Financial statistics about interfaces

A very small number of companies conduct comparative studies of the profitability of their business before and after redesign. And even fewer companies publish these studies.
I tried to find statistical, supported by normal sources of research on the benefits of design and the monetary value of usability.

Naturally, this was all done with a mercantile purpose. It may also be useful to you if you are a designer who is trying to justify a godless price tag for his services. Well, or help to part with a certain amount in favor of the designer.

Most of the data is taken from the book Cost-Justifying Usability , the lesser of a dozen other sources. Most of the figures in the source material are taken from the catastrophically paid reports of large consulting firms. Despite the fact that most of the reports are quite old, the studies in them are fairly general in nature, and the numbers are still relevant.
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* I did not include in the translation of the study, where in my opinion there were very general figures or incomprehensible evaluation criteria. In the original source you can find the full material in English.

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The economic effect of increasing usability

1. Reducing development costs

Existing development processes have a major role in technical and operational requirements. The introduction of user-oriented methods reduces the financial and time costs of development. The user interface takes up to 66% of the lines of application code and more than 40% of the development costs (MacIntyre et al 1990). Defining user requirements in the early stages of a software development project allows you to identify and correct errors in them, which leads to a reduction in financial and time costs.

1.1 Reducing development costs by reducing unnecessary functionality

When developing a software product for a large corporate customer, it was possible to reduce the cost of testing and correcting errors by 85% by eliminating redundant functionality in the early stages of development and the formation of a technical task. The amount of funds saved was about $ 15 million, which corresponds to 18 months of the development process (Mauro, 2002)

In traditional software, and especially in e-commerce web development, only 5% of the functionality is used by customers 95% of the time. What is most striking is that in fact 70% of the user interface is not used at all or is used very rarely (Mauro, 2002)

1.2 Reducing development costs by detecting errors at an early stage of development

A change may cost 1.5 units of project resources at the concept stage, 6 units during development, 60 units during testing and 100 units at the service stage of the finished product (Pressman, 1992)

Testing usability allows you to identify interface errors in the early stages of development, when the cost of fixing them is quite low. By correcting the mistakes made at the development stage, American Airlines was able to reduce the cost of correcting them by 60-90% (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

1.3 Reducing the cost of future architecture redesign to improve the usability of future versions

The company MauroNewMedia conducted a study of a single commercial site that sells consumer goods. The site search engine produced an incorrect or incomplete search result in 57% of queries. On average, 46% of site visitors left it without finding the right product and not making an order, although the product itself was available and could be bought. After professional testing of the site and its search engine, all errors were identified and eliminated in full. The cost of redesigning the base and finalizing the site cost more than $ 1 million. The cost of professional testing at the development stage was estimated at $ 25,000 (Mauro, 2002)

1.4 Reducing costs by minimizing or completely abandoning documentation

The ease of use of the system helped discard paper instructions, which allowed the company to reduce costs by $ 40,000 a year (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

1.5 Reducing risks in the implementation of the product

In 2003, the Standish Group published a study:
34% of all IT projects were completed on time, within budget and provided the required functionality
51% of the projects caused problems - one of the requirements was not met (the deadline was met, the budget was exceeded or the required functionality was not implemented)
15% of projects were abandoned or failed.
The main reason was the inadequacy of the project requirements.
Focusing on user requests is the most effective way to reduce costs and sell a product as the customer requires (Landauer, 1996).

2. The increase in the number of sales through the network

Usability is the most important element in the success of a site:
42% of online purchases in the US were made due to satisfaction from previous communication with the seller (Forrester, 2001a)
Consumers of consumer goods point out that convenience and ease of purchase are the main factor when choosing a trading platform in the network (Forrester, 2001a)

The owners of B2C sites have noted the importance of ease of use of the site (Forrester, 2001a)

Ordinary consumers, business partners and even the site owners themselves underestimate the usability of sites. A survey of 150 leading sites does not meet consumer needs (Forrester, 2001a)

2.1 the Growth of the number of buyers who found the desired product

Zona Research found that 62% of online store users could not find the product they needed (20% of customers tried unsuccessfully to find a product three times within two months) (Nielsen, October 1998)

