Key Takeaways
👉 ROI on UX design ranges from $2 to $100 for every $1 invested
👉 The number of UX professionals grew from around 10,000 in the late 1990s to nearly 1 million by 2017
👉 The global UX services market is expected to rise to $7.2 billion by 2030
👉 The most commonly used UX research methods are usability studies, surveys, and interviews.
👉 Optimizing checkout design can boost conversion rates by 35.26% for large e-commerce sites.
👉 AI has become a common tool in user research, with up to 95.3% of UX researchers either currently using AI or considering its use in their projects.
Top UX statistics
To make informed strategic decisions and persuade stakeholders of UX’s value, consider these statistics that show how UX influences company performance:
- ROI (return of investment) on UX design ranges from $2 to $100 for every $1 invested.
(Source)
2. A CEI survey found that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience, yet only 1% of customers believe that vendors consistently meet their expectations.
3. The growing number of professionals in the UX field reflects its increasing market value. The global UX services market, valued at $3.5 billion in 2017, is expected to rise to $7.2 billion by 2030, with an estimated annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6% during this period.
4. According to Forrester Research, a frictionless and well-designed UX could increase conversion rates by as much as 400%.
5. Based on 10 years of research, Baymard Institute estimates that optimizing checkout design could boost conversion rates by 35.26% for large e-commerce sites.
6. Improving UX design to increase customer retention by just 5% can lead to a 25% to 95% increase in profits.
7. Companies that invest in improving their customer experience often see substantial benefits, such as a 42% increase in customer retention, a 33% boost in customer satisfaction, and a 32% rise in cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
8. 67% of mobile users are more likely to purchase a product or service when they visit a mobile-friendly site.
In the nutshell
Good user experience boosts savings and revenue, while a bad one can harm sales, satisfaction, and costs. The reasons are simple. When customers have a positive experience with a product, they are more likely to complete transactions, return for repeat purchases, and recommend the product to others. Essentially, a satisfying UX fosters customer loyalty and encourages ongoing engagement with the brand.
User Frustration statistics
- A major e-commerce site increased its annual revenue by $300 million by changing a “Register” button to a “Continue” button during checkout, allowing users to buy without creating an account. This simple change reduced frustration for both new and repeat customers, leading to a 45% increase in completed purchases and significantly boosting sales.
- 88% of online users are unlikely to revisit a site after having a negative experience.
- 42% of users rely on product page images to determine the size of a product, but this can be challenging without an “In Scale” image. In fact, 28% of the sites reviewed by the Baymard Institute did not include an “In Scale” image to help users understand the relative size of a product.
- If customers have a bad experience, 13% will share it with at least 15 other people.
- 91% of unhappy customers leave without giving feedback, choosing not to complain about their bad experience.
- 44% of sites either fail to show included accessories with a product or display an “Included Accessories” image without clarifying that these items are not part of the purchase price. This lack of clarity can significantly affect a user’s decision to buy.
- A strict return policy can lead to site abandonment, as a study of 2,219 online shoppers in the US found that 16% of e-commerce customers abandoned orders in the last quarter due to an unsatisfactory return policy
- Half of website users (50%) will never return if they find the content irrelevant.
- 96% of consumers have come across sites not optimized for mobile. This can negatively impact businesses, as 48% of users reported feeling frustrated and annoyed when they encounter such sites.
Mobile UX statistics
- Mobile users are five times more likely to give up on a task if the website isn’t optimized for mobile devices.
- Currently (year 2024), over half of global web traffic comes from mobile devices, and 98.1% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 access the internet using a mobile phone.
- 63% of test participants quit their mobile browsing sessions due to avoidable usability issues.
- Over 65% of digital media consumption takes place on mobile devices.
- Although almost 75% of users prefer mobile-friendly sites, 96% of consumers report having come across sites that were obviously not optimized for mobile devices.
- 81% of mobile sites fail to consistently display loading indicators when new content is being loaded.
- The bounce rates for mobile and desktop differ significantly; while the average bounce rate for desktop is 32%, it rises to 67.4% for mobile.
- 57% of mobile sites lack direct links to “Return Policy” and “Shipping Info” in their footer.
- Consumers value having self-service customer care options on mobile platforms, with 75% appreciating this feature, emphasizing the need for mobile accessibility to meet their needs.
- 66% of mobile sites have tappable elements that are too close together, and 32% have elements that are too small, making it hard for users to navigate the mobile interface effectively.
Website UX statistics
Most users will visit various product pages before deciding to make a purchase, making it essential for these pages to perform well and offer a smooth user experience.
- People form opinions about a webpage’s visual appeal in as little as 50 milliseconds, giving web designers a very short window to create a positive first impression.
- To capture the attention of users, you need to communicate your point within the first 10 seconds, as the average page visit is less than a minute.
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3. Among the 50 largest US e-commerce sites, 28% show a too-narrow selection of product types on their homepage, which can cause immediate and lasting usability issues, often leading to site abandonment if users can’t find the products they are looking for.
