In the context of enterprise software implementation, User Experience (UX) can generate significant value by aligning enterprise applications with your organization’s unique workflows, thereby achieving higher ROI and faster Time to Value. This is particularly critical for complex workflows in enterprise software with custom configurations.

Enterprise UX cannot simply be plug-and-play. Enterprise software vendors often enhance the configurability of their platforms by re-architecting them, enabling customers to personalize and extend functionalities during post-purchase implementation. However, leveraging these customization capabilities depends on both the customer and the solution integrator. Vanilla implementations, which lack alignment with the organization’s unique workflows, processes, and requirements, can lead to inefficiencies, frustrations, and reduced productivity among users. Implementing good UX requires solid UX research and following a good user-centered design process.

UX research builds a comprehensive understanding of the problem space and the users – who they are, their needs and pain points, and what they expect in a solution. Most importantly, it assesses the organization’s maturity level in their working model, ensuring that the right configuration is implemented in enterprise software implementation.

User-centered design (UCD) is an iterative design process that focuses on understanding the users, their needs, and their behaviors. It involves actively involving users throughout the design process, from initial concept development to final product delivery. UCD aims to create products and systems that are intuitive, efficient, and satisfying to use by incorporating user feedback and usability testing at every stage of development.

But is UX already taken care of during the product development stage? Why should implementation still invest in this process that seems lengthy and costly?

The truth is, enterprise software is often built for a diverse range of industries and for customers with varying sizes at different levels of maturity models that require custom configuration to truly deliver its promised value. In the case of ServiceNow, a variety of UI components need to be configured and revised in order to “work”:

1). Form layout and field configuration: Designing intuitive and user-friendly forms by arranging fields logically, grouping related information, and ensuring consistent labeling and formatting.

2). Workflow and Process Design: Configuring workflows and processes to align with users’ tasks and objectives, minimizing manual steps, and automating repetitive tasks to enhance efficiency and productivity.

3). Navigation and Menu Design: Streamlining navigation paths by organizing menus and links logically, providing clear labels, and minimizing the number of clicks required to access key functionalities.

This kind of custom configuration goes beyond ServiceNow and holds true for all enterprise solutions on the market, including SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Workday, and many more.

UX work might be perceived as a costly add-on, but it would be way more costly when problems are experienced down the road. Today’s CIOs are much more closely connected to other parts of the business, and they do not only care about a project successfully delivered, but also about closing the feedback loop on both employee feedback and ROI. Businesses will not be able to realize value faster from technology investments when software is challenging to use because employees can’t adopt it more easily. Shelfware is costly and represents a wasted investment. Recurring user challenges and errors lead to higher costs in training and support. Employees carry out similar tasks on various software numerous times a day. Usability pitfalls cause costly user errors, as well as negatively impacting mental health. A challenged user experience leads to lost productivity and lower engagement. Metrics on employee experience eventually are tied back to the technology investment made jointly by CIOs and business functional leaders.

To convince the CIO and IT leaders to invest in the UX component before diving into the multi-million-dollar technology development and deployment effort, you need a sound strategy to fully lay out the consequences of ignoring UX in the development stage, and clearly define how UX enhancements can be measured in a way that translates to business outcomes. Reach out to us and request our whitepaper that helps you craft your strategy.