The term UX (or user experience) is very popular these days. But what is UX and why everyone talks about it?  

User experience is defined as:“the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or a computer application, especially in term of how easy or pleasing it is to use”.

1. 1$ investment brings 100$ back

In the long run, investing in user experience research and design can save money and time. User experience brings about a solid return on investment.

Studies have demonstrated that for every dollar invested in UX, a business can expect to make $100 return.

When you are building a website or apps with little money, try not to fall into the “save a penny, lose a dollar” trap. Investing in UX in the research phase will save you money in several areas in the future. “According to IBM, code defects are 30 times more expensive to correct than using the right information in the first place. It is extremely unlikely that these coding defects will occur if you choose the UX design” - Steve Olenski, Forbes.

2. A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all

Harvard Business Review reported that over 20% of happy customers told 10 or more people about their experience.

Online reviews are very important. More 90% of users trust online reviews as much as they trust word-of-mouth recommendations.

Along the road, happy users and positive reviews have a direct impact on products growth and development.  

3. Gain competitive advantage

UX can make a big difference. If a user is satisfied with website design and functionality, they will prefer you among others.

Incorporating UX research and design solution such as usability testing, wireframing, prototyping will bring a lot of benefits such as lower abandonment rates and better ROI for UX projects.

4. Reduced costs all round

UX offers you the knowledge of what your users want and need. This will help you have a more effective market strategy and you will spend less on web development: 50% of a developer’s salary is wasted on fixing errors that a UX design process would have weeded out during an earlier iteration.

If users will not find vital information on your website and if your product isn't intuitive to use, they will go for help to your support services. This happend because customer support is directly correlated to product usability. The more support tickets you get, the more money you have to spend.

5. Lay the foundations for business longevity

You don’t invest in UX much time, thought or money, you risk being left behind. If in 2014, an average company spend per month for UX was between $1 and $500; in 2015, the cots were between $1,001 and $5,500.

In this report take by Yser Testing, 4.27% companies reported spending between $5,001 and $10,000 per month and a further 7.29% spent from $10,000 to $50,000 monthly.

In the end, UX is more about providing your users' value and delivering it in a seamless, effective and pleasing way. UX makes the big difference between a product that attracts and keeps users and a product that fails.