At Lazarev.agency, we've seen companies waste millions on beautiful interfaces that fail to serve users or achieve business objectives. In situations like these, our team comes to the rescue.
In this article, we’ll help you avoid similar pitfalls and save a lot of money. So, what is the secret that can bring you high profit and happy customers? The answer is a solid UX strategy.
Key takeaways
- UX strategy bridges user needs with business goals creating products that users love while driving measurable results.
- Validated user research forms the foundation. Data-driven insights eliminate guesswork and reduce product failure rates by 67%.
- Continuous optimization drives competitive advantage. Companies with strong UX strategies see 219% higher performance growth compared to competitors.
UX strategy vs. traditional business strategy
While traditional business strategy focuses on market positioning and revenue streams, UX strategy ensures every touchpoint serves both the end users and core business objectives.
The numbers don't lie. According to Forrester Research, companies investing in UX see a return of $100 for every $1 spent. Yet 70% of digital products fail due to poor user adoption.
“The disconnect happens when teams treat UX design as decoration rather than strategy. A well-defined UX strategy fixes that by setting clear principles that guide every design decision.”
{{Oleksandr Holovko}}
Core business impact of strategic UX thinking
Effective UX strategy delivers measurable business outcomes. Companies with mature UX practices report:
- 400% increase in conversion rate
- 219% higher performance rate compared to competitors
- 56% increase in customer lifetime value through improved user experiences
- 50% reduction in development costs by catching usability issues early
- 40% faster time-to-market when teams align on user-centered design principles
These results stem from UX strategy's ability to align user and business needs from day one.
What makes a UX strategy bulletproof?
A strong UX strategy is like a well-rehearsed band, every instrument (or component) needs to play in sync to hit the right notes.
Design process integration
The UX design process becomes strategic when it connects every design decision to user needs and business objectives. This integration ensures creativity serves strategic purposes.
Strategic design questions:
- How does this design choice support user goals?
- What business metric will this improve?
- How do we measure success?
- What assumptions are we testing?
Interaction design strategy
Interaction design shapes how users experience your product's core value. Strategic approach guides users toward valuable actions while feeling natural and intuitive.
Focus areas:
- Onboarding flows that demonstrate value quickly
- Navigation systems that support user mental models
- Feedback mechanisms that build user confidence
- Error handling that maintains user trust
User interface strategy
The user interface translates strategic thinking into visual and interactive experiences. Strategic UI design balances user needs, business goals, and technical constraints.
Strategic UI principles:
- Visual hierarchy that guides user attention
- Consistency that builds user confidence
- Accessibility that serves all users
- Performance that respects user time
The complete UX research process in 8 steps
Step 1. Define clear research goals & business questions
Before jumping in, stop and ask: What exactly are we trying to learn?
🎯 Pro tip: Strong research starts with sharp, goal-driven questions. Vague prompts waste time, clear ones unlock real insight. Ask things like: Why do free users hesitate to upgrade? What features keep loyal users coming back? How do users discover our product? Precise questions = useful answers.
Step 2. Map out your research strategy
Different research methods answer different questions. Plan your approach based on what kind of insights you need.
Match your method to your goal:
- Generative research (e.g. interviews, observations): Great for exploring new ideas or user needs you don’t know yet.
- Evaluative research (e.g. usability tests, A/B tests): Use this to check if a design or feature works well.
- Behavioral research (e.g. analytics, heatmaps): See what users are really doing, not just what they say.
- Competitive research (e.g. feature comparisons, user journeys): Understand how your product stacks up.
⚡️ Pro tip: Think of research as a funnel: start wide (generative research to discover needs), then go narrow (evaluative testing to refine details).
Step 3. Find the right people to talk to
Good research needs the right users. Talking to random people won’t help if they’re not like your actual audience.
Recruit smart:
- Mix of new, active, and churned users
- People who match your ideal customer profile
- Decision-makers (especially for B2B)
- Users of competitor products you want to win over
Sample sizes:
- Interviews: 8–12 per user type
- Usability tests: 5–8 users per round
- Surveys: 100+ for solid data
- A/B tests: Depends on traffic and conversion goals
🧩 Pro tip: You’ll learn more from frustrated users and skeptics. Look for them in niche subreddits, on platforms like User Interviews or Respondent.io.
Step 4. Run user interviews that go deep
Interviews are great for uncovering emotions, context, and motivations. But to get real insight, don’t just ask, “Do you like this?”
Structure your interviews:
- Context: How do they currently solve the problem?
