User experience seems subjective and difficult to measure. But we routinely use quantitative measures to assess the success of our clients’ investments in user experience work. For each project, Expero applies a set of business and user experience metrics. In addition to the example metrics below, we also work with clients to define metrics tailored to their organizations and goals.

	Revenue. The new application/website should contribute to a revenue increase of a specific amount. Support Costs. Call volume to Support about issues should decline by a specific amount with the launch of the new application/site. User Adoption. Adoption should increase by a specific amount with the launch of the new application/site. User Effectiveness. Users should be able to complete 100% of critical tasks with the new application/site. User Efficiency. The new application/site should increase productivity for users and minimize task time. Learnability. Users should be able to figure out how to use the new application/site in a minimal amount of time, with limited help. User Satisfaction. The new application/site should be rated as easy and pleasant to use. UI Defects. Significant bugs, broken links, etc. should be reduced to zero incidences in the new application/site.

When the direction a product or website should take is not clear, assessing it against user experience metrics can be very useful. For example, how should a trade-off be made between the ease of learning to use a product versus making it more efficient? For users working in a call center, efficiency is usually paramount, so the call center application may need to prioritize efficiency over ease of learning. By contrast, a site for selling cars to consumers needs to be extremely easy to learn, even if more clicks are required, so that users will feel comfortable and be able to complete a transaction.

Whether you’re trying to enhance your existing user experience or create a new one, Expero’s quantitative, user-driven approach will get you moving in the right direction, tying the goals of your business directly to the user experience.