What is the right User Research for you?
As businesses realize the importance to drive a consistent UX strategy, they are looking to go beyond.
Enterprise UX Design - Why Its Needed?
Enterprise UX is a term used in describing the software designed for the employees of an organization, and not the customers. Every day, an organization has to manage its critical systems to ensure smooth functioning of day-to- day operations. It could include human resource portals, content management systems, propriety software, intranet sites and other systems used in an enterprise.
Enterprise software is designed for the users; to help them effortlessly integrate new tools, navigate from one application to the other and work hassle-free and better. But, unfortunately, in many cases it is quite exactly the opposite. Due to overuse of legacy technologies or a lack of interest in improving operations, employees feel frustrated and are under pressure to accommodate even the many shortcomings of these systems.
Organizations are simply not aware of how faulty in-house software can slow down user productivity. So, why do project managers and business leaders still prefer to avoid discussing the importance of enterprise UX in an organization? What could be the reasons behind this attitude? Enterprise UX can be difficult. An organization has to invest in improving user experience, and shift toward a mindset that values the time and efforts of its employees. A designer has to incorporate tools and techniques like such as rapid prototyping and design studios to help them envision more effective solutions.
The concept of enterprise user experience is nothing new, it has been there from a long time in solutions like Microsoft Office, but it is yet to be fully explored. An enterprise UX involves large groups of people within the organization, so it is better to communicate with your staff about what do you want to accomplish and how do you see them becoming a part of the process. Most importantly, an organization can bring about a good Enterprise UX, if it focuses on the 3 Ps of enterprise UX: profits, people, and productivity.
The financial benefit of designing a good UX is something that has to be taken into account. As organizations work with software-driven complex systems, getting the software up and running without harming profit margins is a priority. A recent report by IEEE (why software fails) suggested that organizations lose a lot of money due to software-related issues. The study cited 12 main reasons for those failures, and 3 of those 12 are directly related to UX.
Keep in mind that the cost of fixing errors after development stage is 100x times more than before development. That’s exactly why we need to make these improvements. Money aside, a programmer has to work twice as hard to fix an avoidable error. Hence, it is indeed a smart business move to work towards a positive UX development in the enterprise world. You not only achieve increased earnings and cost-savings, but also make it easy for employees to adapt to fast-changing social, technology and business trends.
When designing enterprise UX, enterprise culture and employees’ habits should be taken into considerations. Companies that use enterprise software that is flexible, adaptable and quick to update allow their employee to work more efficiently. When employees are provided with the right tools, they work quickly and efficiently and feel empowered. It will lead to better job satisfaction and staff retention, as well contributing to positive work environment where employees feel their basic needs are met.
The employees in an enterprise are the end users of an enterprise product. If there’s frustration and fatigue from poorly designed applications, it affects their ability to perform and address larger issues.
With better UX design, it is possible to improve the team’s productivity and reduce the burden of legacy software systems on employees. The best example can be taken from the inner-workings of Slack, one of the most commonly used software for corporate communication.The team behind Slack, then-called Tiny Speck, was actually finding it difficult to communicate internally as their team was spread around the globe- in different time zones.
Their solution was to create their own internal communication tool, with a particular focus on making it easy to use and even add some joy to daily work. New features and functionalities were added as they were needed by any of the developers in the company. Today, Slack is a $1.2 billion company that facilitates collaboration and communication in an increasingly digital world.
Senior UX architect Jim Ross, made a compelling estimate that for every dollar invested into better UX, return can go from 2 USD to 100 USD. The spotlight on enterprise UX is turning out to be an interesting new paradigm shift in the information technology sector. There is no better time for companies to experience the promise of enterprise UX firsthand.
