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Adapting Within Boundaries: How to Adapt UX for Both Users and Businesses?
Have you ever felt the pull between what’s best for the user and what the business wants? Picture this: you’re redesigning a website’s checkout process because user research shows the current procedure is way too long, and customers are giving up before completing their purchases. You suggest a streamlined, one-page checkout to make things easier, faster, and less frustrating for users. Sounds great, right? But then the sales team insists on keeping multiple upsell prompts throughout the process to squeeze out more revenue. Now, a straightforward design improvement task has turned into a tricky compromise between user experience and revenue goals.
Here comes a question that sounds easy to answer, but is deceptively challenging to navigate:
How can we better balance the user needs and business goals in UX design?
In a company, every role approaches problem-solving differently. Engineers and business leaders are often trained to jump straight into solutions, aiming for quick fixes that seem practical. On the other hand, designers are trained to dig deeper to uncover the root of the problem. As Don Norman describes, many teams see in-depth exploration as a waste of time, preferring immediate action over careful analysis. But as designers know, without considering all aspects of the issue, solutions often miss the mark.
As UX designers, our focus is on meeting user needs, building empathy, and creating seamless, intuitive experiences. But in reality, we’re also navigating business goals — whether that’s boosting profitability, meeting market demands, or working within tight resource limits. The challenge lies in balancing both sides without sacrificing the user experience.
Here is the thing: business goals often set the boundaries for what is possible. They define the parameters we have to work within, like budget constraints, revenue targets, and even timelines. As designers, it is not just about accommodating these goals — it is about solving the correct problem and finding a way to optimize the user experience despite them. Sometimes, that means challenging certain business objectives, especially when they do not align with user needs or when context suggests a different approach could work better.
Communication as a Key to Success
The real key to navigating these boundaries is clear communication. I learned this first-hand while working as a UX designer at a tech startup called Pendulum. The CEO tasked me with redesigning their website’s “Request a Demo” button which not many users were engaging with. Although the goal was clear: to create more conversions by having visitors use this feature, there was a disconnect — she wasn’t sure why users weren’t engaging with this call-to-action in the first place.
Rather than diving straight into design solutions, I saw this as an opportunity to guide a conversation around why the current design wasn’t converting. Through user research, I discovered that visitors were oblivious because the demo button was buried in a cluttered layout with too many options to choose from and the messaging did not effectively portray the importance of requesting a demo. Armed with this data, I approached the CEO with a clearer story. By showing her where users were getting lost on the page and how clearer calls-to-action could better guide them, I helped her understand that we needed more than a design refresh; we needed a strategy that clarified the product’s benefits and streamlined the user journey toward requesting a demo.
This experience taught me that effective UX design is as much about communication as it is about design skills. Guiding that conversation not only helped the CEO see the user’s perspective but also created a shared understanding that allowed us to approach the redesign more strategically.
Tips for Clear Communication Across Teams
Communicating with other departments, especially when they have different perspectives, can be challenging. Here are some tips that I used to guide and keep conversations productive and aligned with user-centered design principles:
Start with a shared goal. Make sure everyone understands the end objective and agrees on what success looks like. This creates a foundation for moving forward together.
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Identify the root cause of the problem. Take time to discuss and explore the underlying issues rather than jumping straight into solutions. This helps uncover insights that might be more effective.
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Use data and visuals to support your points. When discussing user behavior or design recommendations, use heatmaps, user flow diagrams, or engagement metrics. Visuals help bridge the gap between perspectives and make insights more accessible.
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Encourage input by asking questions. Show curiosity about other perspectives by asking open-ended questions. This builds mutual understanding and can reveal insights that enhance your approach.
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Frame recommendations in terms of business impact. When proposing UX changes, tie them back to business objectives like increasing conversion rates or reducing bounce rates. This framing helps other departments see the alignment between UX goals and their priorities.
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Be transparent about constraints and trade-offs. Explain any limitations (like budget, time, or technical constraints) that may influence your design choices. Be open about explaining the trade-offs that come with each change.
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Clarify any UX terminology. Avoid jargon, or explain terms in simple language if needed. Not everyone will be familiar with UX concepts, and clarity builds confidence in your ideas.