4. Distracting or overly aggressive ads, pop-up banners, or overlay sign-up dialogs are found on 59% of websites, leading to negative user reactions.
5. On 22% of websites, the search field is not prominently displayed on the homepage, causing difficulties for users who rely on search or want to use it as a backup while browsing.
6. 43% of websites fail to display shipping information, including costs, on the product page, even though 64% of users specifically seek out this information while browsing.
7. 52% of respondents expect a response to their question within one hour after posting it on a brand’s digital channels, including the website and social media.
8. More than 60% of consumers are likely to become repeat buyers after having a personalized shopping experience with a retailer.
9. The study by Susilawati et al. (2024)mathematically confirms the connection between digital user experience (DUE), brand perception (BP), and consumer loyalty (CL) in Indonesia’s e-commerce sector.
The price of bad UX
- 86% of consumers will stop supporting a brand they once trusted after just two bad customer experiences.
- 88.5% of UX designers believe slow loading times are the main reason visitors leave a website, while 73.1% consider a non-responsive design across devices as a top issue driving users away.
(Source)
3. Checkout usability study revealed that 21% of US online shoppers abandoned their orders in the last quarter because they couldn’t see the total order cost upfront before starting the checkout process.
4. Over half (53%) of mobile site visits are abandoned if the page takes more than 3 seconds to load.
5. Due to poor performance, 90% of users have stopped using an app.
Did you know that…?
According to IEEE Spectrum, developers spend 50% of their time reworking projects due to avoidable errors. Fixing these faults after development can cost 100 times more than during the design phase.
Trends in UX
- Easy navigation is the top priority for 94% of consumers on digital platforms, while 83% value an attractive and modern UX design.
- When online shoppers were asked (year 2024) how they prefer to learn about a product or service, 44% said they’d most like to watch a short video. This preference is much higher than for other formats like e-books or manuals (16%), infographics (15%), text articles (13%), sales calls (6%), or webinars and presentations (5%).
- A UXtweak survey of 327 UX professionals revealed that the top three UX books these specialists recommend are About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, and Interviewing Users: Uncover Compelling Insights.
- A UXtweak survey of 327 UX professionals identified the top three course providers they recommend for UX specialists: Nielsen Norman Group, Zero to UX, and the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF).
- According to Joy Robinson’s 2018 study, “The Past, Present, and Future of UX Empirical Research,” the most popular UX research methods are usability studies (23.8%), surveys (22.8%), and interviews (16.5%).
UX job market
- A typical organization has one UX researcher for every two designers and ten developers. (Most survey respondents worked in SMBs or middle-market companies, and 82% of these companies have at least one UX researcher.)
- Jakob Nielsen estimated that the number of UX professionals expanded from about 10,000 in the late 1990s to roughly 1 million by 2017.
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3. UX designers are expected to be in high demand in 2024. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 16% growth rate for web developers and digital designers, including UX designers, from 2021 to 2031.
💡 Pro Tip
What is the main goal of your UX research? We asked 65 researchers to gather their insights. Check out this article to learn more about their perspectives and the value they see in their field.
UX and AI
- A survey from September 2023, with 232 respondents, revealed that 80% of researchers use AI in their work.
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2. The most common use of AI among UX researchers, with 61.8%, is for generating questions or answer options. The second most common use, reported by 48.9% of participants, is for creating study tasks.
(Source)
3. Despite concerns, 65% of consumers still trust businesses that use AI, indicating that responsible and transparent AI use can maintain consumer confidence.
4. Forbes Advisor reports that 64% of business owners think AI can enhance customer relationships.
5. 43% percent of businesses worry about technology dependence, and 35% are concerned about having the necessary technical skills to use AI effectively, reflecting the challenges in adopting AI technologies.
6. Despite concerns, 65% of consumers still trust businesses that use AI, indicating that responsible and transparent AI use can maintain consumer confidence.
(Source)
The future of UX
- Personalization is an important trend in mobile marketing, with 90% of marketers saying it greatly improves business profits.
- Data-driven organizations are significantly more successful in key metrics: they are 23 times more likely to acquire new customers, 19 times more likely to be profitable, and 9 times more likely to achieve strong customer loyalty compared to those that do not use customer analytics intensively. Additionally, they are 21 times more likely to move customers to profitable segments.
- Around 16% of the global population, or over 1.3 billion people, have disabilities, but 90% of websites are not accessible to those who depend on assistive technology.
Conclusion
👉 We discovered that too often, products are created to meet business objectives, neglecting the needs and goals of users. This oversight is costly; in e-commerce alone, failure to invest in UX is causing billion-dollar revenue losses.
👉 Even a small investment in UX can yield substantial financial returns, with the potential to earn up to $100 for every $1 spent.
👉 Companies that focus on UX not only see increased revenue and conversions but also benefit from higher customer satisfaction, reduced development waste, and a lower risk of pursuing misguided ideas.
