Just to be clear, of course there’s a return on investment for UX. 1
But there are problems with that fact. 2
What is “return”? How is that calculated? If someone alters an interaction in an established product, how do you assess the return? Sales and clicks go up and down all the time for various reasons. How can you measure? How can you differentiate? 3
Often, changes to product behavior is like surgery: it’s painful, debilitating, expensive, and it makes things better in the long run. How do you measure that? How do you account for the long term value? 4
When a product has a measurable success, everyone steps forward to claim the credit. How can UX assert that it was its contribution, and not that of sales, or marketing, or Mercury in retrograde? Who will believe it?
And then there is the problem with the “investment” part. Is UX really an investment? Isn’t an investment something that—by definition—is accounted for over more than one fiscal year? Is UX accounted for that way? I’ll bet UX is expensed at your company. 6
I mean, “ROI” is a technical term for accountants. Those who are not accountants tend to imagine that it means “value.” Of course there’s value in what we do. Accounting for it is problematic. 7
If you want to track ROI, then you have to actually track it. So, how is it tracked at your company? What is the ROI of that new office building? What is the ROI of that new VP of Sales? That new Product Manager? That new Web promotion? 8
Of course there is value in interaction design. Nobody disputes that. Is there a “return on investment”? It’s not that there isn’t, it’s just that you cannot calculate it. And anyone who demands it from you is not interested in an actual answer. 9
ROI is an accounting term of art that originated in the days of expensive factories and cheap labor. It simply is not a useful measure in the digital age. Those who ask for it are using it as camouflage for something else. What do you suppose that something else is? 10
The ROI of UX is exactly the same thing as an estimate of how long software development takes. That is, irrational, non-existent, unmeasurable, irrelevant, and ultimately it’s just a cognitive stick used to thump practitioners. 11
The biggest, stankiest elephant in the room is that software dev cannot be estimated, and yet millions of middle managers spend countless hours “estimating” the inestimable. Why? Why do we not learn? 12
Does the fact that software dev is NEVER properly estimated mean that software dev lacks value? I don’t think so. 13
So the problem really isn’t “What is the ROI of UX?” The problem is “What is the value of UX?” 14
And I remain adamant in my claim that when a manager, a business person, someone who must make money off of UX, asks the UX practitioner what their value is, they are not interested in an answer. 15
When a manager asks a practitioner what their value is, it means that they just want this thing they don’t understand, don’t like, and don’t want, to go the fuck away. Why would you want to work there? 16
I am not saying that you should petulantly walk out of your job. That would be an exercise of privilege. I’m saying that you need to understand what your job is. 17
A manager who doesn’t want you there, isn’t going to let you have a significant effect on their product. So your job is to defy them. Be nice about it, but do it. Don’t let them pull your fangs. They will, and then they’ll point out that you are not contributing value. 18
And when you do defy them, and you do increase the value of the product, they will take credit for it. Practitioners are pretty powerless in the modern corporation. 19
Maybe there’s a way that we could work together? Maybe, by working together, we could be more powerful, more effective? 20
Maybe, by working together, we could kick out some of the stupid managers who think they are still running factories. Maybe then we wouldn’t have to fight our own teammates to do our jobs. 21
I don’t think working together is privilege. I think sucking up to managers is privilege. I think that taking the easy way out is privilege. I think we should fight for what we believe in, and not fighting is an exercise in privilege. 22
They’re gonna work real hard to keep your hands off of the real product. Their main tool for doing that is by giving you a harmless sandbox in which to play. Is that what you want? To play in their harmless sandbox and not actually do anything significant? 23
I don’t give a shit if any practitioner wants to fight or not. 24
It’s totally okay for any practitioner to say, “I don’t have the time/money/access or yes, privilege” to fight for our chosen profession. 25
But it really burns my toast when the LEADERS of our chosen profession say, “Don’t rock the boat. When the boss demands eyewash and bullshit, just give it to him.” That is NOT what leaders should do. Leaders need to take the high road. 26
Leaders HAVE the privilege. And, as we all know, along with privilege comes responsibility. And leaders have that responsibility. I want to see it exercised. Not sucking up. 27
