You’re not alone. The truth is even UX companies sometimes struggle to pinpoint the true ROI of their efforts. We know that UX as a discipline enhances outcomes, and we can easily measure our impact in terms of improved user feedback and other engagement-related metrics. But connecting those improvements to superior business performance has historically proven more challenging.
Until now.
In his New York Times-bestselling book, Think Again, organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes a deep dive into the value of critically questioning our most firmly held assumptions. In it, he argues that the best insights can often be found by “rethinking and unlearning.”
He also argues that the same approach — the art of challenging biases and methodically testing hypotheses — can be used to drive smarter business decisions. In a chapter devoted to scientific thinking, Grant cites a 2019 study from the journal of Management Science measuring the effect of a scientific approach in entrepreneurial decision-making.
In this randomized control study, researchers partnered with 116 Italian startups over the course of a year. Both groups participated in a series of training sessions on how to collect market feedback with the goal of assessing the viability of their ideas.
The control group was then left to make decisions according to their own instincts, which amounted to standard search heuristics. The second group, meanwhile, was trained to think like scientists. They were taught to rigorously test their hypotheses and use a more robust framework to predict an idea’s performance.
The results were stunning. At the end of the year, the businesses that adopted a scientific approach enjoyed a 47x increase in revenue compared with the control group.
Why is that?
The control group learned to solicit market feedback, too. But at the end of the day, they were free to go with their gut instincts. Whatever biases and personal preferences they brought to the table almost certainly influenced their business decisions.
The treatment group, on the other hand, used a formal, data-driven structure to make more informed decisions. In practice, researchers found that the latter group was more likely to pivot or adjust course based on their findings. In other words, they were less likely to fruitlessly pursue false positives and more likely to discover the true value of false negatives.
UX process offers the same advantage as the framework described in the Italian study. It’s a research-based scientific approach that allows you to make data-driven decisions about your EdTech product, including your user interface, features, and functionalities. Rather than going with what you “already know” about your users — which may or may not be as accurate as you think — UX research enables you to craft your product based on what your users really need, prefer, and think.
Unfortunately, UX hasn’t always been recognized as the scientific discipline it is. And the reality is that some UX agencies lean more heavily on the design side of things, using industry standards rather than robust research to guide them. But at Openfield, we pride ourselves on the rigor of our qualitative and quantitative research.
The upshot? Investing in UX is a no-brainer. In doing so, you won’t just measurably improve your user experience. You’ll also exponentially boost your likelihood of achieving success in the market — and increasing your revenue while you’re at it.
It’s clear that applying a scientific UX process can improve your outcomes, help you outperform your competition, and lead to increased revenue.
Specifically, UX research enables you to make smarter decisions because it:
UX isn’t just a “nice-to-have” add-on or a cumbersome overhead expense. It’s a critical investment in your product’s success — one in which a solid return is all but guaranteed. Ready to learn more? Let’s talk.