year, we also had the privilege of sharing some of our industry expertise by running an interactive forum on “Measuring the Value of UX Research” - a topic very close to our hearts.

Our forum, hosted by Optimal Workshop CEO Alex Burke and Product Lead Ella Fielding, was focused on exploring the value of User Experience Research (UXR) from both an industry-wide perspective and within the diverse ecosystem of individual companies and teams conducting this type of research today.

The session brought together a global mix of UX professionals for a rich discussion on measuring and demonstrating the effectiveness of and the challenges facing organizations who are trying to tie UXR to tangible business value today.

The main topics for the discuss were: 

  • Metrics that Matter: How do you measure UXR's impact on sales, customer satisfaction, and design influence?
  • Challenges & Strategies: What are the roadblocks to measuring UXR impact, and how can we overcome them?
  • Beyond ROI:  UXR's value beyond just financial metrics

Some of the key takeaways from our discussions during the session were: 

  1. The current state of UX maturity and value
    • Many UX teams don’t measure the impact of UXR on core business metrics and there were more attendees who are not measuring the impact of their work than those that are measuring it. 
    • Alex & Ella discussed with the attendees the current state of UX research maturity and the ability to prove value across different organizations represented in the room. Most organizations were still early in their UX research maturity with only 5% considering themselves advanced in having research culturally embedded.
  1. Defining and proving the value of UX research
    • The industry doesn’t have clear alignment or understanding of what good measurement looks like. Many teams don’t know how to accurately measure UXR impact or don’t have the tools or platforms to measure it, which serve as core roadblocks for measuring UXRs’ impact. 
    • Alex and Ella discussed challenges in defining and proving the value of UX research, with common values being getting closer to customers, innovating faster, de-risking product decisions, and saving time and money. However, the value of research is hard to quantify compared to other product metrics like lines of code or features shipped.
  1. Measuring and advocating for UX research
    • When teams are measuring UXR today there is a strong bias for customer feedback, but little ability or understanding about how to measure impact on business metrics like revenue. 
    • The most commonly used metrics for measuring UXR are quantitative and qualitative feedback from customers as opposed to internal metrics like stakeholder involvement or tieing UXR to business performance metrics (including financial performance). 
    • Attendees felt that in organizations where research is more embedded, researchers spend significant time advocating for research and proving its value to stakeholders rather than just conducting studies. This included tactics like research repositories and pointing to past study impacts as well as ongoing battles to shape decision making processes. 
    • One of our attendees highlighted that engaging stakeholders in the process of defining key research metrics prior to running research was a key for them in proving value internally. 
  1. Relating user research to financial impact
    • Alex and Ella asked the audience if anyone had examples of demonstrating financial impact of research to justify investment in the team and we got some excellent examples from the audience proving that there are tangible ways to tie research outcomes to core business metrics including:
    • Calculating time savings for employees from internal tools as a financial impact metric. 
    • Measuring a reduction in calls to service desks as a way to quantify financial savings from research.
  1. Most attendees recognise the value in embedding UXR more deeply in all levels of their organization - but feel like they’re not succeeding at this today. 
    • Most attendees feel that UXR is not fully embedded in their orgnaization or culture, but that if it was - they would be more successful in proving its overall value.
    • Stakeholder buy-in and engagement with UXR, particularly from senior leadership varied enormously across organizations, and wasn’t regularly measured as an indicator of UXR value 
    • In organizations where research was more successfully embedded, researchers had to spend significant time and effort building relationships with internal stakeholders before and after running studies. This took time and effort away from actual research, but ended up making the research more valuable to the business in the long run. 

With the large range of UX maturity and the democratization of research across teams, we know there’s a lot of opportunity for our customers to improve their ability to tie their user research to tangible business outcomes and embed UX more deeply in all levels of their organizations. To help fill this gap, Optimal Workshop is currently running a large research project on Measuring the Value of UX which will be released in a few weeks.

Keep up to date with the latest news and events by following us on LinkedIn.

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1 min read

What’s the difference between UI and UX?

UI and UX are two terms that are often used interchangeably and confused for one another, but what do they actually mean? And is there a crossover between them?