- Behavior: What do they actually do (not just say)?
- Pain points: What’s annoying or broken?
- Value: What features or benefits matter most?
- Decision-making: What influences their choices?
Always record and transcribe. You’ll catch way more insight than just writing notes. You can also use templates for interviews to structure them better.
Step 5. Test usability to see what works
Usability testing shows how users actually use your product, not how you think they do. This is where big “aha” moments happen. How to test:
- Moderated: You’re there to guide and ask follow-ups
- Unmoderated: They do it solo; you watch later
- Remote: Easy to scale, good for diverse users
- In-person: Best for complex flows or physical products
You can use templates to speed things up. No need to reinvent the wheel, focus on observing what clicks, where users get stuck, and which assumptions hold up under real use.
Step 6. Study the competition like a pro
Understanding your competition helps you see what users expect, what’s working for others, and where you can stand out.
Analyze more than features:
- Direct competitors: Similar tools solving the same problem
- Indirect: Totally different approach to the same need
- Adjacent: Related tools users might bundle with yours
- Substitutes: DIY workarounds or manual hacks
What to look for:
- Features & gaps
- UX quality & flows
- Pricing and value props
- Reviews & feedback
- Positioning and messaging
You can now use AI tools to automate this process. Try this prompt in ChatGPT: "Act like a UX strategist. Analyze the top 3 competitors of [your product name] and compare their onboarding flow, messaging, and user experience. What are their strengths, weaknesses, and where’s the opportunity gap?"
Step 7. Turn data into real insights
Now it’s time to make sense of everything. Raw notes aren't a strategy. You need to connect the dots. Ways to synthesize:
- Affinity mapping: Group similar ideas or themes
- Journey maps: Visualize user steps and emotions
- Pain point ranking: What’s most frequent or damaging?
- Opportunity spots: Where needs and business goals align
Build a short, punchy “insight deck” for your team. Make it visual and easy to digest.
Step 8. Keep testing after you build
Research doesn’t end once you launch a design. Use implementation testing to see if your changes actually made things better. What to do:
- Prototype tests before coding fully
- A/B tests to compare versions
- Cohort analysis to track behavior over time
- Long-term studies to measure ongoing impact
Implementation and measurement of UX strategy
Key metrics for strategic UX
“Pick metrics that align with your current UX goals. If you're focused on onboarding, look at Time to Value and Task Completion Rates. If you're targeting retention, check Churn and Feature Adoption.”
{{Oleksandr Holovko}}
Implementation phase planning
The implementation phase transforms strategy into reality. Success requires clear timelines, resource allocation, and stakeholder alignment.
Implementation priorities:
- High-impact, low-effort improvements first
- Foundation-building investments second
- Experimental initiatives third
- Long-term strategic projects last
Continuous strategy evolution
UX strategy isn't static. Market conditions change. User needs evolve. Competitive landscapes shift. Strategic UX adapts while maintaining core principles.
Evolution triggers:
- Quarterly user research insights
- Competitive analysis updates
- Business model changes
- Technology capability shifts
⚡️ Key idea: Treat your UX strategy as a living document that evolves with learning while maintaining strategic consistency.
Common UX strategy pitfalls and solutions
Even experienced teams make strategic UX mistakes. Understanding common pitfalls helps avoid costly errors and accelerate strategic success.
Pitfall 1. Strategy without user validation
Internal assumptions, CEO hunches, or “we’ve always done it this way” logic might feel right, but they’re basically vibes with no data. That’s how you end up shipping features no one asked for and designing journeys no one enjoys.
The fix: Make user research your ride-or-die. Every strategic decision should be backed by real feedback, usability tests, and behavioral data.
Real-world inspiration:
- Instagram Threads scaled quickly by launching with just the essentials and listening in real-time to what users actually wanted next (hello, edit button).
- Airbnb used user interviews and behavioral research to shift from “booking travel” to “belong anywhere” changing not just their UX but their whole brand narrative.
Pitfall 2. Misaligned success metrics
Tracking random metrics like time on page or bounce rate won’t show if your product truly helps users or grows the business. Scrolling or clicks don’t equal satisfaction or conversion.
The fix: Agree on success measures that tie user happiness to business goals. Use meaningful metrics and connect them to retention, revenue, and growth.
Real-world wins:
- Duolingo nailed this by combining user streaks (satisfaction + habit) with monetization metrics like subscription growth. Their UX keeps people learning and paying.
- Figma focused on real-time collaboration UX and tied it directly to team expansion and seat growth. That’s how it scaled from indie designers to enterprise teams.