Navigating with a Framework
Once there’s clear communication and alignment on goals, the next step is determining the right approach based on context. Jeanette Fuccella introduces a useful framework in her article “A Tried and True Framework for Prioritizing User Research.” It uses a simple 2x2 matrix that considers problem clarity (how well we understand the problem) and risk (the impact if we get it wrong).
This framework can help us make more informed decisions about how much effort and rigor are needed in different scenarios, offering guidance on when to conduct deeper research or when to take a lighter approach.
Let‘s take the "check out" example in the beginning of the article, here’s how the framework can help guide our decisions based on the context:
High Problem Clarity, Low Risk: If the problem is well-defined and the stakes are low, go for a “Ship it and Measure” approach. In the checkout example, you could roll out a streamlined version with just one upsell prompt at the end. This allows you to gather data quickly and iterate based on what you learn.
High Problem Clarity, High Risk: If the business is highly dependent on upsell revenue, you’ll want to be more careful. Try a “Design Heavy” approach by testing different versions of the checkout flow through A/B testing to find the sweet spot that works for both user experience and revenue goals.
Low Problem Clarity, Low Risk: When you’re not exactly sure why users are dropping off and the risks are minimal, experiment with different checkout flows to see what sticks. You can gather insights quickly without a huge investment of time and resources.
Low Problem Clarity, Low Risk: When you’re not exactly sure why users are dropping off and the risks are minimal, experiment with different checkout flows to see what sticks. You can gather insights quickly without a huge investment of time and resources.
Low Problem Clarity, High Risk: If the root causes are unclear but the stakes are high (like when revenue is on the line), you’ll need to dig deeper. Go for “Research Heavy” before making any changes to ensure you’re tackling the right problem with the right solution.
This framework complements our communication efforts, giving structure to the decision-making process. When combined with clear, open dialogue, it helps align user needs with business goals effectively.
Challenging Business Goals Based on Context
As UX designers, part of our role is to thoughtfully challenge business goals when they interfere with a good user experience. This doesn’t mean dismissing business needs — it’s about exploring smarter ways to meet them based on context and data. Clear, data-driven communication is essential here. When we present insights backed by metrics and visuals, we build credibility and create opportunities for collaboration.
Take the checkout scenario: if data shows that multiple upsell prompts are causing cart abandonment, rather than removing them outright, we might suggest less intrusive options, such as collapsible upsell panels or post-checkout incentives. To communicate this effectively, we could use heatmaps to show exactly where users are dropping off and conversion funnels to illustrate the drop in successful transactions after each upsell prompt. By presenting this data visually, we make it easy for stakeholders to see the direct impact on user behavior and revenue.
In cases like these, Jeanette Fuccella’s framework for prioritizing research and design can help us evaluate problem clarity and risk, guiding us on when to push back and when to adapt. With data-driven insights and a collaborative approach, business goals can be reframed as design constraints that encourage creative solutions. For instance, if upsell revenue remains a priority, we might consider offering time-sensitive discounts on upsell items after checkout, keeping the main flow smooth while still driving supplementary sales.
Using the framework, combined with effective data visualization, enables us to find balanced solutions that meet both user and business needs. Sharing these insights visually — through heatmaps, funnels, or graphs — not only clarifies our perspective but also fosters trust and alignment with stakeholders, helping to turn constraints into opportunities for effective, user-centered design.
Measuring Success: Tailoring Metrics to the Situation
To know whether you’ve achieved the mark, you need to measure success on both sides. It’s not just about whether users like the new checkout flow but also whether it meets business objectives. Track metrics like conversion rates, user retention, and upsell performance to see if you’ve achieved a good balance. The key is to adapt and iterate based on what you learn and keep evolving your approach as needed.
To make these metrics more accessible to stakeholders, provide data-driven insights accompanied by visualizations in a real-time dashboard. Here are some techniques to enable clear and transparent communication:
Heatmaps provide valuable insights by showing where users hesitate or disengage, helping to pinpoint specific design elements that might need further refinement.
Click maps add another layer by visually representing where users are clicking most frequently, indicating which elements attract attention and which might be overlooked.
User journey maps are also useful for contextualizing data, offering a high-level view of the entire user experience. They highlight the emotional highs and lows at different touchpoints, helping stakeholders understand how each stage impacts overall user satisfaction.
A/B testing allows for direct comparisons between design variations, showing how each option affects key metrics like conversion rates and engagement.
