Kandice Durden is here to discuss how leading organizations build, validate, and embed customer feedback into their development cycles. It’s time to take the guesswork out of product development by putting your customers at the center of your decisions!

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5. Taking the
guesswork out of product
development
Taking the
guesswork out of
product development

6. Kandice Durden
Senior Solutions
Consultant
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7. Certainty.
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8. Why don’t we have
certainty?

9. 9
55
30
15
70
What % of PMs
frequently guess
when making
product decisions?

10. 15 30 55 70
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11. What % of high-fidelity
prototypes are not
validated on
customers?
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19
62
30
73

12. 19 30 62 73
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13. How often (%) are trends
in analytics diagnosed
without insights from
customers?
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47
32
15
58

14. 15 32 47 58
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15. About the survey
● Drawn from CX-interested business people and educators around the world
○ Includes designers, researchers, product managers, marketers, and executives
○ Reasonably representative of job roles and industries
● Ninth annual edition
● Over 5,100 respondents from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, India, Mexico, Singapore,
Spain, United Kingdom, United States
● Fielded December 2021 – January 2022
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16. We’re building
products and
experiences faster
than ever
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And making decisions faster at each
stage of the development process

18. All without one key perspective…
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What am I doing
with my customer?
CRM
What is my
customer doing
in my product?
Product Analytics
What is the
customer
sentiment?
Survey
Management
Human Insight
What is it
like to be
my customer?

19. of product managers struggle to
arrange feedback meetings with customers*
Key resources struggle to connect with customers
“in flight”
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Inconsistent &
ad-hoc testing
Constrained
research resources
Slow
time-to-insight
Siloed learnings
& evidence
65% of designers do not have
resources to help them gather customer
feedback on designs*
45%
Source: UserTesting CX Industry Report, 2021

20. Because of this we’re making mistakes…
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Failed launch of Photoshop
image extraction feature
Wasted 10 week dev cycle
UserTesting Case Study
$300M mistake

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And there’s a huge
cost associated to
these mistakes
Sources: The Cost of Poor Software Quality in the US: A 2018 Report (CISQ) 2018; Core set of effectiveness metrics for for software and IT (ISixSigma)
$2.26 Trillion
spent on software re-work
(not including tech debt)
30-50%
of total effort is typically
spent on re-work
The cost to correct a problem
increases rapidly with time

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What does this
look like in
practice?

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Flight have been
attempting to improve
the “flight finder”
functionality…

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Launch
Product
A/B X
Designs X
Ideas
PERFORMANCE
INNOVATION & EXPERIMENTATION
Tech
Cross/
industries
Competitors
User behavior
User behavior
Trends
Business
OBSERVATION
Single researcher feeds observation
funnel with traditional approaches
Designs lead by internal hypothesis
and understanding of observations
Focus
Objective
Directions

26. Challenges
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Optimizing the flight finder
$20k per sprint
— 5 sprints wasted
with non-optimal
outcomes
Demotivated
employees
Siloed approach to
experimentation -
wasted resource

27. The solution:
Embedding
Human Insights
in each step
of the process
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Fail Early, Learn Early
Live
quant data
Identify the
problem/
opportunity
Prioritize
the
requirement
Create the
solution
A/B
testing
Quant data
to provide
confidence before
full release
GO
LIVE
Discovery to
understand
the problem/
opportunity
Validate solution
with qualitative
feedback to remove
subjectiveness from
decisions
Identify
unmet needs,
gaps, and
frustrations
early
PHASE 1:
CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY
PHASE 2:
CUSTOMER DRIVEN DESIGN
PHASE 3:
LAUNCH WITH CONFIDENCE
ITERATIVE
Keep in-step with your customer changing behaviors. Proactive, Lean and Objective Design,
Development & Optimization

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Launch
Product
A/B X
Designs X
Ideas
PERFORMANCE
INNOVATION & EXPERIMENTATION
Tech
Cross/
industries
Competitors
User behavior
User behavior
Trends
Business
OBSERVATION
Broad insights on customer
behaviours & market trends
All designs validated by the customer
before passed to engineering
Focus
Objective
Directions
More certainty
CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY CUSTOMER DRIVEN DESIGN LAUNCH WITH CONFIDENCE

30. The Solution:
Embedding
Human Insights
into each step
of the process
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31. Insights
- Users require fewer steps to booking
- reference of fewer add on pop-ups
during the booking process
- TAP Preferred booking experience
overall: clear, easy and affordable
Audience
- 30-65 + years old
- UK Based
- Frequent Flyers
AIRLINE COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
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Target audience recruited in < 30 mins

32. Insights beyond
data
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Uncover the true
meaning of quantitative
insights that put your
customer at the heart of
digital experiences.

