You see UX as a necessity. In a perfect world, you’d be given a healthy budget for it for every project you work on. You’re well acquainted with all of the benefits that UX provides for a product, and you’ve had past experience with products that were greatly improved when UX was brought in before the development process. The problem is, some C-level executives are caught juggling many different tasks, and as a result, may not know as much about UX as you do. You may be working at a company that has its own in-house UI designer, and they figure that that one designer has the usability area covered. How can you convince your team otherwise? How can you start the conversation that UX is not a luxury, but a necessity?

We’ve seen this struggle before. Luckily, a lot of C-level execs are open to methodologies or processes that can improve their product and bottomline. But, there are still a few out there that might not know that a useful, usable, and desirable product has serious ROI. If you’re on a team ridden with this UX learning barrier, we have a few tips to move forward:

Speak their language.

Don’t talk about UX in terms of design- that pigeon holes the process when it is really much more than that. Talk about UX in terms that are easy to digest for executives and thought leaders. It’s likely that the leaders of your company are always open to ideas on how to improve, and if you can frame UX inside the ideas of improving revenues, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency, their ears will begin to perk up. The bottom line is what matters to them. When there is data that proves that UX increases brand loyalty, and has a hefty ROI, that’s not something a good executive ignores.

Pitch the big picture.

When you start thinking in the UX school of thought, you will realize that it has touchpoints in many areas across your brand. Does it impact marketing and sales? Definitely. What about customer service? Absolutely. UX is an undertaking that will improve companies by making products that your customers will love to use.

Erase the uncertainty.

The human brain is hard-wired to avoid uncertain things. When something is confusing, or doesn’t have a clear plan of action, our brain pays less attention. Once you have the attention of the execs, you could decide to hand out a plan of attack. Taking away some of the uncertainty of UX is important, and clarifying what actions will cause the results are important.

Don’t forget about timing.

Last, but not least, set the precedent that UX needs to have a budget allocation of 10% of your total project’s spend. Make sure that the execs understand that you can get the most value out of UX when it is brought in before the development and launch of your product, rather than a last-ditch effort to save a product that has gone wrong.

If you can tell the story of UX in a way that impacts the big picture, from shareholders to users, and erase the uncertainty, you can convince your executives to invest in UX.