Designing with impact: Why aligning UX with business goals is a win-win in pharma

The key is recognising that user needs and business goals aren’t in competition. A more intuitive, accessible, and engaging experience doesn't just benefit the end user, it supports the organisation's wider objectives. 

Whether that’s improving digital adoption, increasing content engagement, or enhancing brand perception, prioritising usability and relevance leads to better results.

• Forrester research has shown that every $1 invested in UX brings up to $100 in return.
• McKinsey’s Business Value of Design report found that design-led companies outperform industry benchmarks by as much as 2:1 in revenue growth.
• The Design Management Institute’s Design Value Index showed design-centric companies outperformed the S&P 500 by 211% over 10 years (DMI).
• According to Watermark Consulting, customer experience leaders outperform laggards by nearly 80% in revenue growth.

Digital touch points used by HCPs and patients are often the front door to your brand. These audiences don’t distinguish between consumer and professional experiences. They expect the same ease, clarity and relevance from pharma as they do from any other sector.

That expectation matters commercially. According to PwC, 32% of customers would stop doing business with a brand they love after just one bad experience, while customers who feel appreciated are significantly more likely to increase their spending and loyalty. Delivering a consistently strong experience isn’t just about satisfaction, it’s a clear competitive advantage. (PwC – Customer experience is everything)

Yet internal teams are often under pressure to deliver faster, with fewer resources, and against a backdrop of compliance constraints and legacy infrastructure. It can be tempting to focus narrowly on content delivery or campaign execution. But without a clear UX strategy, the risk is that well-intentioned digital investments fail to connect, or even frustrate users.

Prioritising user needs—through research, prototyping, testing and optimisation—ensures digital efforts are not just efficient but effective.

For HCPs making decisions in high-pressure environments, and for patients seeking reassurance or guidance, time is limited and attention is precious. Interfaces must be intuitive. Language must be clear. Navigation must support real-world behaviour.

Accessibility is also non-negotiable. In the UK, at least 1 in 5 people are living with a long-term illness, impairment, or disability (NHS Digital), and patients may be experiencing anxiety, cognitive overload, or other health-related challenges that affect their ability to engage with digital content. Inclusive design doesn’t just widen reach—it builds trust and demonstrates care.

While external partners can bring valuable expertise, agility and momentum, there’s significant long-term benefit in strengthening internal UX capabilities. Empowering internal teams with the right mindset, methods, and frameworks enables faster iteration, better cross-functional collaboration, and a more consistent digital experience across products and markets.

A blended approach, combining in-house knowledge with strategic support, can accelerate capability building while ensuring that UX thinking becomes embedded across the organisation.

The best digital experiences in healthcare strike a balance between empathy and impact. They’re grounded in real user needs, but also aligned to strategic goals. And crucially, they’re designed not as one-off outputs, but as evolving tools that grow in value over time.

Investing in UX is not about choosing users over the business. It’s about recognising that truly user-centred design is one of the most effective ways to meet business objectives in a complex and competitive digital landscape.