A talk by Benajamin Humphrey at UXMY2013 on Enterprise Software

1. Design for enterprise software
@humphreybc
UX Malaysia 2013

2. Benjamin Humphrey
@humphreybc
humphreybc.com

3. Dunedin, New Zealand 2009 - 2011

4. Dunedin, New Zealand 2011 - 2012

5. Dunedin, New Zealand 2012 - 2013

6. San Francisco, California 2012 - 2013

7. I was all about consumer.

8. Sydney, Australia 2013 - present

9. What is enterprise software?

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

11. ‘Enterprise software’ is a
scalable tool used by
ordinary people to get their
primary job done.
- Benjamin Humphrey (me)

12. Enterprise design
challenges
Busting common
myths
You can make
it awesome

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

14. “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.”

15. “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?”

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

17. Scalability
Not only does performance need to scale, but so does your design.

19. Accessibility
Companies need to adhere to accessibility standards.

21. Flexibility
Large enterprise companies are used to flexibility and
customisation of their tools.

23. Security
Enterprise customers have a lot more security concerns than your
average consumer.

25. Things can move slower
Enterprise customers are less likely to upgrade software frequently,
which means you might find yourself designing for the future.

27. Enterprise design
challenges
Busting common
myths
You can make
it awesome

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

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

30. Rubbish! They’re people too.
People are used to a great consumer experience at home. They’d
love that at work as well!

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

32. Bullshit! We’re all human.
… and our software should be too. Take a look at products
reinventing themselves with human interfaces for humans.

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

34. 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

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

36. 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.

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

38. 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

39. Enterprise design
challenges
Busting common
myths
You can make
it awesome

40. Things have changed for me!

41. I now design for millions of users and growing

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

43. I now face different challenges to consumer design

44. $
I now work for a company that uses a proven business model

45. Challenges are
solvable
Myths are just
that: myths
It’s a great space
to work in

46. Lastly, this is how I think.

47. Be human in your design.
Your users are people. You can have visual flair, personality, and
simple terminology when designing enterprise software.

48. Design for scalability.
Constantly think about performance, transitional content, and how
to craft smart software.

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

50. atlassian.com/careers
or talk to me
Benjamin Humphrey
@humphreybc
humphreybc.com

51. Cheers for listening!
Things you should read:
Icons from thenounproject.com:
Mountain Climber Juan Pablo Bravo
Microinteractions Dan Saffer
Loch Ness Monster Mike Wirth
The Little Black Book of Design Adam Judge
Happiness Jim Lears
The Design of Everyday Things Donald Norman
All other icons from entypo.com
Don’t Make Me Think Steve Krug
Adobe comic from xkcd.com/1286
Brain Rules John Medina
OS stats February 2013 from analytics
stratechery.com Ben Thompson
firm Net Applications
ia.net Oliver Reichenstein
Mobile growth stats from Monetate Q1
littlebigdetails.com
2013 E-commerce Quarterly