A study of the 15 largest shopping sites, conducted by Jared Spool, showed that users could find the information they needed only 42% of the time, despite the fact that they were on the page they needed (Nielsen, October 1998)

You can increase the sales of your site by 225%, providing users with information at the right time. In our latest research, we have established a direct effect of product list design on profitability (User Interface Engineering, 2001)

After a complete redesign of the search function and communication with the agent on the move.com home page, the rating of a successful search for a suitable agent has increased from 62% to 98%. This surge has led to an increase in the profits of real estate agents up to 150%, as well as increased demand for advertising sites on the move.com site (Vividence, 2001)

According to IBM's experience, a large-scale design change pays off very soon. According to a company representative, after the online store was restarted in February 1999, the number of visitors increased by 120% and led to a 400% increase in sales (Battey, 1999)

According to Andersen research, more than 83% of users leave the site if they understand that they need to make too many clicks to search for the required information (Arthur Andersen, 2001)

2.2 Growth in the volume of satisfied customers making a repeat purchase

Staples.com believes that creating the most understandable and simple site is the key to success in online sales and the growth of its own market share. The company spends hundreds of hours testing user environments, decision-making help items, and trends in browsing and purchasing office products and supporting small businesses. Their methods include information gathering, heuristic analysis, and usability testing. They reached 67% of repeat purchases, rejected orders decreased by 31-45%, usability increased by 10%, traffic to the site increased by 80%, resulting in increased profits (Human Factors International, 2001a)

In a user study from 1999, respondents were asked to identify 5 main reasons for making purchases through the network. The low price was one of the reasons, however it was only the third. The main thing for users was the simplicity of making a purchase, and second place was occupied by the pleasure of buying. 83% of respondents named the most important reason for buying “Ease of placing an order” (Nielson, February 1999)

A positive impression has an impact on brand loyalty. Forrester's Consumer Technographics data indicate that 42% of online purchases in the United States were made because of the satisfaction of previous communication with the seller & rdquo (Forrester, 2000b)

Buyers note that convenience and ease of purchase are a major factor when choosing a trading platform on the web (Forrester, 2000a)

Increasing the quality of customer service in the network leads to a 40% increase in the number of customers and a 10% increase in sales (Creative Good, 2000)

New buyers on the sales site spend an average of $ 127 per order, while regular customers spend an average of $ 251 per order (Nielsen, August 1, 1997)

Site At HomePortfolio.com monitored the traffic of the site, the behavior of customers, their convenience of working with the site and made internal conclusions. True changes increased traffic by 129% in the first week (Interaction Design, Inc., 2001)

2.3 Increased customer confidence in the company's website and an increase in the number of transactions concluded through the website

Before launching the EuroClix website, a test was conducted with the involvement of end users. During the first 6 months of operation, more than 30,000 people decided to register on the site. The study showed that in the case of the correct provision of information, the end user will show significantly more trust in the site (Egger & de Groot, 2000)

2.4 Transfer of help services to the network

According to the calculations of B2B companies, the use of online support costs from 5 to 25 dollars cheaper per one call (Forrester (2001a)

2.5 Increasing the number of customers recommending a site

2.6 Maintenance and growth of sales through other channels

3 Sales of products

3.1 Increasing competitiveness

Products whose production took into account the needs of the consumer were sold 80% better than previous counterparts without taking into account the requirements of consumers, and 60% higher than the manufacturer's expectations (Wixon and Jones, 1995)

The modern market dictates the conditions - convenient goods - demanded goods. Ease of use favorably distinguishes the product in a highly competitive market. Ease of use adds value to the overall level of customer satisfaction, business benefits and high profits. Customer service and satisfaction affects the company's market position. (Jones and Sasser, 1995, Prokesch, 1995)

Companies aiming at ease of use of their products do not just respond to customer needs, but exceed their expectations (Karat, 1997)

3.2 High ratings in professional reviews

4. Benefit for company employees

Companies that acquire or create convenient systems for their employees receive a huge return on their investments.