These two terms have only grown in use in recent years, thanks largely to the exploding technology sector. This is great news. For organizations, effectively harnessing UX and UI enables them to build products and services that people will actually want to use – and continue using. For users, they’ll have access to products designed for them. 

What is UX? 🤳🎯

User experience (UX as it’s commonly called) refers to the experience that a person has with a product or service. 

We can determine whether a user experience is good or bad based on how easy (or difficult) it is for users to interact with the various elements of a product or service. Is the sign-up flow easy to use? Does the CTA button on the homepage encourage users to click? UX design exists to answer questions like these – and here’s how.

At the core of UX design is user research, which you can use to understand customer pain points and actually build products designed for the people using them. Typically, user research involves the use of a number of different research methods designed to answer specific questions. Card sorting, for example, can show you how people think the information on your website should be arranged.

Designer and information architect Peter Morville came up with the user experience honeycomb, which demonstrates the various components of UX design.

The UX honeycomb. Source.

Don Norman of Nielsen Norman Group defines UX as “[encompassing] all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company, its services, and its products”.

If this seems broad, that’s because it is. UX actually extends beyond just the digital products of an organization and can be used for areas like retail, customer service and more. In fact, there’s actually a growing movement to replace UX with customer experience (CX), as a way of encompassing all of these disparate elements.

What is UI? 🪄📲

User interface (UI), in the most stripped-back definition, is the interface by which a user and a computer system communicate with one another. This includes the touchscreen on your smartphone, the screen on your laptop, your mouse and keyboard and countless other mechanisms.

With this in mind, user interface design is focused on the elements that users will see on these interfaces, such as buttons, text and images. UI design is all about layout, look and feel. The objective of UI design is to visually guide users through an interface so they can complete their task. In a nutshell, you don’t want a user to think too hard about what they’re doing.

Shown here: The user interface of the Tesla Model S. Source.

UI has its origins in the 1980s, when Xerox developed the very first graphical user interface (GUI). Instead of needing to interact with a computer through a programming language, people could now use icons, menus and buttons. The rest, as they say, is history. Apple came along with the Macintosh computer in 1984 (bringing with it the first point and click mouse), and now we’re all carrying smartphones with touch screens that even a baby can operate.

Like UX, UI has grown significantly – going far beyond what you’ll see on a computer screen. Those involved in the field of UI design today will work as much on the interfaces of computer programs and apps as they will on the user interfaces of cars, wearable devices and technologies in the home. If current trends continue, UI design is likely to become an even bigger field in the years ahead.

What’s the difference between UX and UI? 👀

UX and UI are both essential components of a product or service. You can’t have one without the other, and, as we’ve explored, neglecting one could have serious consequences for your product’s success.

The difference between UX and UI is that UX is focused on the experience of using something and UI is focused on the look and feel of the interface. 

“User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are some of the most confused and misused terms in our field. A UI without UX is like a painter slapping paint onto a canvas without thought; while UX without UI is like the frame of a sculpture with no paper mache on it. A great product experience starts with UX followed by UI. Both are essential for the product’s success”. - Rahul Varshney, co-creator of Foster.fm

The difference between UX and UI is that UX is focused on the experience of using something and UI is focused on the look and feel of the interface. 

Or, if you’d prefer a statement from venerable Nielsen Norman Group: “It’s important to distinguish the total user experience from the UI, even though the UI is obviously an extremely important part of the design. As an example, consider a website with movie reviews. Even if the UI for finding a film is perfect, the UX will be poor for a user who wants information about a small independent release if the underlying database only contains movies from the major studios”.

With this in mind, let’s now take a look at the people behind UX and UI. What do the roles look like in these fields? And, more importantly, what do they involve?

