Creating a finely-tuned User Experience strategy is the gorilla in the room that many enterprises and businesses today are now acknowledging. Earlier, UX was in the domain of UI designers who worked by creating a visual and functional layer of software, allowing users to interact with the enterprise.

With digital evolution unfolding and businesses adopting tools for digital transformation, the domain of user experience has acquired a strategic nature. UX is now responsible for not just aesthetic user interfaces, but also every aspect from designing to building a consumer-to-company relationship, and to aligning the user experience with the strategic goals of the enterprise.

UX is more than just designing UI

Many businesses that are still undergoing a digital transformation have not yet been able to fully adapt to this redefinition of UX. Many user experience teams still continue to focus only on designing user interfaces, overlooking the strategic nature of UX. The lack of a long term UX strategy, unweighted investment towards UX infrastructure development, or challenges in hiring the right team—all play a role in ensuring the status quo.

While designing user-friendly visual experience in terms of website development or app development are hygiene factors today, unless UX practitioners redefine their roles in line with changing realities, the full potential of a UX strategy will remain untapped.

Enterprises looking to perfect their UX strategy often get confused between one that offers the best possible user experience and one that generates higher revenue. Often, businesses do not reflect on understanding how their approach to UX fits into the larger picture of their organizational setup. Just like other aspects of business, the organizational structure, ethos, and strategy for UX are not a one-size-fits-all affair.

Aligning UX with Business Strategy

The UX strategy for any enterprise is directly correlated to the nature of business in question. If the business strategy of an enterprise is to deliver the best user experience in an industry that is teeming with competition, then a UX strategy needs to prioritize seamless user experience over revenue generation. Similarly, if the enterprise aims to be a pioneer in its industry, its UX strategy needs to focus on brand differentiation and uniqueness.

To attain a balance between UX strategy that builds great customer experiences with higher business revenues, enterprises need to reflect on the following fundamental parameters:

1: Synchronization of UX Strategy with the Enterprise’s Overall Vision

Every enterprise strives to attain the principles reflected in its vision statement. Connecting a vision statement with the UX game-plan may sound a little surreal, but successful business enterprises have made it happen.

Sports giant Nike is testimony to how the company’s vision statement (“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”) gets reflected in its UX approach. All user interfaces by Nike—be it web or mobile apps or product development—are aimed at an athlete’s vision and focus that can bring about a sense of inspiration and innovation, synchronizing them with Nike’s vision. The business strategy, the UX roadmap, and the long term vision are all in harmony as the company delivers successful products, programs, and user interfaces to its clientele.

Businesses may find it difficult to seek and correlate business priorities and UX design decisions on their own. The use of an independent service provider capable of delivering customized UX solutions for enterprises can be helpful in such cases.

2: Knowing Your Competitors

UX strategy needs to be independent in spirit. Yet, it should take into consideration how an enterprise is positioned compared to its rivals. The user experience approaches of competitors and their product lines are available in the public domain.

There are many digital transformation consulting companies that offer regular audit services for UX strategy of an enterprise. Having an audit done annually or after the successful launch of any new product or service can help decode how a UX program impacted the enterprise’s revenues.

3: Understanding Customers and the Importance of User Experience for Them

As a matter of routine, business enterprises do a lot of data crunching and use digital transformation in order to offer a superior customer experience. However, a sweeping majority of businesses do not really connect with their customers to feel their pulse.

Performing market research is therefore paramount when any business enterprise seeks to chalk out their UX strategy. Consumer behavior and purchase patterns are moving goals, which can be locked onto with advanced digital tools. Businesses can then leverage the knowledge of this changing landscape to ensure their UX strategy offers customers more than what they have been looking for. Taking proactive consumer feedback is also a mechanism that allows businesses to increase revenues by attracting consumers from competitors on account of better user experience.

Aligning user experience with business strategy may appear to be a tightrope walk, but once implemented, it can help businesses build brand loyalty even while increasing sales. The presence of a collaboration partner for the enterprise can not only help compress implementation timelines but also increase business productivity in the UX domain.