Design encompasses more than visually appealing screens. It entails having a visionary approach, acknowledging constraints, conducting thorough research, and employing measurable metrics to evaluate the success of design and the overall user experience offered by products.

This is where UX strategy plays a pivotal role. UX Strategy is a plan aimed at crafting a user experience that aligns customer needs and expectations with the goals and objectives of the business. Just as a compass guides explorers on a journey, UX strategy serves as a navigational tool for crafting a user experience. It acts as a reliable compass that aligns customer needs and expectations (north) with the goals and objectives of the business (destination). As explorers encounter various landscapes and touchpoints, the compass ensures they remain on the right path, optimizing each interaction with the brand, product, or service.

UX Strategy extends beyond a single digital product experience and encompasses every customer touchpoint, including interactions with the brand, product, and service.

For example:Linkedin — Desktop, Mobile, Email, Premium, support channels.

A meticulous understanding of these touchpoints enables the design process to prioritize user needs, streamline interactions, and create a cohesive experience across various channels. It ensures that each customer touchpoint is carefully considered and optimized, fostering a seamless user journey and enhancing overall satisfaction with the product.

What is a UX Strategy?
UX strategy encompasses a product vision that outlines the objectives to be achieved for both the business and end users. Consequently, the design decisions made must align with this vision to effectively attain the desired outcomes. It is imperative for customers to perceive value in your product, distinguishing it as a superior solution compared to competitors. The role of UX strategy is to bridge the gaps and establish connections between various elements, ensuring a cohesive and impactful user experience that drives business success.

UX strategy helps to connect the dots between

• User and their needs

• Business goals and objectives

• Problem solving using technology.

Within UX Strategy, three key elements play pivotal roles:


 

1. UX strategy provides an idea and a concept of what needs to be achieved. All stakeholders from business to developers are well aware and aligned of the user needs and business goal that ultimately leads to creating the product experience.

2. UX strategy with measurable goals will help business understand whether targets are achieved or not. It provides a clear idea of what to be achieved thus reducing time on unproductive design decisions.

3. UX strategy helps in prioritizing of features by focusing on solving the right problems.

A comprehensive UX strategy encompasses several essential components:

Why does product exist? 
A fundamental aspect is to begin by understanding the purpose of the product's existence. This entails exploring the product's market, its integration into users' lives, and its differentiation from competitors. By comprehending these factors, a UX strategy can be tailored to align with the product's unique value proposition and effectively address user needs.

Where are you now?
Crafting a strategy necessitates evaluating the current state of the product. This entails assessing the company's status, the product's positioning in the market, the competitive landscape, pricing considerations, and other relevant metrics. It is crucial to understand the business goals and metrics the company prioritizes, such as customer loyalty, conversion rates, customer retention, revenue per user, and customer lifetime value. Conducting user research further aids in comprehending user goals, motivations, and pain points, enabling the development of features that resonate with users and provide effective solutions. Additionally, it is essential to examine any past actions taken by the organization to address existing issues, evaluate their outcomes, and learn from past successes or failures.


Where do you want to reach? 
The subsequent step involves defining clear goals and establishing a UX vision. Goals should be realistic, measurable, and specific in terms of desired outcomes. This enables a thorough evaluation of whether the design has effectively achieved the intended business objectives, such as reducing attrition rates by 10% or increasing user productivity by 30%. The UX vision revolves around shaping the experience users will have when interacting with the product. By envisioning the desired user experience, considering users' ability to accomplish their goals, and recognizing how this experience benefits the company, a compelling UX vision can be defined.


Define Focus Areas
Identifying key focus areas is essential for developing features that address the right problems for the target users. These focus areas also aid in prioritizing feature development efforts. Examples of focus areas include optimizing conversion rates, enhancing onboarding experiences to achieve specific business objectives, or other areas deemed critical for success.

How will you reach your goal? 
One approach to achieving goals is by creating guidelines that provide a specific set of rules. For instance, ensuring the product supports all devices establishes a design decision framework that facilitates consistent user experiences across various platforms. These guidelines act as a roadmap, guiding design and development choices to align with the established UX strategy and achieve the desired goals.

Once the aforementioned steps have been undertaken, the next crucial phase involves crafting a comprehensive plan that provides clear direction for product development. Drawing upon the four tenets of UX Strategy introduced by Jamie Levy can greatly aid in achieving the established goals.

Business Strategy: Business Strategy plays a vital role in ensuring the long-term growth and sustainability of an organization. It encompasses the identification and utilization of a competitive advantage, which is essential for the company's continued existence. Components such as Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Revenue Streams, and Customer Relationships align closely with the UX strategy, enabling effective alignment of business goals with user-centric design approaches.

Value Innovation: Value innovation lies at the heart of driving product success. It involves introducing novel, original, and impactful offerings that disrupt the market. A product must provide substantial value to both customers and the business to establish a strong foundation for sustained growth and success.

Validated User Research: Assumptions about user value can pose significant product risks. To mitigate these risks, validated user research plays a crucial role. It involves studying user behavior, preferences, and needs through rigorous research methodologies and validating assumptions with concrete, measurable data. By basing design decisions on solid user insights, products can effectively meet user expectations and deliver optimal experiences.

Killer UX Design: The cornerstone of UX strategy lies in crafting exceptional user experiences through killer UX design. Good design goes beyond mere aesthetics, encompassing the overall human experience when interacting with a digital product to accomplish specific goals. It focuses on creating interfaces that are intuitive, enjoyable, and aligned with user expectations, delivering functional outcomes that meet user needs and providing significant value.

In conclusion, UX strategy serves as a vital bridge that aligns the needs of the business with those of the users. It keeps the entire team focused and on track, working towards the shared goal of building an innovative and successful product that addresses user needs, drives business growth, and delivers a superior user experience.