UX and UI jobs guide 📱🧑🏻💻

  • Visual designer: This role works with other design roles in the organization (brand, marketing, etc) to ensure designs match brand guidelines. Visual designers also work with UX designers to verify that designs meet accessibility and usability requirements.
  • UX strategist: At the core, a UX strategist should act as a champion of good UX. That is to say, work to ensure the principles of usability and human-centered design are well understood and utilized. They should also assume some of the responsibility of product-market fit, and work with product managers and the ‘business’ side of the organization to mesh business requirements with user requirements.
  • UX designer: The most common UX profession, UX designers should have a strong understanding of the principles of UX design as well as some research ability. Essentially a jack of all trades, the UX designer will float between all stages of the UX lifecycle, helping out with usability tests, putting together prototypes and working with other areas of the organization.
  • Service designer: The service designer looks at the entire end-to-end process and works with other designers, pulling them when required to liaise on visual designs and UI work. In a smaller organization, the responsibilities of this role will typically be absorbed by other roles, but eventually, there comes a time for the service designer. 

Wrap up 🎬

UX and UI as terms are only going to continue to grow, especially as technology and technology companies continue to proliferate across the globe. If you want to make sure that the user experience and user interfaces of your product or service are fit for the people using them, there’s no better place to start than with user research using powerful tools.

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1 min read

Get a headstart on your research with templates

We’re excited to announce our first six project templates are now available in Optimal Workshop! We understand that not everyone knows where to start with customer research, so these ready-made templates have been created with UX industry experts to give you the confidence to quickly launch studies and get the results you need to make data-driven decisions.  

Templates aren’t only a great solution for people who need guidance with which study type to use and when; our detailed templates also give you the tools to develop your IA thinking, compare the performance of studies over time, and get detailed project plans to guide you through your information architecture. 

How do templates work?

On the dashboard, you’ll see a new button called Browse Templates. From the templates menu, you can select a template that matches your use case, e.g. ‘I need to organise content into categories’. The templates are a helpful starting point, for you to adapt to suit your research goals. 

Let’s take a look at some of our favourite project templates. 

Organize content into categories

This template helps you design the best categories to organize your information based on how your  users think. It's useful for designing your product, website, or knowledge base experience, as well as re-evaluating any part of it. In this template, we will first conduct an open card sort, and then use that information to design a navigation structure that will be tested on end users.

1. First up run a card sort with OptimalSort

During this study, users will organise all information presented to them into categories they create themselves using an open card sort. This method is great for generating category ideas based on how users process this information allowing you to better design an experience in a more user-focused way. To find out more on how to set up your card sort, refer to our card sorting 101 guide.

2. Test your navigation structure with a Treejack

Based on the groupings that were produced from the card sort, you can now generate a hierarchy for your users to test using Treejack. Users search for the information you’ve categorised and represented as a hierarchy, which is valuable because it helps to confirm whether information placed within your hierarchy is findable and understandable.  

To learn more about tree testing, refer to our tree testing 101 guide.


Evaluate an existing navigation experience 

Regularly evaluating an existing navigation experience is a good way to monitor the health and performance of your website and product. This template is useful for both redesigning your experience and for re-evaluating part of it by helping you design ideal categories to organize your information based on how your target users think and improve findability and task completion. 

1. Start by identifying your top tasks using Reframer

Using Reframer, conduct interviews with various stakeholders in your business to evaluate and theme which tasks your organization believes are the most important within your existing environment. This is a solid first step towards building a list of top tasks for testing. Reframer allows you to easily visualize and group your observations by proximity using the affinity map.  

2. Survey users to understand their top tasks

Next, survey users to confirm their top tasks and identify any existing issues with our survey tool Questions. This will provide insight into what users believe are their top tasks and whether anything is getting in their way to achieve them. This step helps to ensure all design work is informed by up-to-date user tasks.

3. Design and test your current experience in Treejack  

Using the prioritised top tasks create a tree test using Treejack to test your navigation experience with your users. For example “How would you open a home loan” or “How would you upgrade your broadband plan” This will enable you to see how your users navigate your website in order to achieve the most business critical tasks in your organization. This is a valuable step that helps to identify information and design problems to solve early in the design process. 

More templates from our community

This is just the beginning of templates in Optimal Workshop and while we continue to add value and build up our collection, we’d love your input! If there are templates that you regularly use and think the community could benefit from, let us know at hello@optimalworkshop.com.

