UX Design for Enterprise: Lessons from an Experienced UX Design Team
Enterprise UX is having a renaissance. Lessons from designing for Cisco, Webster University, and others on what separates good enterprise UX from great.
“Meaningful human interactions” aren’t words you usually hear used to describe enterprise software, but those are precisely the words that Sherry Taylor, the Executive Director of Technology for Ticketmaster, uses to describe Slack. This is indicative of how UX development strategies are fundamentally changing the enterprise world, from SaaS suites to mobile applications.
UX design for enterprises is currently going through a renaissance. Companies such as Slack and Atlassian are changing the expectations of individual users and organizations about the usability and efficiency of large complex software systems. And companies are starting to discover the enormous cost benefits to enterprise systems that improve efficiency with every user interaction.
Erik Wingren, the UX lead for Cisco Metacloud and a founding partner at Interactivism, points out that “When you design productivity tools for the enterprise, micro-interactions matter. A few seconds shaved off a work-flow will translate to real savings in productivity when used by thousands of employees.”
Designing with Data
Designing for the enterprise requires not only a keen attention to details in micro-interactions but also an ability to design with data. Kristina Yu, a visual/UI designer and co-founder of Enterprise Tech LA, observes that designers must make “common data-centric elements — such as tables, charts, lists, and forms — both functional and delightful” while maintaining familiar interactions.
The Complexity of Enterprise User Research
In 2014, when the author served on Webster University’s Technology Steering Committee, he was the only UX designer tasked with redesigning the organization’s enterprise services. Webster’s size and geographic reach — with dozens of branch campuses across the United States and international locations in Europe, Asia, and Africa — required online services that worked seamlessly for all users globally.
The benefits of having experienced UX designers involved in technical infrastructure design are multifold. Decisions about IT solutions, LAN servers, routers, WAN connections, and device service delivery all depend on user needs and usage patterns.
One of the primary differences between enterprise systems and consumer products is the number of different user types and use case scenarios. In higher education institutions, users include students, prospective students, faculty, staff, and vendors — each with further subdivisions and varying needs. The user research required to generate accurate personas far exceeds consumer product efforts, and user testing becomes significantly more complex.
The Bottom Line
Designing meaningful human interactions through design thinking, attention to micro-interactions, and effective data interfaces is no longer exclusive to consumer products. Enterprise technology companies recognize that strong UX represents a vital business strategy for enhancing efficiency and productivity.
Success requires UX teams experienced with complex systems, capable of reducing interaction friction and transforming large datasets into meaningful visualizations. In today’s competitive enterprise landscape, strong UX design isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s essential.