UX design
UX design (user experience design) is the process of designing digital products so that using them feels as natural, pleasant, and efficient as possible. It includes user research, information architecture, prototyping, testing, and iterative improvement, all so that website or app visitors can easily get what they came for. Unlike UI design (the visual look of an interface), UX design focuses on the overall experience and the user's journey from first contact to reaching their goal.
Good UX design isn't just a matter of aesthetics. It's a measurable business advantage:
- A 9,900% return on investment. Forrester Research reports that every dollar invested in UX brings back $100 on average, and that good UX can raise conversion rates by up to 400% (Forrester, 2016)
- Companies with the best design grow 2x faster. McKinsey (300 companies, 5 years, 2M+ data points): top-quartile companies achieved 32 percentage points higher revenue growth (McKinsey, 2018)
- Investing 10% of the budget in UX improves metrics by 83%. NNGroup analyzed 72 case studies and confirmed that even a modest investment brings significant improvement (NNGroup, 2018)
- Poor checkouts cost online stores 35% of conversions. Baymard Institute (4,400+ tests, 18,000+ users): the average online store can increase conversions by 35% by improving its checkout (Baymard, 2025)
- Design-led companies outperform the market by 211%. DMI tracked these companies' stocks against the S&P 500 over 10 years (DMI, 2015)
FAQ
What's the difference between UX design and UI design?
UI design (user interface design) focuses on the visual side: colors, typography, and the layout of elements on the screen. UX design is a broader discipline that covers the entire user journey, from understanding user needs through information architecture and prototyping to testing. Good UI without solid UX is like a beautiful building with a badly designed floor plan: it looks great, but people struggle to find their way around. McKinsey's study (300 companies tracked over 5 years) confirmed that the biggest business impact comes from companies that combine an analytical UX approach with strong visual design (McKinsey, 2018).
Is investing in UX worth it for smaller companies?
Absolutely. Nielsen Norman Group recommends dedicating at least 10% of a project's budget to UX activities, and even on smaller projects this investment improves key metrics by 83% on average. Baymard Institute also shows that even small usability changes (simpler forms, better error messages, clearer navigation) can significantly reduce abandonment. For smaller companies, UX is often even more important, because they can't afford to lose visitors to a website that's hard to use (NNGroup, 2018).
How can I tell if my website has poor UX?
The most reliable indicators are analytics data and user feedback. A high bounce rate, a low conversion rate, short time on site, or a large number of abandoned orders all signal UX problems. Baymard Institute found that 18% of users abandon a purchase because the checkout process is too complicated and 19% because they're forced to create an account. Tools like heatmaps, session recordings, and user testing help uncover these problems and address them in a targeted way (Baymard Institute, 2025).
Sources:
- Forrester Research: The Six Steps For Justifying Better UX (2016): ROI study, $1 invested in UX = $100 return
- McKinsey: The Business Value of Design (2018): analysis of 300 companies, 5 years, 2M+ financial data points
- NNGroup: Usability ROI (2018): 72 case studies, average metric improvement of 83%
- Baymard Institute: UX Statistics (2025): 200,000+ hours of research, 18,000+ test users
- Design Management Institute: Design Value Index (2015): 10-year tracking of design-led companies vs. the S&P 500
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