Why UI/UX Development is Important in Digital Transformation?

‘Digital transformation’ has been a catchphrase in the tech industry. Uber, Airbnb, DoorDash, and similar apps used cloud computing technology to reimagine our day-to-day transactions. The term itself refers to the strategic, top-down business process of integrating digital technology into all areas and aspects of an organization.

Business leaders take this initiative to modernize their operations, tech stacks, and processes. They want to drive rapid, user-centric, and digital-first innovation just like Uber did with ridesharing or Airbnb did with home rentals. Today, this intense form of digital transformation has become an integral and ever-present part of every modern company’s business strategy.

But, that does not mean every digital transformation effort is successful. A recent study from McKinsey shows that, on average, most companies that have invested in this endeavor in recent years have received less than one-third of their expected revenue boost. Why is that the case and how can other companies avoid the same fate?

The key might lie in world-class UI UX development services. Here’s why.

UI/UX Development in Digital Transformation

• UI stands for User Interface
• UX stands for User Experience
• UI/UX development is the process of creating a usable interface and then consistently delivering great experiences

The term ‘UI/UX’ experience is loosely used to refer to the overall perception users have about a digital product based on the sum of their interactions with the brand. So, if your perception of Starbucks is overwhelmingly positive because of all the good interactions you have had with the Starbucks app recently — it is fair for you to say that DoorDash has good UX.

It is also fair for you to assume that Starbucks’ digital transformation has been super-successful. Now, let us flip things. Let us say that most of the interactions the average user had with the Starbucks app were negative. You could not sign up for 90-day active rewards, make mobile payments, or earn gift cards on the app.

Would it be fair for the average user to assume that Starbucks’ digital transformation has been an absolute failure? Absolutely. After all, why undergo a digital transformation unless you can serve your customers better digitally, right? That is what happened to JCPenney. This retail giant did not take its digital transformation seriously. Now, it is headed for bankruptcy.

The Starbucks app, on the other hand, is an example of successful digital transformation. In Q1 of 2024, the app had a record 34.3 million regular members. Online payments accounted for over 30% of all transactions. Gift card-related transactions on the app amounted to over $3.6 billion. Almost every time users close the app, they leave satisfied.

What makes Starbucks’ digital transformation so successful and so different from other brands? It is all down to great ‘UI/UX’ development and design. Some designers have called the Starbucks app’s interface “design perfection.” On the app store the app has a user rating of 4.9/5. The app has been reviewed 5.6+ million times so we know that rating isn’t fake.

According to a Harvard Business Review report, the Starbucks app does not just have an awesome interface. It also has an incredibly satisfying UX design with perfect user journeys. Here are some key user-centric touchpoints in the Starbucks app:

• The Starbucks app remembers customers’ preferred payment methods
• It automatically enables rapid reorders of preferred items
• It instantly locates the nearest Starbucks store
• It offers a universal protocol for how orders are served; a venti Grande is made the same way in Japan as it is in North America

Millions of users love and benefit from these digital perks — this is the main reason why Starbucks has had a successful digital transformation. If users did not benefit from these perks, nobody would care if the Starbucks app had geo-location features or if their website had AI assistance capabilities. Ultimately, all digital transformations end up in the user experience domain.

If your continual digital innovation efforts are not improving the end user’s experience, then you can never have a fully successful digital transformation. A ‘digital transformation’ should allow your business to anticipate and deliver the next best digital innovation.

Only then can you capitalize on this transformation, build a digital niche (just like Starbucks did), and generate real value. Achieving all this is only possible through high-quality UI/UX development and design. Here’s why.

Importance of UI/UX Development in Digital Transformation

Keeping UI/UX design and development at the forefront of your transformation will help ensure that you never invest in dead or redundant technologies that bring little value to your end users. It will first help you get to know what your users really want — because professional-grade UI/UX design and development always starts with in-depth user research.

Then, UI/UX designers and developers will guide you on what technologies to invest in and which ones to avoid, based on your user base and staff’s preferences. Here’s an overview of all the benefits that come with teaming up with such experts:

Improving User Engagement

One of the first things UI/UX designers will do is make your existing digital assets more usable. They audit your site, point out all the flaws, and then make design changes that make your user interface ‘great again’ and your app/website capable of delivering engaging experiences. Good UI/UX design will also make your digital products more accessible to diverse user bases.

If your brand is offering digital experiences for the first time, UI/UX designers can help simplify the offerings for first-time users. For example, if your brand-new banking-themed app is catered towards older users, UI/UX designers and developers will make the onboarding process super-smooth, use larger fonts, offer explanatory videos, etc.

Driving Valuable Innovation

Being at the edge of digital innovation is impossible unless you have a clear idea of how users will react to new technologies. Professional UI/UX designers and developers know all about this stuff. They help their clients make the most of the latest tech innovations by wrapping them up in user-centric designs. If you want your website to have a voice interface or your enterprise app to have a custom AI tool — you will need UI/UX design assistance to pull these things off.

Setting Clear Objectives

Digital transformation projects often lose direction because they lack clear goals. A UI/UX design and development-centric approach will help you avoid that fate. UI/UX designers and developers set clear goals based on real user needs right at the start of the project.

Then, they discuss these goals with different departments and stakeholders. This unified approach gives the digital transformation a shared vision and a clear set of measurable goals that can be tracked and refined over time.

Creating Wireframes and Prototypes

Another underappreciated thing that UI/UX designers and developers do is create wireframes, prototypes, and clickable mockups. These professionals work as per Agile standards so they come up with three or four of these mockups every day. All stakeholders and even test users get to interact with the prototypes and wireframes.

Their feedback drives the rest of the project and the end product — be it a singular landing page or a gamified web app — is always made with the users in mind. This level of cautious, user-centric UI/UX design is the key to consistently satisfying users and giving your digital presence an edge over competitors.

Conclusion

In this era of digital transformations, every company is technically a technology company. To outshine your competitors and make technology the powering force behind new value creation, you have to keep users at the center of your transformation.

That means you need to treat UI/UX design and development as the ultimate differentiator in your transformation efforts. If your ‘UI/UX’ is ‘good,’ everything else will eventually fall into place and your transformation will be successful by all metrics.