Pitfall 3. Tactical focus without strategic context
If you’re designing just to meet standards and not solving real problems or supporting long-term goals, you’re just decorating.
The fix: Shift the mindset: UX = strategy. That means zooming out, understanding the product vision, mapping user needs, and making intentional, measurable decisions that move both forward.
Real-world proof:
- Headspace made meditation simple by strategically designing for emotional accessibility. That’s UX aligned with a mission and subscription growth.
- Canva replaced complexity with guided creativity – not because it looked good, but because it served non-designers (their core users) and enabled viral team adoption.
Pitfall 4. Isolated UX strategy
Creating a UX strategy in isolation leads to designs that look good but fail in reality. UX must connect to business goals, tech limits, and product plans.
The fix: Collaborate early with product, engineering, and leadership. When teams work together, UX, dev, marketing, and ops, the strategy becomes practical, human-centered, and aligned for success.
Real-world wins:
- Slack nailed cross-functional UX strategy by baking user needs and technical feasibility into every design sprint which helped them scale fast without sacrificing usability.
- Google Docs didn’t become the standard just by being pretty. They built UX with infra, sharing logic, and collaboration scale in mind from day one.
Strategic UX tools
Creating a strong UX strategy is about using the right tools to uncover insights, validate ideas, and measure real outcomes.
Research tools
We start with tools that help us deeply understand user behavior, needs, and pain points. This isn’t guesswork — it’s grounded in real data.
- User interview platforms like Lookback, Maze, or Dovetail let us run moderated and unmoderated interviews, collect feedback, and spot behavioral patterns.
- Analytics & behavior tracking tools such as Hotjar, Mixpanel, or Google Analytics help us see what users are actually doing — not just what they say.
- A/B testing frameworks like Optimizely or VWO allow us to test hypotheses in real-time and make decisions based on what performs best.
- Survey and feedback systems like Typeform, Usabilla, or Survicate help us gather structured user opinions and track satisfaction over time.
Strategy tools
Once we’ve gathered the insights, we use strategy tools to shape a UX vision that supports both user needs and business goals.
- Journey mapping software such as Miro lets us visualize the full user experience, from entry point to goal completion — highlighting friction and opportunity.
- Persona development templates (via Figma) help us humanize our users and align design decisions around real behavior, not assumptions.
- Competitive analysis frameworks like SWOT or UX benchmarking tools (UXtweak) help us position the product smartly within its landscape.
- Metric dashboard systems using Tableau, help us monitor KPIs in real-time and track how UX decisions impact the business.
Don’t have all these tools in-house? No worries. At Lazarev.agency, we bring both the toolkit and the team — so you don’t need to piece it together yourself. From early research to continuous optimization, we’ve got your UX strategy covered end-to-end.
Lazarev.agency UX work that got stakeholders saying “Finally”
UX is about building experiences that work for your users and your business. Here’s how we helped fast-growing companies go from confusion to clarity, and from decent to dominant.
Redbrain is a retail tech powerhouse driving over £1 billion in incremental sales in 2022 through a network of shopping comparison websites. Their mission? Match the right consumers with the right retailers — fast, smart, and at scale.
Partnering with major brands like Nike, Walmart, Currys, and House of Fraser, Redbrain came to Lazarev.agency with a bold ask:
“Design a future-ready shopping discovery platform that empowers both retailers and consumers.”
The goal was two-fold:
- Help retailers get their products into Google Shopping’s top-tier placements.
- Give consumers intelligent tools to discover the best value deals — without wasting time or missing opportunities.
Our approach
We kicked off with collaborative workshops alongside Redbrain’s internal team to understand pain points from both sides of the marketplace: the retailer and the shopper. This co-creation phase shaped every design decision that followed. To balance usability and performance, we anchored the experience in five core UX pillars:
- Smart discovery
- Visual hierarchy
- Personalization
- Deal visibility
- Actionable insights
While Redbrain’s new platform is still rolling out in phases, early signals are strong:
- Increased engagement with product comparison features
- Higher conversion rates on featured and discounted products
- Improved retailer visibility in user behavior analytics
Want UX that works and wins?
Strategic UX is the way smart teams build products users love and investors back. We don’t guess. We research, test, and design with purpose. We make it work.
Ready to build a UX strategy that drives real business results? Our UX research and digital product design services help startups and enterprises create strategic user experiences that users love and businesses profit from. Let's discuss your strategic UX needs and build products that win in the market.
