Enterprise System Usability / UX

Why are we concerned about enterprise system usability/UX?

• There has been a lot of focus recently on website usability/UX
• However, there is less emphasis on enterprise system usability/UX
• Mix of out of the box systems, skinned systems, and fully custom systems
  • Oracle, PeopleSoft, learning management systems
• Users have many small complaints that add up to a lot of frustration
• There often isn’t any method for submitting feedback
• Usability is a functional component – it isn’t about making a system “pretty” or “fancy”

What are the limitations of enterprise systems?

• Out of the box systems often can’t be customized (Oracle, Salesforce)
• Bringing together data from different enterprise systems that aren’t connected
  • The individual systems may each provide a good user experience, but the user has to use several different systems to complete a process which is very inefficient
• Interfacing with systems via webpages – security concerns, browser updates, systems may not be compatible with newer technologies
• Ownership of the system – who can request changes?  Who approves changes?  The system owner, the business owner, the users?
• Product owners have to manage project scope – often don’t have the budget or time for usability and UX improvements; features are often prioritized over usability/UX
• If a system isn’t usable, users will create their own shadow systems
  • Security concerns about storing data in these shadow systems
  • A shadow system is a non-enterprise system that duplicates functionality from enterprise systems
  • When the enterprise systems change, the shadow systems have to be changed or they won’t work anymore
• If a system isn’t usable, it will require a lot more training and support services for the users to be able to do their work
  • this is very costly in terms of time
  • when an experienced user leaves, their replacement will need that training
• Conceptual debt is more costly than technical debt
• Many systems are used for a lot of tasks that they weren’t designed for

What are opportunities for improvement?

• Use the enterprise Identity Toolkit for colors, fonts, etc. for a more consistent look: https://identity.stanford.edu/

• Set minimum usability standards for your projects
  • Needs to be usable by the end users (not just the developers)
  • Include usability/UX in the success metrics for the project
  • Needs to be simple enough to be understood by the stakeholders
• Set accessibility standards for projects: https://soap.stanford.edu/
• Need a “Michael Tran Duff” of usability risks
  • Someone who can analyze the risks of not considering usability
• Have a process for users to submit feedback about usability of enterprise systems
  • Similar to the bug bounty program from ISO
  • Making it anonymous will help
  • Developers in the room were very interested in receiving this feedback
• Make user testing required as a part of the development/implementation process
  • Have actual end users do the testing
  • Put the testing much earlier in the process
  • Use agile software development processes that include rapid prototyping, end user testing, and feedback – but this requires training and resources
• Focus on improving tasks/processes that are done very frequently, instead of very rarely
• Focus on improving the most annoying parts of a system
  • Make sure the order of tabbing between fields is correct
  • Make sure users don’t have to open attachments or drill into fields to complete the task

Who is included in the design process?

• Varies by unit, may include business stakeholders, project managers, product owners, business analysts, designers, developers.
• Business stakeholders, project managers, product owners, business analysts, developers
• Designers and developers
• Product owners and University IT partners

What design processes do you use?

• Discovery process to understand user needs
• User research about an existing product/service
• Agile software development process

Examples of good UI:

• http://decanter.stanford.edu/ - web design style guide and pattern library
• https://mydevices.stanford.edu/ - brought together BigFix, old My Devices, and other systems/data
• https://rooms.stanford.edu/ - H&S system for reserving rooms (front end for 25Live and Outlook room scheduling)

Feel free to get in touch directly with Megan if you want to discuss further or collaborate: meganem@