4.1 Rapid mastering and consolidation of knowledge

4.2 Reduce time and increase productivity

A large computer company spent $ 20,700 to improve the login process used by several thousand employees. As a result, on the first day of using the new system, the company was able to reduce the time spent equivalent to 41,700 dollars. The cost of redesigning the convenience of the interface, which cost $ 68,000 and used by more than 100,000 employees of the company, brought an economic effect of $ 6,800,000 for the first year of use. The cost benefit ratio was 1 to 100 per dollar invested (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

On average, the software product has 40 design flaws that affect the convenience. The cost of losses from inconvenience comes to 720% (Landauer 1995)

The user interface on average contains up to 40 errors. Eliminating 20 of the simplest of them improves the user experience by 50%. However, the best result is achieved if convenience is taken into account from the very beginning. This approach increases efficiency by 700% or more (Landauer, 1995)

Changing an IBM program on average reduced task execution time by 9.6 minutes per task, which reduced costs by $ 6.8 million in 1991 (Karat 1990)

4.3 Primary reduction of employee error, instead of subsequent correction

4.4 Reduction of employee errors that affect the quality of service.

4.5 Reduction in staff turnover due to higher job satisfaction

The coincidence of user needs and system capabilities greatly increases the enjoyment of work. In 1992, the Gartner Group conducted a usability study that showed that the user-friendliness of the user improves user satisfaction by 40% (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

Reducing staff turnover by improving the convenience of the work environment allows for a reduction in personnel costs associated with recruitment and rotation of personnel (Karat 1993a)

4.6 Reduction of staff time spent on helping colleagues

Because of the complexity of their own programs, companies have to spend up to $ 3,150 for the technical support of one employee (Gartner Group, 1997)

Non-technical staff spends 4–10% of their time helping neighbors to solve their computer problems, which is about $ 10,500 per year per computer (Nolan Norton Institute, 1997)

Non-production activities related to the computer (support, maintenance, delays in response to the call, modernization, etc.) cost the company an additional $ 5,590 per year per person (Gartner Group, 1997)

5. Reduced support and maintenance costs.

5.1 Reducing the cost of end-user technical support

Competent product development taking into account the needs of users can significantly reduce the cost of technical support and refinement, as well as bring additional profits to the company.

lucy.com found that improving product descriptions greatly reduced the number of calls and emails from users with simple questions. The cost of the changes paid off, the burden on support services dropped (Forrester (2001a))

A redesign after a usability study at Ford Motor Company reduced the number of support calls by an average of 3 calls, saving $ 100,000 (Kitsuse 1991)

The print function in Word for Windows caused users to misunderstand and, as a result, a lot of long-lasting (on average 45 minutes) calls to technical support. As a result of usability testing, the interface was changed and Microsoft acknowledged that calls were greatly reduced, resulting in significant cost savings (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

A certain company that produces printers, has released a driver, with the installation of which many users have problems. Each month, more than 50,000 users contacted tech support, which cost the company $ 500,000 per month. To rectify the situation, the manufacturer sent users a letter with changes and floppy disks with a new version ($ 3 each). 900 thousand dollars was spent on the problem. These costs could have been avoided if a failed driver had been pre-tested (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

5.2 Reducing training costs

Developing an interface using UX practices allowed one company to abandon personnel training, which saved them $ 140,000

AT & T, as a result of simplifying programs used in business processes, abandoned employee training and saved $ 2,500,000 (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

5.3 Reduced maintenance costs

During the entire life cycle of the product, 80% of the costs go to support (Pressman 1992)

80% of user support problems are related to interface problems and only 20% are related to errors or reliability issues (Pressman 1992).

Other

Forrester Research's research showed that attention to UX increases users' willingness to pay by 14.4%, increases their brand loyalty by 15.8%, and increases their likelihood to recommend your product by 16.6%.
Systems designed using user-centered techniques require an average of 25% less time to learn (Landauer, TK 1995 The trouble with computers, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, p. 227)

User-centric techniques reduce human-computer interaction errors from 5% to 1% (Landauer, TK 1995 The trouble with computers, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, p.227)

A study in 18 of the largest Australian companies supplying the product to the end user showed that the price of supporting one workstation is $ 10,000, of which at least 50% is hidden support (when users stop working and help each other). This shows how important a good interface is, which is the main cause of misunderstanding and, as a result, the need for help (Ko, C & Hurkey, M 1995 Managing end-user Computing)

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By the way, if you remove the examples, you get an excellent, very complete list of "why you need to design interfaces."

Thanks for the help in translating mitiya_andronov