33. Prioritizing a roadmap
around customer
needs

34. Prioritizing a
roadmap
around
customer
needs
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35. The Solution:
Embedding
Human Insights
into each step
of the process
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36. Customer driven
design
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Embedding insights into an
iterative approach

37. Design, test, iterate
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Live
quant data
Identify the
problem/
opportunity
Prioritise
the
requirement
Create the
solution
A/B
testing
Quant data
to provide
confidence before
full release
GO
LIVE
Discovery to
understand
the problem/
opportunity
Validate solution
with qualitative
feedback to remove
subjectiveness from
decisions
Identify
unmet needs,
gaps, and
frustrations
early
PHASE 1:
THE DISCOVERY ROADMAP
PHASE 2:
CUSTOMER DRIVEN DESIGN
PHASE 3:
LAUNCH WITH CONFIDENCE
ITERATIVE

38. Insights
- “Round trip” icon wasn’t noticeable
- Expect to see price differences for
each date
- Seat chart doesn’t show where the
front of the plane is and the exit seats
- Confirmation page gives reassurance
before booking
Audience
- 30-65 + years old
- UK Based
- Frequent Flyers
Figma prototype feedback
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Target audience recruited in < 40 mins

39. The Solution:
Embedding
Human Insights
into each step
of the process
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40. Most clients say that it takes 4-6 weeks to complete an
A/B Test:
● Time & resources required to create the test
○ Designers
○ Developers
○ Data Analysts
● Time to get to significance
● Variant win rates can be as low as
10% - 15% on average
Driving innovative & efficient experimentation
1. PROBLEM
UNDERSTANDING
2. QUALITY OF
EXECUTION
(Design & Dev)
WINNING
SOLUTIONS
Complete
understanding
No idea
Poorly designed,
buggy code
High quality
design, usability
& code
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Keeping ahead of behavior change

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Driving innovative & efficient
experimentation
Run A/B test
More confidence that the experiment
is solving a customer problem/the
time is being used efficiently
Engage product team
Prototype variant(s) based on
CRO team collaborating with
the product org
What do the insights tell us?
Analytics show a drop off
post-search and qual insights
suggest consumers are confused
with the separation between flight
options
Why are we experimenting?
Customers aren’t progressing
beyond the flight list view
Develop a high-confidence
solution
Drive positive business
outcome - increase in
selection of flights
Problem
Statement
Gather
Insights
Build
variants
Execute
Learn/
implement

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Launch
Product
A/B X
Designs X
Ideas
PERFORMANCE
INNOVATION & EXPERIMENTATION
Tech
Cross/
industries
Competitors
User behavior
User behavior
Trends
Business
OBSERVATION
Broad insights on customer
behaviours & market trends
All designs validated by the customer
before passed to engineering
Focus
Objective
Directions
More certainty
CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY CUSTOMER DRIVEN DESIGN LAUNCH WITH CONFIDENCE
Higher efficiency, less waste & conversion lift

43. How do we change?

44. UP TO
50%
The percentage that
rework can make up of
the total project cost
SOURCE: Global Journal of CS and Tech,
https://globaljournals.org/GJCST_Volume18/5-Rework-and-Reuse-Effects.pdf
“Half of your software
development budget will
be wasted on rework
that is avoidable…”
IEEE, Why Software Fail

45. Problem validation*
Discovery interviews
Competitive analysis
Benchmarking*
Ongoing assessments
Optimize A/B testing
Understand product adoption
Discover Design Build Deliver &
Optimize
Building human insight into your process
Start small with few places to programmatically plug-in, then grow from there
Common
use
cases
Common
workflow
platforms
and
tools
Continuous Discovery Customer Driven Design Launch with confidence
Concept testing*
Feature prioritization
Iterative prototyping
Website/Mobile navigation
Pre-production and staging
environment
Iterative testing through
development*

