Why the user experience of enterprise software matters
Does user experience matter?
Every day, it becomes more and more difficult to answer this question with a “No”. Whether the context is software, hardware, devices, or services, a great user experience is perceived either as a competitive differentiator, or, increasingly often, as a necessity.
There’s one corner of the IT industry, though, that’s often singled out as an exception to this rule – enterprise software.
Enterprise software has been widely pilloried (and usually rightly so) for the complicated, confusing, and downright weird user experiences it often provides. A number of reasons have been used to justify this state of affairs:
- Enterprise software is bought by people who don’t use it. Traditionally, enterprise software purchasing decisions have been made by the IT department. IT decision makers rarely have a good understanding of what people in their organizations need to solve their problems.
- Enterprise software purchases are driven by feature comparisons. In the absence of real data about their users’ needs, IT executives typically rely on feature checklists to decide between vendors. The vendor who delivers the most features for the buck – regardless of how well those features fulfill users’ needs – often wins.
- Enterprise software users are a captive audience. In many cases, people working in large organizations have not traditionally had a choice as to whether to use a given enterprise system. They’ve been either expected or forced to do so by policies, procedures, workflows, and the demands of day to day business.
- Enterprise software companies just don’t care about user experience. Whether it’s a culture of not paying attention to user needs or a perception of user experience design as a luxury, enterprise software vendors are often seen as not giving user experience the attention it deserves.
So why would this situation change? Why should either vendors or internal decision makers start paying attention to user needs and pain points?
Here are a few reasons why the user experience of enterprise software is, slowly but surely, starting to matter:
- The enterprise is becoming consumerized. The user experience expectations of enterprise users are now being set by the innovative consumer products, services, and apps they encounter outside the office. As workers bring these experiences into their work environments, they are demanding that enterprise systems start living up to similar expectations.
- Alternatives to traditional enterprise software are emerging. Enterprise software vendors are being pressured by trends like cloud computing, open source software, and software as a service (SaaS), which are often capable of delivering better, more consumer-like experiences to enterprise users.
- Adoption drives return on investment. Given the current economic climate, users’ demands for better experiences, and the availability of alternatives, decision makers are increasingly unwilling to make purchasing or maintenance decisions, unless they have reason to believe that the systems they invest in will be adopted and used.
- A good user experience helps drive adoption. User experience is starting to be seen as a crucial element of a successful adoption strategy that delivers the ROI that organizations are looking for from investments in enterprise software.
To recap, while user experience has traditionally not mattered much to enterprise software vendors and purchasers, this is no longer the case.
Still, improving the user experience of enterprise software can be a challenging task. But that’s a subject for another post…
Further reading:
- The User Experience of Enterprise Software Matters by Paul Sherman
- Is User Engagement with Enterprise Software all that Important? (Deloitte Debates)
Congratulations on starting your new blog.
I’m a developer working at a small company which aspires (read: pretends) to be a large enterprise/corporation. We are all good at what we do, but we do everything in a very old-fashioned and haphazard way. Planning, scope and requirements are alien terms around here. Usually I develop in-house software like admin interfaces and control panels and add features as they become necessary, then we train (read: tell) staff members about the new feature and how to use it. It’s expected that people adapt to the software, and not the other way around. The result is that the program quickly becomes very confusing for everyone and a pain to use. Unfortunately, this habit carries over to developing websites for clients. Then, when a client complains that his website is not making sales, no one can figure out where the problem is.
The enterprise companies seem to have a mentality of “This is how our software works. If you don’t like it, sucks to be you.”
I believe that UX is the answer to these issues. The problem is: our executives have never heard of UX. They need to be educated on how to run a business in the new world. But who will educate them?
Thanks for commenting Asrar. I can relate to your frustration, having been in a similar position at a previous employer. Your question is a good one.
From my perspective, you basically have four options:
1) Hope that the current state of affairs at your company somehow changes and your executives learn about UX and its value of their own volition.
2) Try to persuade your company’s executives to bring in a consultant who will help them see the value of UX methods.
3) Take on the task of influencing your executives to learn about and value UX yourself.
4) Give up and go work in a company that recognizes the value of UX to a greater extent.
I don’t recommend options 1 and 2, because 1 is not proactive and 2 is probably difficult if you’re not an executive yourself. So you’re left with 3 and 4.
Option 3 requires you to become a change agent and try to influence your company’s culture, towards first a recognition that the current way of doing things could be improved, and second that UX principles and methods can help to improve it.
This can be a difficult (maybe even an impossible) task, and it may take several years to see any tangible results. But, it is doable – this is how the UX teams at many organizations, including my current employer, got started. And, it’s important to realize that you don’t need a formal UX-related title or role to start doing it. That can always come once your efforts start bearing fruit.
In the worst case scenario, if you feel like you’ve been banging your head against a wall for too long, there’s always option 4.
So, ask yourself whether you’re interested in trying to do what it takes to become a change agent at your current company. If so, go for it. And, whatever you decide, good luck!
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Dmitry.
I tried #3 a few months back but it just led to an argument. It wasn’t just about UX per say. rather about being more modern. Like how we can create Facebook and Twitter accounts to bring a human and personal touch to our brand, and generate more traffic for free. My boss said facebook is “useless” and “no one uses twitter”. LOL!
I’ll keep trying, but unfortunately these days I’m thinking about option #4.
Hi Asrar, it is not always that I read such a truthful and bluntly said reality, that not all the companies care about the experience of the user. I like it how you’ve narrated the process of delivering the software and how behind-the-scenes the managers think (“sucks be to you”).
I don’t envy your situation. I hope that the decision-making people will educate themselves and be open to hear from those below the ladder.
It’s great that you tried being proactive rather than reactive. I’m sure that things won’t stay the same for you.