BayCHI hears of ROI Usability Myths

Daniel Rosenberg of Oracle doesn't believe in return on investment for usability. He explained why to the BayCHI community late last year in "Seven Myths of Usability ROI".

His presentation was both amusing and controversial and legend has begun to grow up round it, with the slides much in demand. A good report of the talk (prepared by Nerija Sinkeviciute-Titus) appears on the BayCHI website and makes interesting reading. Here are just a few highlights of Rosenberg's thinking.

Rosenberg has spent 30 years in the field of user experience and has never had to justify usability by its ROI. He believes it is a badly-handled topic, with some poor research damaging its credibility and producing a series of misleading myths.

Myth 1: Generalization is Valid

Myth 2: Calculation of ROI from the Producer Perspective

Myth 3: You Can Ignore the Other Factors

Myth 4: Analog Comparisons are Not Required

Rosenberg attacks indiscriminate attribution of loss of customers from websites as a sign of loss of sales and names Jakob Nielsen for perpetrating this one. Do people fare any better in shops, he asks? And what about people who have learnt to combine online research with offline purchasing?

Myth 5: All Usability Dollars are Spent Effectively

Sinkeviciute-Titus writes 'Rosenberg admits he thinks this is a joke, because he believes that as a profession we are not that effective in communicating our value and delivering value to the corporation or as consultants. Anecdotal evidence would also suggest that we are not as effective commercially as, say, marketing professionals.'

Myth 6: Executives will Believe Voodoo Economics

Myth 7: User Experience Resources will Reduce the Software Schedule

Rosenberg conceded that it is cheaper to fix problems early in the design process. But he looked at current trends in production and concluded that other factors such as automation and the globalisation of production could have more impact on cost and value than user research.

in conclusion, Rosenberg advocated replacing the myths and defining usability value by contribution to the customer's success — Total Cost of Ownership — not the producer's ROI.

Have a look at the fuller report on the BayCHI website if you have a chance, or track down the slides. It's an insider's wisdom.

Associated Link: Full report of "Seven Myths of Usability ROI"

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