Measuring outcomes of good design
Here’s some real data from an organization using CiviCRM. What could cause these jumps in annual contributions?
A colleague came back to me today with the above graph and a great response to a question I’d posed a few weeks ago.
I had said:
… I'm not yet sure how to articulate the measurable business value of a “great-looking” visual presentation.
I'm curious whether you have some thoughts about the cost/benefit factors that go into assessing the value of such improvements. Is this something you talk about with clients?
And today, he came back with this (shared here with his permission):
Tho I didn't have much to say, I have been thinking about this. Then today I saw [the above] chart for one of my clients. And there's two important things that happened in this chart… First in 2020 they invested in a new website design, logo, name. Everything looked much nicer after that. It stops a decline in members that's been running for 6 years. Then in 2023 they start using CiviEvent, income doubles.
Obvs it's not all causal - ie there's a new staff member in 2019-ish, and that helps the new website and new events programme succeed. But you can also see how the site changes fit with their income…
To highlight some great points he’s making:
Few things have a single cause, and correlation is not the same as causation. (They did, after all, add a staff member in 2019.)
But there’s a strong correlation between design/usability improvements and constituent support levels:
Design and branding refresh, followed by ending a 6-year ongoing decline in memberships.
Integrated online event management through the CRM, followed by doubling annual total contributions/receipts.
It’s easy to think of design improvements only in the context of emotional metrics like “we think it looks out of date.”
But careful consideration can link it to more objective metrics like "it's harming our reputation and thus our outreach and/or income.”
Here’s the thing:
An improvement in design and usability isn't just about making things “look pretty.”
It's about easing the journey that each of our constituents must make, progressing to the next step in their engagement with our mission.
And that has measurable benefits that all of our statekholders will care about.
All the best,
A.
P.S. I’m still looking for ways to estimate things like “how much our curernt design is harming our work” or “how much improvement we could expect.” If you have thoughts on that, shoot me a reply!