Very often, enterprise product managers focus on identifying consumer needs and solving their problems. While this is necessary, there’s another aspect that should not be ignored. This is the crucial role of UX in driving product-led growth.

According to Interacting With Computers, a journal from Oxford Academic, the goal of user experience design “is to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.”

With a great UX driven by a deep understanding of consumer interactions, your product has a much better chance of success. It’s a differentiator that every enterprise business strategy should aim for.

Here are five reasons why the role of UX in product-led growth is so important.

It Puts the User First

Products cater to consumer needs, and good UX makes sure that these are made a priority in use. With bad UX, the primary goal of satisfying such needs can go unfilled. With good design, there is conscious attention to the how and why of each consumer interaction with the product.

The result is that both form and function are devoted to fulfillment. This process of centering the consumer in all cases can be a powerful way to bring about product-led growth. At Google, for example, one mantra has always been: “Put the user first and all else will follow.”

Steve Jobs also emphasized the same principle: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology. You cannot start with the technology and try to figure out where you are going to sell it.” These are wise words that are at the heart of a good UX philosophy which will pay dividends.

It Creates Empathy and Delight

Good UX creates strong bonds with consumers, which is important for product-led growth. Lia Garvin, Senior Design Program Manager at Google, says that “design is a discipline centered around building empathy for the user; enabling you to help them solve problems they encounter and improve their lives in a way they never thought possible.”

When consumers use your product and generate this sort of empathy in action, the result is almost always positive. They will keep returning to use it, become loyal, and speak positively about it to others. This is because everyone likes to feel that their needs have been heard and understood. Research can reveal these factors, which should then be built into the look, feel, and other interactions with the product.

Another side of this is the creation of consumer delight. This can arise because of many factors. In general, it occurs when the product experience is reliable, relevant, and comfortable. Importantly, it helps a great deal if the experience goes beyond consumer expectations in some way. All this will create a strong sense of attachment that is so important for product-led growth.

It’s the Fulfilment Of a Product Promise

Product marketing offers the consumer a solution to remove the gaps in their needs. That is at the heart of a product offering and its reason to exist. With good UX, this promise is brought to fruition.

If the product has to add value to the consumer’s life, then UX is the delivery mechanism through which this value is offered. A carefully-crafted UX should be seen as the magic element that transforms the product promise through product interactions. It is where research and strategy come to life to improve the quality of life.

Often, this is an iterative process. The initial form of the UX is validated through research and feedback. Then, tweaks and additions are made to ensure that the final version delivers as intended. The end result is that the consumer has faith in the product. The business gets a loyal customer base, acting as advocates, and helping it to grow.

It Provides a Great Experience across Touchpoints

Good UX designers know that they have to have an awareness of all the touchpoints that the consumer uses. This is the world of the overall experience with your product or service. In this way, UX cannot be restricted to simply visual elements on a screen. It can even extend to creating a unified experience across e-mail marketing, return policies, offline interactions, and so on.

It is integral to focus on the entire experience because all the touchpoints become building blocks for the way your consumers interact with and think about your brand. UX design has to start with an understanding of the many customer channels, the roles they play, and at what stage of the funnel the consumer is in each one.

When there are some touchpoints that cause the consumer to have a suboptimal experience, product-led strategies can be let down. Every touchpoint should become an essential step in creating conversions and then loyalty.

It Creates Retention through Stickiness

Product stickiness is a concept that refers to the way in which your consumer keeps returning to the product and spending time with it. One ratio to measure stickiness is (Daily Active Users ÷ Monthly Active Users) × 100.

A high level of stickiness is important for product-led growth. Good UX design can go a long way in creating retention through stickiness. UX can help with seamless onboarding and friction-free engagement. In turn, this builds consumer habits related to the product which brings about repeated use.

Another tactic to drive stickiness in which UX plays a key role is gamification. Design that uses game elements and techniques for non-game products can yield rich rewards. In all cases, stickiness can be promoted by UX by designing the right triggers that cause consumer actions and then generating rewards.

At MoEngage, we have immense experience in strategies for product-led growth, from UX and beyond. Check out the 10 questions to ask while choosing a perfect customer engagement platform, for example. Or 11 proven methods to increase omnichannel Customer engagement.

Get in touch, and we’ll explain how you can analyze customer behavior and act on insights with personalized messaging across channels at the right time.

Author Bio: Nidhi Prakash has over 5 years of experience in content marketing in both B2B and B2C domain. At present, she is associated with MoEngage as as Content Outreach & Community Manager. Besides work, she is an avid reader and a passionate traveler.