User research and user testing are not "nice to have" processes that user experience professionals do. They have a real value. Not applying these important processes could lead to very serious problems for design companies, their clients, the customers and other partners involved.

Next time someone in your company wants to cut corners on user research, or usability testing, point them to the Wall Street Journal's article on J.Crew's website usability issues. This article outlines the types frustrations J.Crew web users had to deal with. It also mentions how J.Crew ended up loosing millions of dollars because of these issues.

General examples of possible loss for the design client:
- revenue lost in sales
- loss of stock value, investors and capital
- staff time spent addressing user frustrations
- money previously invested in software/web development and design
- money invested in correcting the problems through redesign
- money that needs to be re-invested in branding and P.R. after a series of issues

It's also bad for the design agency
The design agencies that cut corners and end up designing faulty products can easily end up being bankrupt after a widely publicized mistake like this.

Vendor partner guilt by association ?
If you are a vendor providing products or services used in the failed project your product and brand may also be at risk of sharing the blame - regardless, of guilt or innocence.

People forget
If you think people will forget about user experience mistakes of this magnitude, you are probably right - but your competitors will not.

References:
Visit the the Wall Street Journal blog article

Related blog posting : usabilitycounts.com

- Daniel Montano
Visit my other blog: Framework 21