User Experience professionals have a plethora of knowledge from a variety of disciplines: psychology, human-computer interaction, graphic design and cognitive science. However, one essential area is often overlooked – business. In this presentation, Ashley will outline how to integrate business thinking into your UX work in order to influence decision makers and be seen as a thought leader at your company.

1. The Business of UX
Ashley Wrobel MBA
Senior UX Manager @ Manifest Digital

2. Business of UX - Why This Matters
 Regardless of company type, digital projects always have a business team and a UX
representative(s) (whether they know it or not)
 A few companies value their “UX-ers” and treat their decisions as key, but most UX
practitioners don’t work in such an environment
 As projects progress past inception, rifts can happen between main teams:
- New Discoveries
- Technology Improvements
- Constraints
- Alternative Solutions
 Without people/teams to guide away from problems, projects get off track as rifts spread
leading to:
- Budget Problems
- Scope Creep
- Key Business Stakeholders and “UX Practitioners” on Different Pages
Cancelled Projects, Frustrated Team Members, Wasted Resources, Little Overall
or No Improvement to Experience, Loss of Future UX Work
Result

3. Overlap: Business & UX

4. Goals of Business & UX
 Key Business Goals:
- Increased revenue
- Decreased costs
- Increased New Business
- Increased Shareholder Value
- Brand recognition
- Growth
 User Experience (UX) Goals:
Create strong or improved digital
interactions and product perceptions
based on an understanding of:
- User Values, Needs
- User Abilities
- User Limitations

5. Goals of Business & UX
 Unchecked Prioritization
of User Needs Leads to
an Increased Drift
Between User Needs and
Business Goals

6. The Missing
Component
A Business-Savvy
UX Lead

7. Becoming The Missing Component – Start Small
 Show teams how to “connect the dots”
• Create and Share Measureable Wireframe Goals
• When presenting, incorporate flows and diagrams often
“By updating the shopping cart page layout with clearer messaging and a
cleaner interface to alleviate common errors, we estimate a decrease in
shopping cart abandonment by 30%. This leads directly to the project goal
of improved retention rates and customer satisfaction in the checkout
process”

8.  Help Identify Problems Before They Occur
• Explore external areas that can improve experience and meet
business goals
• Identify gaps in business decisions
“Although the product page is the key focus of this project, making a few
minor updates to the home page can increase discoverability of the new
features by 50%”
Becoming The Missing Component – Start Small

9.  Develop Your Soft Skills
- Communication: Become one of the main communication points on your
team and, eventually, on the entire project. Alleviate any confusion points.
- Teamwork: Regularly work directly with business analysts, business
integration teams, marketing managers, designers, etc. to create stronger
interactions
- Adaptability: As projects change, avoid taking things personally and instead,
lead the effort to suggest new ideas
- Conflict Resolution: As team members disagree or a solution cannot be
reached, be the champion to create pro and con lists and become a neutral
party
Becoming The Missing Component – Start Small

10.  Turn Business Stakeholders into Advocates
• Discover what leading business stakeholders need to be successful in their job
and provide it to them
• Schedule touch-bases and check-ins to stay on top of changes
 Become a Leader
• Create and maintain project details documents that drive efforts
• Focus on the tie-in of business and UX results in presentations and team
discussions
• Create guiding documents to illustrate UX value and visualize objectives
Becoming The Missing Component – Start Small

11. Tools
Ecommerce Project
Project Summary: Adding New Shipping
Methods Across an Ecomm Website
Page Template # Page Title
Customer/
Business Impact
Value
Development
Impact
Customer +
Development
Impact Order of Pages
1 Home 15% 2% 17.0% 3
2 Product Matrix Page 3% 0% 3.0% 9
3 Product Description Page 10% 5% 15.0% 4
4 Shopping Cart 25% 30% 55.0% 2
5 Checkout - Shipping/Delivery Info 25% 54% 79.0% 1
6 Checkout - Billing Info 2% 0% 2.0% 10
7 Checkout - Order Review 5% 5% 10.0% 5
8 Checkout - Order Confirmation 8% 0% 8.0% 6
9 Email Communication 2% 2% 4.0% 8
10 Customer Service Page 5% 2% 7.0% 7
Pro/Con Lists
Targeted Flow Diagrams
Spreadsheets

12. Tools
Project Ecosystem Maps
Baseline Value Mapping
Sitemapping

13. Tools

14. Becoming The Missing Component
Get Big:
 Update the siloed working structure and have UX lead
efforts to meet business goals
 Start to Lead projects and re-create the traditional project
flow to focus on UX
 Help create successful projects that allow UX to lead and
even create future projects

15. Business & UX - Why This
Topic Should Matter To You
Avoid:
 Problems, Frustration, Wasted Resources, Negative Project
Aftermath & Loss of Future Work
Be More Effective:
 Add value, gain credibility, increase stakeholder satisfaction,
lead projects, and ultimately get more work

16. Other Helpful Resources
Presentation Resources
 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/201
1/09/13/the-s-m-a-r-t-user-experience-
strategy/
 http://disciullodesign.wordpress.com/20
11/12/08/6-steps-for-measuring-
success-on-ux-projects/
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljac
obs/2011/11/22/how-to-boost-your-
credibility-at-work/
 http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/
establishing-credibility.html
 http://uxmag.com/articles/communicatin
g-the-ux-value-proposition
 Communicating the UX Value Proposition
http://uxmag.com/articles/communicating-the-ux-
value-proposition
 Design is a Job (Book)
http://www.abookapart.com/products/design-is-a-job
 Mapping Business Value to UX
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2013/11/mappi
n g-business-value-to-ux-part-2.php
 How Design & UX Translate to the Bottom Line
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/11/2
3/how-design-and-user-experience-translates-to-the-
bottom-line/

17. Thank You!
ashwrobel@gmail.com
Twitter: actuallyw