In the world of UX design, not all tasks are created equal. Some efforts lead to monumental gains, while others may yield only incremental improvements. This is where the concept of value versus effort comes into play—a critical framework for UX designers, product managers, and developers alike.

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Value refers to the benefits a feature or design improvement brings to both the users and the business. Effort, on the other hand, represents the resources (time, personnel, and technology) required to implement these changes. Understanding this balance can significantly influence decisions around which design elements to prioritize in order to maximize impact while minimizing wasted resources.

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The importance of understanding the balance between value and effort is crucial for making informed, data-driven decisions about where to focus your design efforts. If done correctly, this prioritization can lead to better products, enhanced user experiences, and higher business returns. In this article, we'll break down how to measure both value and effort, how to prioritize effectively, and provide real-world examples from UserXD’s experiences in working with top-tier clients.

Measuring Value

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Value is a broad concept that can be hard to define, especially when applied to different stakeholders such as users, the business, or other departments within an organization. However, there are several ways to pinpoint value in UX:

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Identifying Value for Users and the Business

• User Satisfaction: High-value features often correlate with enhanced user satisfaction. If a design element makes the user's life easier or more enjoyable, it's likely to increase user engagement.

• Business Goals: Features that contribute to business metrics like revenue, conversion rates, or user retention add significant value. For example, a well-designed checkout flow may lead to higher conversion rates, directly impacting the company’s bottom line.

• Task Success Rate: Metrics such as the time it takes for a user to complete a task or the success rate of that task can provide quantitative insight into value.

Methods for Assessing Value

• User Feedback: Directly surveying users through interviews, surveys, or usability tests can help assess whether a feature adds real value.

• A/B Testing: This method compares two versions of a design to see which one performs better, offering concrete data on what users find valuable.

• UX Metrics: Trackable data points such as conversion rates, task success rates, or bounce rates can help quantify the value of a feature or design improvement.

Real-World Example: Les Mills & Vodafone

In UserXD’s work with clients like Les Mills and Vodafone, we saw first-hand how improving UX led to high-performing products. For Les Mills, simplifying the workout program navigation led to a 20% increase in user engagement. In Vodafone’s case, streamlining the mobile account management interface resulted in higher customer retention rates. Both projects demonstrate how identifying and focusing on high-value features can lead to business success.

Calculating Effort

When it comes to determining effort, it’s essential to consider the resources required to implement design changes. These resources typically fall into three categories: time, team effort, and technological complexity.

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Factors to Consider

• Time: How long will it take to design, develop, and implement the feature?

• Team Resources: Will it require multiple team members from different departments, or can it be done by a small team of UX designers?

• Technological Complexity: Is the feature technically simple to execute, or will it require back-end changes, new technology stacks, or third-party integrations?

Methods for Gauging Effort

• Story Points: A common agile method where tasks are assigned "story points" based on their complexity.

• T-shirt Sizing: A simple but effective way to size tasks as small, medium, or large based on the estimated effort.

• Time Estimation: During UX sprints or planning sessions, design and development teams can provide rough estimates of how long each task will take.

Examples of ROI in UX Effort

Not all UX efforts have the same ROI. In some cases, minor changes can lead to significant user improvements, such as a redesigned button or optimized page load times. On the flip side, some high-effort projects may not yield commensurate value. For instance, spending weeks on a feature that only 2% of users will ever interact with may not justify the effort.

Prioritization Techniques

To make value vs. effort decisions actionable, you need tools and frameworks that help guide prioritization. Here are some commonly used methods:

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Value vs. Effort Matrix

One of the most widely used tools in UX, the Value vs. Effort Matrix allows teams to plot potential features on a grid that measures value on one axis and effort on the other. Features that offer high value and low effort are typically considered "quick wins," whereas features with high effort and low value are deprioritized.

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MoSCoW Prioritization

The MoSCoW method is a popular way to prioritize based on the categories of Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, and Won't-have:

• Must-have: Essential features that deliver core value.

• Should-have: Important but not critical.

• Could-have: Nice to have, but not necessary.

• Won’t-have: Features that won't be included in this phase but could be revisited later.

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Application to UX Roadmaps

Both of these methods are invaluable when mapping out UX roadmaps. For example, plotting features based on value and effort ensures that UX teams work on what will deliver the most impact. By making data-driven choices using tools like the Value vs. Effort Matrix, product managers and UX designers can focus on optimizing both the user experience and the product's return on investment.

Case Study: UserXD’s Value vs. Effort in Action

One of our most successful applications of the value vs. effort framework occurred during our work with a Business training client (name anonymized for confidentiality). The client was experiencing high customer churn rates, and our goal was to improve the user experience of their online training platform.

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Initial Assessment

We conducted an audit of the platform, identifying several areas for improvement. We then plotted each potential UX enhancement on a Value vs. Effort Matrix. Features like simplifying the sign-up flow and adding in-app notifications were identified as high-value, low-effort "quick wins." On the other hand, redesigning the entire back-end system, while potentially valuable, was considered too high in effort for the current product cycle.

This allowed us to then go onto experimentation on each of these high value no brainer changes. Sometimes, they are straightforward and can be easily implemented, othertimes they require a testing framework to experiment and evaluate  the changes. You can then use a similar effort vs ease matrix to plan your experiments.

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Outcome

By focusing on quick wins, we were able to significantly reduce customer churn within a short time frame, increasing user satisfaction by 15%. This value-effort prioritization allowed us to deliver impactful changes without overextending the development team’s resources.

Conclusion

The balance between value and effort is a cornerstone of successful UX design. Focusing on delivering the most value with the least effort ensures that both users and businesses benefit from a product’s design without unnecessary resource strain.  

By applying using these frameworks you can identify low hanging fruit and make impact immediately.  

If you're interested in auditing your UX design efforts or need help making these decisions, UserXD offers consultative workshops to help businesses optimize their design strategies.  

Get in touch today to see how we can help your team balance value and effort for the best UX results.

By Daniel Birch  

CEO / UX strategist  
UserXD  

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