Design for enterprise software

@humphreybcUX Malaysia 2013

Benjamin Humphrey @humphreybc humphreybc.com

Dunedin, New Zealand 2009 - 2011

Dunedin, New Zealand 2011 - 2012

Dunedin, New Zealand 2012 - 2013

San Francisco, California 2012 - 2013

I was all about consumer.

Sydney, Australia 2013 - present

What is enterprise software?

“purposed-designed computer software used in the furtherance of the needs and objectives of the organization... as opposed to the individual.”- Wikipedia

‘Enterprise software’ is a scalable tool used by ordinary people to get their primary job done.

- Benjamin Humphrey (me)

Enterprise design

challengesBusting common

mythsYou can make

it awesome

Designing for the 100%Designing for edge cases can be a real challenge.

“On the Rapidboard, each column on a swimlane have a count. This count

seems to be the total count. I would like to see the count by the status

associated with that column.”

“Our PM's and upper management like to see both when dev is complete

and when the story has actually passed QA. Can you please add a feature

or tell us how we can do that?”

“It would be great if there is tree view in the To Do List.”

ScalabilityNot only does performance need to scale, but so does your design.

AccessibilityCompanies need to adhere to accessibility standards.

FlexibilityLarge enterprise companies are used to flexibility and

customisation of their tools.

SecurityEnterprise customers have a lot more security concerns than your

average consumer.

Things can move slowerEnterprise customers are less likely to upgrade software frequently,

which means you might find yourself designing for the future.

Enterprise design

challengesBusting common

mythsYou can make

it awesome

I am a nice guy, but I am a grumpy designer.

Myth #1Enterprise users don’t expect the software they use at work to be designed well.

Rubbish! They’re people too.People are used to a great consumer experience at home. They’d

love that at work as well!

Myth #2Enterprise software has to be technical and utilitarian.

Bullshit! We’re all human.… and our software should be too. Take a look at products

reinventing themselves with human interfaces for humans.

Myth #3Enterprise software is only used on a desktop computer with a keyboard and mouse.

Mobile usage is growing.Traditional internet traffic from desktops dropped 9.63% between

Q1 2012 and Q1 2013. Tablets and phones have taken that share.

- Stats from Monetate Q1 2013 E-commerce Quarterly

Myth #4Users need more features instead of better design.

Solve their problems, not just provide more features.Adding another feature may not always be the right decision. Get

cosy with your customers to understand what they really want.

Myth #5It’s difficult to get into the enterprise space because it’s dominated by heavyweights.

justworks dropbox salesforce workday evernote github bitbucket hipchat pantheon rapportive vend uservoice sendgrid memsql vertica cochlear box actionstep bigcommerce coupa asana zenpayroll fusion .io joylent blue rooster xero freshplum chartio intuit thankyou payroll periscope atlassian fluent bromium directly calxeda yammer

Enterprise design

challengesBusting common

mythsYou can make

it awesome

Things have changed for me!

I now design for millions of users and growing

I now design for all sorts of users with all sorts of use cases

I now face different challenges to consumer design

I now work for a company that uses a proven business model

$

Challenges are

solvableMyths are just

that: mythsIt’s a great space

to work in

Lastly, this is how I think.

Be human in your design.Your users are people. You can have visual flair, personality, and

simple terminology when designing enterprise software.

Design for scalability.Constantly think about performance, transitional content, and how

to craft smart software.

Set clear priorities.Weigh up all the inputs and make the right decision for the user.

Benjamin Humphrey @humphreybc humphreybc.com

atlassian.com/careers or talk to me

Cheers for listening!Things you should read:

Microinteractions Dan Saffer

The Little Black Book of Design Adam Judge

The Design of Everyday Things Donald Norman

Don’t Make Me Think Steve Krug

Brain Rules John Medina

stratechery.com Ben Thompson

ia.net Oliver Reichenstein

littlebigdetails.com

Icons from thenounproject.com:

Mountain Climber Juan Pablo Bravo

Loch Ness Monster Mike Wirth

Happiness Jim Lears

All other icons from entypo.com

Adobe comic from xkcd.com/1286

OS stats February 2013 from analytics

firm Net Applications

Mobile growth stats from Monetate Q1

2013 E-commerce Quarterly