Make User Experience Great Again
Inherent complexity of building software products , leaves very little focus left for working on user experience by its developers and product managers
User experience has always been kept on a backseat when we talk about enteprise software products
Part of the reason why this type of practice or rather non practice is prevalent in enterprise software industry is because the end actual users of products are not the same ones who make the decision to buy those products in the first place
Purchase decisions of those products are made by purchase committees within those organisations which are often marred with bureaucracy
So this interwines the destiny of those not so great ux centric products to helpless people who would have to bear with them in their everyday lives
But consumerisation of enterprise IT is a real deal and SaaS has really propelled the trend forward.
UX First Products
We are looking at an interesting trend where the power of purchase is shifting from those committees within the org to individuals and teams who are there in the trenches facing the problem
Largely this is happening because of freemium or pay as you go models subscription models of software products
An individual puts in his own credit card and get the ball rolling, adds his team mates, the software lands and expands and next thing you know - entire functions are using the product without purchase committees getting involved !!
Slack, Trello, Asana are great examples of companies using the consumerised self service approach towards product development
These products focus on the UX and onboarding and ease of use first and foremost.
That has become the table stakes.
So it is time we take a stand and take a solemn pledge to make UX great again.