46. Drive 665% ROI with UserTesting
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Report findings based on interviews with UserTesting customers across multiple industries
DRIVE BUSINESS
RESULTS
140% lift in
avg. annual
customer
spend
60%
improvement in
conversion
rates
Two-week
reduction in
development
cycles on avg.
50% time
savings for
marketing
teams
90% saving in
engineering
costs
$1.1M in total
cost savings
over three
years
ITERATE MORE
RAPIDLY
REDUCE
COSTS
Total Economic Impact Report
665% ROI and $2.03M in value
over a 3-year period
Analysis showed a composite organization adopting the
UserTesting Human Insight Platform would achieve:

47. Read how the world leader in
customer support software
masters product design and
development

48. Read how the world leader in customer support software
masters product design and development
Challenge
Zendesk constantly adapts the company’s SaaS software
to the changing needs of its customers. But it’s a tricky
endeavor. Zendesk customers manage communications
and support portals for some of the largest companies in
the world. The software needs to look great and work
seamlessly, so that those organizations can best service
their own customers.
Because Zendesk recognizes the criticality of the
customer experience, they ensure they test their product
functions—and make them as great as they can
be—before they go live. We sat down with some of the
designers and researchers to learn more about how
they’ve partnered with UserTesting to innovate for
Zendesk.
Solution
Pooja Patel - Senior UX Researcher - Customer Onboarding
Zendesk’s leadership noticed that their software’s onboarding
page had lower engagement than they would have liked. Research
and Design teams built out a new onboarding experience and
tested this with the UserTesting Contributor Network. Feedback
helped them decide on placement of the ‘get help’ button and the
inclusion of help center articles.
Mac Le - Product Designer - Custom Ticket Fields
Zendesk has more than 100,000 customers using custom ticket
fields. Custom ticket fields let support agents store and access key
details, giving them extra context to help their customers. The
experience was a scrollable page and UserTesting contributors
said it was too long. Taking that feedback into account, Zendesk
changed the page to a two-step format that customers will enjoy.
Increase in annual
recurring revenue
based on
improvements to
the ‘Instant Buy’
function
Cleaner design
and improved
customer
experience for the
admin center,
‘Help’ panel,
custom ticket
fields, and more
Boost in clicks on
the ‘Get Help’
button
IMPACT
Website: www.zendesk.com | Industry: Technology | Region: Global | Size: Enterprise
Customer story page: https://www.usertesting.com/customers/zendesk 12% 300%
“Changes to the customer
onboarding experience went live.
The ‘get help’ button is much easier
to access, and we saw a 300%
increase in clicks on that in the first
two months. That means our new
customers let us know when they
want help—and we’re able to give
them the support they need.”
Pooja Patel
Senior UX Researcher
Zendesk

49. Read how Evernote boosted
usability testing to make
organizing notes an effortless
experience
Image source: simonmccade.com/blog/evernote

50. Read how Evernote boosted usability testing to make
organizing notes an effortless experience
Impact
15% increase in
user retention
Timely access to
“fresh eyes”
(potential new customers)
Increase in
user engagement
across devices
Website: www.evernote.com | Industry: Consumer Technology | Region: NAl | Size: Mid Market | Type: B2C
Challenge: Evernote helps customers capture, organize and share notes from anywhere and
on any device. The company operates with a rapid development process, shipping general
releases to the public every six weeks. How could they run usability studies to support
product cycles without breaking the budget?
Solution: Evernote turned to UserTesting and a diverse on-demand panel of study
contributors to gain a thorough understanding of where users encounter challenges within
their apps, and even how their hands move as they tap, swipe and rest.
Outcome: UserTesting is now a key part of Evernote’s product development cycle. Teams
launch studies as often as needed. Securing feedback has raised the team’s confidence that
they are launching easy-to-use products, which has improved user retention by over 15% and
increased user engagement.
Sr. UX Manager
Evernote
We promise Evernote
users they can take
notes anywhere and
nothing falls through
the cracks. UserTesting
helps us keep that
brand promise.
15%
Customer story page: https://www.usertesting.com/customers/evernote

51. Truly bring
empathy and
diverse
customer
perspectives into
decision making
Brand Experience
Design
Product
Growth
& Profits
Service
Sales
Market
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52. What can this start to look like?

53. Insight-driven product development with UserTesting
Platform to discover &
share human insights
Expertise to integrate
insights into workflows
Best-in-class
support & resources
Simple user experience designed to
scale with flexible, pre-built templates
Live, instructor-led & on-demand
resources develop best practices, build
skills with confidence, and ensure
success
Fuel organizational adoption of insights
through strategic planning and change
management
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54. webinars@usertesting.com
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