Focusing on the human factor

Today we live in a very different world. User interfaces are based on thousands of hours of usability testing and have 3D icons, snappy actions, colour schemes, built-in multimedia and pre-emptive help options to improve productivity. Websites use HTML5 and Flash to provide animations and effects, apps make creative use of limited screen real estate to provide intuitive user experiences. 

Developers of business software have to focus on building systems that are easier for everybody to get the most out of them – whether the user is a young Generation Y information worker just entering the world of work or a Generation X worker who grew up with PCs.

That’s why enterprise software designers are now taking their cues from consumer programs and services. Knowledge management and HR systems now look like Facebook, with employees listing their areas of expertise much as a teenager might list his favourite bands. 

Collaboration systems look like Skype with faces popping up in windows to humanise the experience. Signing off purchase orders can be like Twitter, with micro-blogging conversations used to request or query authorisations. Corporate services might be subject to Amazon.com-style reviews and star-rating systems and downloaded like songs on iTunes. Some companies even provide incentives for staff by “gamifying” their work, awarding points for certain activities on leader boards.

It’s a very different world, and while moving to accommodate a new workforce full of “digital natives” – young people raised with the mature world of PC, Internet and mobile technologies – organisations must also cater for an older generation of workers, many of whom may be confused, or feel patronised, by such approaches. 

It’s also important to remember that a great user experience needn’t be fancy. For a fleet maintenance engineer, a simple red- or green-light accept/reject theme on the completion of a scheduled job might be perfect. 

Today’s software must understand and build in the needs of users, from interfaces that work on smartphones and tablets for mobile workers to those that understand the unique characteristics and modes of working of individual users and roles, and respond in context.

Clearly the user experience won’t stop changing. Increasing consumer preference for mobile platforms means the latest software from Microsoft, Google and Apple appear to be pushing us to a new age of interaction where the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle reigns and minimalist white screens are everywhere. To appropriate a phrase from the fashion world, “white is the new black”.

We are very close to a world where it will be common for us to talk to our smartphones to search for business information, use gestures to run through PowerPoint presentations, and sell wares displayed virtually on coffee-table screens. But whatever technological delights appear, software designers will need to keep their eyes on the most important factor of them all – the user.

 

Sridharan Arumugam is vice president for Southeast Asia at IFS Solutions Asia-Pacific.