Questions to Ask a Potential UX Partner
You might not realize it, but you need UX in your life in one way, shape, or form. In the various roles of an organization, UX can help:
- Make employees more efficient and productive
- Maintain data integrity
- Greatly reduce support time
Now that you’re sold and looking for a Salesforce UX partner, we want to ensure you’re equipped with effective questions to ask your potential partner.
To Reiterate: The Heart and ROI of User Experience
UX isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a guiding principle. The goals of UX teams (especially the Argylers that make up the Experience Design Studio) are to solve problems through design, tame chaos, and champion the users. Beyond making experiences look nice, we UXers make learning and continually using a tool or other Digital Thing feel comfortable and simple.
Investing in UX is like planting a magic money tree.
For every buck you put into creating a great user experience, you can get up to $100 back! Here’s a good resource to speak to that ROI. In addition to money back, good UX can:
- Skyrocket user satisfaction
- Increase conversions
- Cut costs by up to 50%
Choosing a Salesforce Partner That Understands UX
When you’re looking for a Salesforce Partner with a strong emphasis on UX, there are several key questions you might want to ask. These questions will help you understand how each partner prioritizes UX and their process for integrating it into Salesforce implementations.
Question: How do you integrate UX design into the Salesforce implementation process?
What you want to hear:
Look for a detailed explanation of their UX design process, how it is incorporated at each stage of the Salesforce implementation, and how it aligns with technical development.
Red flags:
If they provide vague, non-specific answers about their UX process or fail to explain how UX is integrated into their Salesforce implementations, it’s a sign they might not prioritize or fully understand UX.
Question: Can you provide examples of past projects where you’ve successfully integrated UX into Salesforce implementations?
What you want to hear:
Expect case studies or examples demonstrating their experience, demos, before-and-after scenarios, user feedback, and measurable user engagement or efficiency improvements.
Red flags:
An inability to provide detailed examples or case studies of past projects where UX was successfully integrated can indicate a lack of experience or focus in this area.
Question: What is your approach to user research and understanding the specific needs of our organization?
What you want to hear:
They should describe methods like user interviews, surveys, persona creation, and user journey mapping tailored to your organization’s unique needs.
Red flags:
If their approach to user research seems superficial or non-existent (e.g., no mention of user interviews, surveys, or persona creation), it suggests a lack of depth in understanding user needs.
Question: How do you ensure the Salesforce solution is user-friendly for all levels of tech-savviness within our organization?
What you want to hear:
A commitment to creating intuitive interfaces, providing personalized user experiences, building efficient user journeys, and ensuring accessibility for users with varying levels of tech expertise.
Red flags:
Answers focusing more on how the system looks rather than how it works for end-users can indicate a misunderstanding of UX, which is about creating efficient, usable systems, not just good-looking ones.
Question: What is your process for user and stakeholder feedback during the Salesforce implementation?
What you want to hear:
They should mention iterative design processes, regular user testing sessions, feedback loops, and how they incorporate user feedback into ongoing development.
Red flags:
Not mentioning iterative design or feedback loops could indicate that they do not engage in a user-centered design process.
Question: How do you balance technical functionality with user experience in your Salesforce solutions?
What you want to hear:
A strategy for balancing robust Salesforce functionalities with a clean, user-friendly interface, ensuring that technical capabilities do not overshadow usability. They want to help your organization be more productive and efficient through UX design.
Red flags:
Responses that heavily favor technical aspects without considering the user interface and experience may indicate an imbalance in their approach.
Question: How do you measure the success of UX in your Salesforce projects?
What you want to hear:
Expect metrics like user adoption rates, task completion times, error rates, user satisfaction scores, and other KPIs relevant to UX.
Red flags:
If they can’t articulate how they measure the success of UX, they may not be effectively evaluating their UX implementations.
What to expect from a UX Team
In another blog [UX: Don’t Make it Pretty. Make it Useful.], we discussed how UX teams make magic happen. In short, a UX team is typically functioning in one of the following: discovery, define, design, and refine.
Furthermore, where we’ve seen UX bring the most value is when they’re involved in all five key phases every project goes through: strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface.
This may look familiar, and that’s because it is…
Red Argyle Experience Design Studio
At Red Argyle, our dedicated UX team is called the Experience Design Studio, and goodness they know their stuff! If you’re looking for:
- A team that knows Salesforce to work with your team of designers
- A place to start (and still a bit hesitant)
- A glimpse into the future of what could be
- A full-blow suite of UX services because know the ROI of UX (because you read our Don’t Make it Pretty blog)
Then we’re your team! Get in touch.
Whether you’re looking for a minor tweak or a major transformation, our Experience Design Studio is here to work with you to make the digital world a more usable (and more accessible) place together! 🌟