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1 min read

Bear Liu: How visual thinking can improve communications in design workplaces

When Bear Liu was teaching himself design, he struggled remembering concepts since English wasn’t his first language. To help, he started doodling. By drawing pictures that related to what he was learning, he found he could not only remember them better, he could understand and communicate more effectively too. Ever since, he’s used the power of drawings and pictures to relay information in ways people can use.

Bear gives examples of how visual communication can help design workplaces to relay information in a more memorable and usable way. It may only seem like a minor change, but the difference can be significant.

Bear’s background 🎤

Bear Liu is a Product Designer at Xero, an online accounting platform that’s used all over the world. He’s also a Design Mentor at Springboard and CareerFoundry, and an Apple Award-Winning podcast host at BearTalk.

His background is in science education. As a self-taught designer, Bear has helped a raft of large and small businesses with digital products over the last 16 years. His clients come from diverse backgrounds and industries across the globe. Bear's professional passions also carry over into his hobbies. Outside of work he enjoys reading, drawing, and producing videos & podcasts on tech and design.

Contact Details:

You can find Bear on LinkedIn, or listen to his podcast, BearTalk.

Unleash your visual superpower as a communication pro 🦸🏻

When it comes to addressing business challenges it is important to keep these three aspects in mind: 

  1. Understanding - break down complex problems and solutions so everyone can understand. 
  2. Memory - retaining information in your mind is difficult even with note taking.
  3. Communication- People relate to words differently, and the meaning of something can easily get lost in translation. This issue is more prevalent with remote work.

Bear Liu strongly believes that visual communication helps people understand, remember and communicate information more effectively. Why?

  • It helps to focus. Pictures remove distractions and draw attention to where it’s desired.
  • It’s a token. A picture is universal - a house or a smiley face means the same thing to people that speak different languages. 
  • Most people are visual thinkers. Studies have found humans are hard-wired to process visual information faster. We are better at storing information in images, rather than numbers and letters.

But what if I can’t draw? This is a common issue Bear finds when talking to people about this. It’s not about the quality of the drawing itself, it’s about what it means. By delivering a message through a picture, it becomes understandable. Many of Bear’s drawings only ever remain in draft form. Even simple doodles can have meanings that make concepts clear.

In his design work at Xero, Bear has used drawing and sketches to great effect in a range of instances:

  • The accessibility tree was a complex, abstract system, but by drawing it (on a literal tree), and adding a few notes alongside it, the terminology became much more understandable.
  • Sketching how customers work made it easier to describe how Xero could help them. It was much more memorable than writing it out in paragraphs.
  • Wrapping the year in product design. A written summary of a year’s work is long-winded. Instead, Bear drew a tree and pinned key words, quotes and achievements to communicate the highlights.
  • UX terminology explanations can be difficult for those outside the industry to comprehend. Bear challenged himself to share 1 minute videos that accompanied simple drawings to help colleagues understand them, and had rave reviews.
  • Sketching notes is a great alternative to writing notes at conferences or meetings. Presenters can draw to help audiences follow along, and people in the audience themselves can also sketch their own notes.

Why it matters  🔥

Bear has adapted visual thinking to his own product design process and has seen a noticeable improvement in communication as a result.

People are busy - their brains are packed with all sorts of information, and they’re easily distracted by other things they have on their minds. By delivering information in a way that helps them to focus on it, remember and understand it, designers can achieve their ultimate goals.

As Bear also notes, drawing is fun. It’s much more rewarding than using words, as well as much more effective.

Bear used the example of his talk at UX New Zealand 2023 as a great place to use a drawing. Rather than follow along with his message by scribbling notes the whole way through, those in the audience could capture the biggest lessons easily in one simple drawing.

  • First, Bear drew one stick figure to represent himself as a speaker. He drew three speech bubbles, where audience members could write the most notable points he said.
  • Then he drew another stick figure, which represented the audience member listening to him. They had three thought bubbles, which people could populate with their biggest takeaways from the speech.

That one simple drawing is a template that can be used in any speech or meeting to remember the key points.

Seeing is believing

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