Designers are always asked the question, "What's the value of your work?" They don't always seem to have a good answer.
Of course, this is excusable. Because often, a designer's work doesn't actually add much value. They are responsible for adjusting the color and shape of objects on the screen, or moving controls from side to side, or swapping hamburger menus for salad menus. How much quantifiable value can it bring when the bulk of interactive design becomes visual tweaks? Obviously not much.
But that's not the whole reason. The reason design practitioners don't add value to the company is because their business prevents them from doing so. Employers who hire designers and ask them the value of their work obviously don't know what the designers do, don't care what they do, and probably don't want the designers to contribute any value.
There are far more "User Experience Designers" than there were twenty years ago, but most of the new software we use today still has the same interaction problems as it did 20 years ago. Some of the failures of contemporary software are actually Latest Mailing Database violating the most basic, and least worthy, principles of good interaction design, and these problems were overcome in the 1990s. For example, the app showed me the option of a confirmation dialog, but didn't offer an "undo" option; the developers seemed to insist that the user was able to spot the nuances of the file system; the software couldn't remember even the simplest of every time the user asked Requests; the app is rude, hides the state and its results, and always interrupts the user with silly reminders. These are the failings of user interaction design that we all know, but it is both baffling and unforgivable that these problems continue and recur in new products today.
What kind of discipline could allow this to happen?
Well, maybe it's a discipline with no rules. Perhaps this is a discipline that values user surveys and interviews more than actual hard work. Maybe it's a discipline that prefers drawing nice wireframes rather than solving user puzzles. Or perhaps, this is a subject that presents Stockholm Syndrome (a complex in which the victim of a crime has feelings for the perpetrator, and even helps the perpetrator in turn). The discipline has embraced being marginalized by product companies that do not understand or value the value of user-centered design.
The early feature of interaction design is to strive for a right to speak and to be recognized. After the dot-com bubble burst, interaction design emerged, survivors finally accepted the value of interaction design, and related application practices proliferated. After the iPhone was released, I think everyone saw that there was a huge advantage to a product with a good design performance. Design finally earned its place. But somehow, despite the obvious benefits of design, the “all we need is engineering and sales” voice that defines traditional Silicon Valley ethos is making a comeback.
As a result, companies (large and successful companies like Sonos, Autodesk, and Apple) have gradually marginalized the contribution of interaction design. Their brand has been formed, and once again they have found that it is easier to convince customers that their product is easy to use than to actually make it easy to use. Middle managers who are always playing with the system and looking for personal advantage and career advancement are starting to ask questions like "What is the ROI of UX?"
"Return on investment" is a term used only by managers. Understanding ROI information, tracking it, and increasing that number is the job of managers, not design practitioners. The task of the designer is to design, to make the product more efficient and more satisfying to the customer. And it's management's job to make sure that you can make money from this product that delights customers. However, they still ask design practitioners questions about ROI. They asked this question not to seek answers or hints, but to express their doubts, to express a feeling of questioning. And designers fall into their trap every time.
In fact, design practitioners can find countless blog posts proving that a well-designed product can make more money. Interaction design is invaluable and can definitely get you to the point where you're in awe. Interaction design makes users love their products, and interaction design makes product managers look like heroes. Apple is using interaction design to make a name for itself, and thousands of companies use interaction design to maximize their competitive advantage.
If your boss asks you to quantify the value of your work, you need to understand that your work has no value. But this is because in this company, following this boss is worthless.
So, when your boss asks you again, "What's your job worth?", you're actually faced with two valid courses of action: 1) Accept that you and your current situation are a worthless combination , or 2) go to a place that values your work. Go to a place that doesn't ask what the value of your work is, but instead values the value of your work by default.