What your customer insights and data analytics can reveal about ROI

Whether its competing priorities, securing support for new initiatives or extracting insights from customer data, CX faces many pressures. When CX Network conducts its annual research into the state of CX, respondents are asked to select the three greatest obstacles they encounter when investing in their strategic CX aims. Over the last three years, an undeniable pattern has emerged; the ability to prove ROI has emerged as the top investment obstacle every time. The research also directly asks practitioners if the pressure to prove ROI is increasing. In 2024, 66 percent said it is, while the figure stood at 64 percent in 2025 and 52 percent in 2026.

That in itself isn't a problem – CX should be held to same standards as other business functions. What can pose challenge is proving the returns on CX and UX improvements.

However, according to Paul Weaver, VP of design at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, research, design, customer insight and experimentation can all help organizations understand what friction is costing them and where better experiences can create measurable value.

Weaver will discuss the ROI of UX and CX during All Access: Future of Customer Insights and Data Analytics 2026, taking place online September 15-16. Ahead of his day one session, Weaver tells CX Network about the importance of connecting customer behavior to business performance, how user research can be translated into the operational and revenue metrics leaders want to see, and the top questions practitioners should put to prospective vendor partners to safeguard their returns. 

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CX Network: Your session at All Access: Future of Customer Insights and Data Analytics is called The ROI of UX and CX, and the business value of user-centered design. Without giving too much away, what will you cover?

Paul Weaver: One of the things I've learned throughout my career is that UX and CX are often talked about as if they sit outside of business performance, when in reality they are deeply connected to it.

Customers don't experience our features, our org charts, our roadmaps, or our technology platforms; they experience journeys, and what they experience is how easy or difficult it is to achieve what they came to do.

In the session, I'll look at UX and CX through that lens, and we'll talk about how research, design, customer insight, and experimentation help organizations understand where friction exists, what that friction is costing them, and where better experiences can create measurable value.

I'll share examples from a range of industries, along with real-world case studies that show two different sides of the value equation. One focuses on operational improvement, where a better user experience helps people complete important tasks more efficiently and with more confidence. The other focuses on commercial performance, where a better customer experience can influence conversion, revenue and business growth.

Ultimately, the session is about moving beyond the idea that UX and CX are just about aesthetics, interfaces, or satisfaction scores; they are practical business disciplines that help organizations make better decisions, reduce risk, and create better outcomes for the people they serve.

CX Network: Our 2026 research into the state of CX found 52 percent of practitioners believe the pressure to prove ROI is increasing. Why do you believe this is?

Paul Weaver: I think we're seeing a natural evolution of the profession, as for a long time many CX and UX teams were focused on helping organizations understand why experience matters. Today, I think, and hope, most leaders already accept that it does… The more important question now is where to invest, which experiences matter most, and what kind of return those investments can create.

I actually think that is a healthy shift, because every function in a business should be expected to show value, and CX should not be any different. The challenge is not proving that experience matters; the challenge is proving which experiences matter most.

That is where customer insight, data, and analytics become incredibly important. They help teams understand where friction exists in a journey, how that friction affects customer behavior, and what impact it may be having on conversion, loyalty, operational efficiency, or revenue.

In many ways, I think this pressure is good for the profession. It pushes us to connect our work more clearly to business outcomes, and to be more honest and specific about the value we are trying to create.

CX Network: Communicating CX to the C-suite remains a challenge for many practitioners. How do you translate user research into the operational and revenue metrics leaders will act on?

Paul Weaver: The biggest lesson I've learned is that executives rarely make decisions based on research findings alone; rather, they make decisions based on outcomes.

Every customer frustration creates friction somewhere in a journey, and every friction point has consequences. Sometimes those consequences show up as lower conversion, reduced loyalty, or lost revenue. Other times they show up as higher support costs, increased operational effort, longer training times, more errors, or complexity somewhere else in the business.

Our role is to connect those dots; not just to show that customers or users are struggling, but to help the organization understand what that struggle costs today, and what value could be created by solving it.

For example, if a clinical workflow is confusing, that is not just a usability issue. It may affect speed, accuracy, confidence, adoption, and ultimately operational performance. If a booking journey creates uncertainty for a customer, that is not just a design issue. It may affect conversion, revenue per visitor, loyalty behavior, or repeat engagement.

When we can connect customer behavior to business performance, the conversation changes. It becomes less about whether to invest in experience, and more about how quickly we can remove the friction that is holding value back.

CX Network: When it comes to working with third-party providers for UX and CX solutions, what are the top questions practitioners should put to prospective vendor partners to ensure they are investing in solutions that will deliver returns for their organization?

Paul Weaver: I would start by focusing less on deliverables and more on outcomes. It is easy to ask a partner what reports, workshops, designs, or frameworks they will provide. Those things may be useful, but they are not the same as value.

The more important questions are: 

• What customer or business outcome are we trying to improve?
• How will we know whether we have improved it?
• What evidence do we have that this is the right problem to solve?
• And how will assumptions be validated before significant investment is made?

I would also want to see where their work has improved measurable outcomes, not just customer sentiment or design quality. Did it improve conversion? Reduce effort? Increase adoption? Lower support demand? Improve task completion? Reduce risk?

And finally, I would ask what capability remains inside the organization after the engagement is complete, because the best partners do not just help organizations build things; they help organizations make better decisions about what should be built in the first place, as well as how those decisions can be validated, measured and improved after the initial work is complete.

That is where the real value often sits. A good partner should reduce uncertainty, help teams focus on the right problems, and leave the organization better equipped to keep improving after the project is done.

Register now to watch Paul Weaver explain the business value of user-centred design live at
All Access: Future of Customer Insights and Data Analytics

Quick links

• Connecting customer insights and business priorities
• Why data is the opportunity and enemy in CX ROI
• How it started, how it's going: 5 Ways CX spending has changed this decade