“UX needs to show business value!” Okay… But HOW?

I’ve been seeing a lot of these types of posts lately:
“UX needs to prove its value to the business!"
"UX should align with business objectives!”

And yet… almost no one ever tells you how.

It’s all vague, feel-good fluff. You walk away thinking you’ve learned something, but in reality? You’re no better off than before.

So let’s fix that.
If you want to prove UX drives business value, you need to follow the money.

Can you slap a $ (or in my case, AED) sign next to your work?
No? Then you’re not done yet.

Here’s how you start:

1️⃣ Track conversion rates, retention rates, or revenue impact.

Just find a metric to track.

• If a UX improvement boosts conversions by 5%, that’s money in the bank.
• If retention improves, that’s long-term revenue.

2️⃣ Tie UX to process efficiency.

• Did you reduce time-to-complete for a critical workflow?
• Did customer support tickets drop after a redesign?
• Less friction = lower costs = business impact.

3️⃣ Create leading and lagging indicators.

• How many customers signed up this month?
• How many came through a UX-driven initiative?
• How do past UX improvements predict future business performance?

4️⃣ Make educated hypotheses and measure impact.

• If you redesign a checkout flow, hypothesize how it will increase completed purchases.
• Track pre- and post-change numbers.
• Show leadership the direct impact UX has on revenue.

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Now, let’s be real:

This post isn’t going to make you a pro at tracking UX metrics overnight.
But it will give you a direction, and a way to start thinking about UX in business terms.

And here’s the kicker:
If you can’t link UX to business value in your current company, that’s fine.
Sometimes that’s not what they’re asking of you (yet).

But having the skillset to prove your worth is what future-proofs your career.

This applies to any designer, not just UX:
1️⃣ Set a goal for your designs.
2️⃣ Link it to a business function.
3️⃣ Build a hypothesis of how your work impacts the bottom line.
4️⃣ Measure. Track. Repeat.

UX isn’t just about making things “better.”
It’s about making things profitable.

That’s how you prove UX is a business driver, not just a nice-to-have.