Article
The Human Cost of UX Debt
How quick wins become high-interest loans against your user's trust, and how to invest in long-term growth instead.
Growth
Enjoyment
The Problem with “Quick Wins”
We’ve all been in this high-pressure situation: the deadline is looming, the team is stretched thin, and there’s an urgent need to deliver something, anything. In these moments, it’s easy to rationalize a simple solution that “just gets the job done.” We call these “quick wins,” but are they real wins? I’ve seen firsthand how small compromises on a digital experience can accumulate into debilitating UX debt. It’s not just a technical issue, it’s a human problem that can severely damage brand reputation, long-term product health, and team morale.
The truth is that while speedy fixes may hit short-term metrics, they don’t address the underlying issues needed to improve longer-term KPIs. A common example is moving a CTA to the Contact page higher on the home page. It may boost traffic to the lead form, but it won’t increase form submissions until the home page content strategy motivates users to convert. Quick wins often prioritize business goals by sacrificing genuine human needs like access, growth, connection, and enjoyment. UX debt also lowers morale by forcing teams to create solutions they know are subpar, leading to a loss of motivation, ownership, and pride in their work.
Identify
The first step is to uncover the truth behind the “quick wins.” This should go beyond a simple technical audit to include a deep analysis of the current experience from a UX professional. I use a blend of key heuristics, your internal analytics, and market research to uncover exactly where and how the product is failing users. This process identifies the real-world impact of design compromises and pinpoint actionable recommendations for improvement.
Prioritize
Not all UX debt is created equal. Once we’ve identified the issues, we need a clear and data-informed way to prioritize them. I use the R.I.S.E framework to calculate a quantifiable score for each actionable recommendation. To use RISE, give each fix different scores out of 10 for (R) return on business goals, (I) impact on the user experience, (S) scale of users affected, and (E) effort required to make the change. You can even adjust the weighting of each factor to focus on the most important fixes for your team, such as weighting effort most heavily due to limited resources.
Resolve
The final step is collaborating with your team on a plan to proactively address prioritized UX debt as a part of every sprint cycle. The most significant barrier to fixing UX debt is the belief that it’s an alternative to creating profit, but I believe the opposite is true. Good UX is profitable, and by integrating old fixes with new features, we can stop the cycle of compromise and build a sustainable, user-centered product.