Summary
In recent years, hundreds of articles have been published on the best way to measure, demonstrate and argue quantitatively "what is the Return on Investment of UX & Design?" In this talk, Gonzalo will explain how to make small measurements but with great impact – rather than trying to cover a huge universe of variables to measure design's ROI, which only makes us lose ourselves in theory. It will be based on a "fictional" environment but one similar to his (hundreds of designers and hundreds of digital products across 10 countries.) Takeaways How to demonstrate your value to management by translating your work into numbers and milestones How to implement a Global DesignOps that permeates your whole company
Key Insights
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Investing in design correlates with increased revenues and higher total shareholder returns, as shown in studies by McKinsey and Harvard Business Review.
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Measuring design ROI in daily UX work requires aligning design goals with the company’s highest-level strategic objectives.
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A simple profit formula—profit equals revenues minus costs—helps to categorize design goals into increasing revenues or reducing costs.
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Separating design goals into what we want to achieve (business impact and experience) and what we need to achieve (investments in people, tools, process) simplifies ROI measurement.
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Experience-related goals, like usability and customer satisfaction, are valuable and should be tracked separately rather than forcing translation into financial metrics.
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Early involvement of design teams in business decision-making is more likely when the ROI strategy clearly links design actions to measurable business results.
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Investments in design systems can be quantified through efficiency gains, such as reduced time to market and saved working hours.
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Long-term investments like documentation and knowledge bases contribute to future cost savings and should be factored into ROI assessments.
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Design ROI strategies must be tailored to organizational maturity: early-stage teams focus on quick wins, mature teams handle complex measurement aligned with company goals.
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Maintaining a common language across organizational levels is key for design leaders to translate design success into business value comprehensible to leadership.
Notable Quotes
"Promote design means business growth — that’s been empirically demonstrated."
"We must transform the result of our success into the language of the highest level in the company."
"Profit is revenues minus costs — everything we do either helps increase revenues or reduce costs."
"Don’t spend too much time trying to translate experience goals into business metrics; show the value of experience separately."
"Documentation or knowledge base may not be a key for this year’s return, but it is for future return."
"When we launched Santander’s design system, we measured a three percent decrease in time to market as ROI."
"If you have a clear ROI strategy, you gain credibility and enter product creation earlier."
"There is no magic recipe; too many variables exist to define a direct relationship between design and financial parameters."
"The success of our ROI approach depends mainly on the moment and maturity you are in as a design team."
"Our aim as design leaders is not only growth but to be an essential part of the company’s strategy."
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