@Scott. New post here on pitching UX for the first time: http://alanstairs.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/pitching-ux-for-the-first-time/
would be great to hear your thoughts.

@Michael if you are starting from scratch (I.e. a site doesn’t even exist yet). Try finding a similar project you have worked on previously and draw comparisons. Completely understand that it can be difficult to show the value, but always try to find an angle that is compelling for your boss / client.

@Kaleem Some pages are definitely harder to get quantitative metrics on and a full on qualitative study is needed. However, I still think you can prove a point prior to getting funding using some crude internet math, and get your client/manager to listen with a short punchy presentation. If you know the interaction is causing major problems for users, take a guerilla approach and just record a few users who have problems. Work out how i.e. much longer the time on task was to complete than if the interaction was easier, then break it down:
- 3 minutes longer time on task
- 25 tasks completed on average per day
- 3 x 25 = 75 wasted minutes per day
- 375 wasted minutes per week
- 375 / 60 = 6.25 (Say 6) hours wasted per week
- 3 people in the team
- 3 x 6 hours per week wasted = 18 hours
- 18 man hours per week lost
- $25 per hour average salary
- 18 x $25 = $450 lost per week
- $450 x 52 weeks = $23,400 salary wasted per year

Although this is crude (hey it would be better if clients/managers would just give us the funding to do this properly!) it will make them sit up and listen (especially if you show them a short video clip of a user struggling with the interface) and may give you more leverage to get the funding to do a proper qualitative study. Happy to discuss further if I haven’t answered your question, or missed your point.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts, great to hear them.

I agree with the fundamental truth of your post, which should be elementary for any UX practitioner: tailor your message to your audience, whether it’s the person filling out a Web form or your manager.

The challenges I hear about tend not to be relatively straightforward ones that can be easily quantified like the sales funnel and Web form conversions. Most of the problems I hear about are around complex interactions with a heavy qualitative dimension. These aren’t always clear without sound qualitative research, which tends to be more difficult to get funded in-house despite the deeper understanding of customers it provides. Clients who know that they have UX deficiencies often can’t clearly define their problems, or misidentify symptoms as the problems.

You’re absolutely right that winning support for projects needs to be aligned with organizational and performance goals. I like how you’ve reframed the problem in terms that are important to decision-makers.

I think that once in-house UXers develop a track record based on quantifiable measures, they can get some latitude and funding from their managers to try a wider range of UX projects.

Here are the most common problems I’m facing:
- No comparison can be done (A is so much better after re-design than B) because nothing exists yet.
- It’s almost impossible to estimate the amount X that could be saved by using methodology A or process B over standard procedure C.
- Even with all the numbers on hand clients don’t want to pay more, good design is expected and assumed as a standard deliverable!

A sales pitch is good and I believe the way to go, buy-in is great but being payed for it and thus implementing usability as a standard procedure is a completely different biest.

The hurdle i think many people have is the first time they do something like this. It takes a fair amount of guts to make a pitch out of the blue.

Do you have advice for how someone trying to do this for the first time should approach it? Should they call a big meeting? Should they pull aside the VP and chat with them privately? Is there pre-work they should do before these pitch meetings, where they test the water?