Trying to convince stakeholders to buy into a UX solution

If you know the feeling of trying to convince stakeholders to buy into a UX solution, this one’s for you.

Baymard’s Institute published insights into exactly what works.

When budgets are tight, every fix competes with something else. Knowing that users are struggling helps, but decision makers also need to understand why this problem deserves attention now. Here’s how to tackle the pitch:

• Lead with evidence. Show what users actually struggled with, supported by research, testing or benchmarks.
• Connect the problem to business outcomes. Explain how it could affect conversions, support costs, customer satisfaction or risk.
• Tailor the case to the stakeholder. Finance, legal and product teams will care about different consequences.
• Keep the language neutral. Describe the behaviour the research revealed, without criticising someone’s design decisions.
• Present a decision people can act on. Pair each problem with its business consequence and a recommended fix.
• Explain the cost of leaving it unresolved. Make the consequences of inaction clear.
• Prepare for objections. Explain your methodology and have supporting evidence ready.
• Finish with next steps. Set out priorities, effort, timelines and the resources or approval needed.
• Keep findings visible afterwards. Follow up on progress and measure whether the changes helped.

Decision-makers respond to data, evidence, and research-backed recommendations over anything that sounds like an opinion (or a complaint). The easier you make it for stakeholders to weigh up the problem and the benefit neutrally, the easier it becomes to agree on what deserves attention first.

Link to the full article in the comments.