Everyone talks about “UX” these days, but too often execs think it just means prettier screens or more usability tests. In reality, a UX strategy is a business strategy; it’s about clarifying your product’s vision, finding product–market fit, and retaining customers for the long term. A good UX strategy ties every design decision back to company goals. (ShipServ’s UX strategy makes this point beautifully.) In this post, we’ll show how UX goes beyond UI polish, how it aligns teams around user-centred goals, and why investing in UX pays off in serious growth.
UX Is Not Just UI Polish
UX is more than just colours and icons. Jakob Nielsen’s group defines a UX strategy as “a plan of actions designed to reach an improved future state of the organisation’s user experience.” That means blending business strategy, continuous innovation, validated user research, and practical design—not just tweaking pixels. Anyone can make an interface look nice; UX is about making the right thing stick.
Design leaders note that to move the needle, designers must also develop strategic skills, such as triangulating inputs like customer data, market trends, and business KPIs. UX is about understanding your customers’ actual needs and aligning those with the business model. For SaaS, that means driving retention – often the most critical metric. A UX strategy makes retention a design problem, not just a product marketing goal.
Aligning Teams and Goals with UX Strategy
A formal UX strategy creates a shared roadmap that guides all stakeholders. When everyone buys into the same vision and metrics, alignment naturally follows. According to NN/g, a solid UX strategy includes:
Vision: A concise statement of the ideal product experience and value.
Goals & Metrics: Specific, measurable outcomes that tie back to user needs.
Plan: A prioritised roadmap of initiatives that drive those goals forward.
ShipServ’s UX strategy deck, for instance, mapped user pain points directly to strategic objectives – a great example of tying UX to business. This kind of clarity helps teams avoid drift and keeps everyone focused on goals that matter.
The Business Upside of UX
The business case for UX is overwhelming. Forrester Research found that on average, every $1 invested in UX returns $100. McKinsey found that top design performers grow revenue 32 percentage points faster and deliver shareholder returns 56 points higher than their competitors.
Revenue Growth: Design-led companies consistently outperform their competitors.
UX ROI: Forrester's 9,900% ROI stat is hard to ignore.
Conversion & Pricing: Salesforce reports that 66% of users are willing to pay more for a better experience.
Retention: Happy users tend to stick around and become loyal advocates.
Real-World Wins: Jared Spool’s $300 million checkout redesign is now legendary.
Practical Outcomes: Sharper Roadmaps and Faster Iteration
A good UX strategy drives very real improvements in delivery. With a defined vision and goals, product teams prioritise more effectively and build more brilliant roadmaps. NN/g points out that without goals, you can’t measure progress or prioritise effectively. In ShipServ’s case, having defined personas and metrics helped cut lower-priority features and accelerate delivery.
Sharper Priorities: UX Strategy is a Filter for What Matters Most.
Efficiency: Early research avoids expensive rework. One dollar in UX saves $100 post-launch.
Faster Iteration: Lean UX-style testing keeps the product aligned with user needs.
Team Alignment: Shared documents create a common language and reduce friction.
Proving UX ROI to Stakeholders
UX leaders must be able to sell value to non-designers. Here’s how to make your case:
Speak Their Language: Frame wins in revenue, efficiency, or retention. Translate UX into business outcomes.
Quantify Problems: Show the cost of poor UX (e.g. drop-offs, churn, or customer support costs).
Share Wins: Use mini case studies to show tangible results.
Visualise Impact: Turn UX metrics into dashboards that tell the story.
Embed UX in your regular KPI reporting. The more you align UX metrics with business KPIs, the more visible the value becomes over time.
A great UX strategy isn’t fluff – it’s a growth engine. Research from McKinsey, Forrester, and NN/g makes it clear: user-centred design improves retention, revenue, and product velocity. SaaS execs should treat UX strategy like a revenue strategy, because that’s precisely what it is.
Want to see how a great UX strategy works in the real world? Check out the complete ShipServ UX strategy case study.
