Alfonso de la Nuez is the CEO of UserZoom, A Complete Worry-Free Solution to Cost-Effectively Measure Customer Experience and Conduct Usability Testing
Alfonso, how did you get to where you are now?
Actually, working my ass off and taking some big risks... :). Seriously now, I’d say that the key factors are:
1) Timing and market opportunity: The UX Design and Research space is way bigger now than it was back when we started. We have the first movers advantage.
2) Product: We’ve invested quite a bit on innovation and our product offers lots of capabilities and is quite versatile, making us very competitive.
3) Target focus: We focused on a clear target market pretty much since the beginning and stuck to it through the years.
4) Internationalization: If we hadn’t made the move to the US, we’d most likely gone bankrupt in Spain, especially after the 2008 crisis.
What drives you as an entrepreneur?
The biggest thrill for me comes from solving a real problem or gap in the market and seeing that your idea brings a lot of true value and that you're able to scale it. Life is a journey, so I enjoy experiencing an entrepreneurial life in which you get to see progress month after month. You always need to have a goal and purpose in life or you become bored. Being an Entrepreneur who controls the business, even with all the hard work and ups and downs, allows me to set those goals for myself. Accomplishing those goals, overcoming the many challenges along the way, using creativity and passion and working as a team with a group of smart people... That's what drives me!
Who are your top references in marketing technology?
Salesforce, Marketo, Adobe, Insidesales.com, Qualtrics, UserZoom ;)
Why do you think so many companies still consider UX/CX a "nice to have" and not the foundation of innovation?
First I personally see that considering a 'nice to have' is now more exceptional than typical. Those companies that still don't get it are usually not mature enough and haven't yet made a business case out of it. They will soon, or they'll lose all kinds of competitive advantage.
This is not at all like it used to be. It's a war out there with UI and UX design. It's definitely a revolution. No end user will let a company screw up. Good UX/CX is now linked directly to better financial results, so most companies are adopting some form of user-centered design methodologies. Even in B2B you see the shift. It's a matter of time for the ones who haven't.
How does UzerZoom fit in the overall crowded marktech landscape?
We're in the testing and optimization space (usability, UX) while a digital product is being created, but also in the experience measurement space (CX) once it's live. We specialize in empowering UX Pros, PMs, and Digital Marketers to scale their user research and testing in a cost-effective and agile way.
Since user-centered design is so important and agile development is widely adopted, a solution like UserZoom that offers, essentially, an agile testing platform, comes really handy. We help our customers better understand how user-centered their products are and if there's a problem, why and how to fix it.
What do you consider the biggest roadblocks for ROI attributed to UX?
Directly linking it to financial success, while now more obvious, is still difficult. It's hard to actually quantify exactly how much you can gain from great UX, or great design, in terms of $, which is what the C-level execs care about. It's not as straight-forward as with ad campaigns, for instance. It's basically a lot more work, because there are so many variables to account for. But you can get very close to it and come up with productivity measures, along with end user satisfaction and adoption.
See more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc and http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/07/how-to-calculate-the-roi-of-ux-using-metrics.php
How would you describe the challenges of today's marketers?
Well for me it's all about the end consumer being more empowered than ever before. Marketing to me is much more about offering real great experiences and reducing the amount of BS and blah, blah, blah. Focus on truly understanding your audience and HOW they consume and use your product or service, the customer journey from the very beginning.
Also, in B2B I like the concept of Account-based Marketing (ABM) and being a lot more strategic and focused.
So as a Marketer today, the key is to understand that you may be very successful without making noise and investing lot of money in so-called 'marketing budget'. The game's changed quite a bit.