User experience is more than just a hot topic — it’s a revolution that is finally putting the user at the forefront of the product planning experience. No longer are product makers siloed from the end user, developing a product in a vacuum that may or may not be something that a) users want, and b) users know how to use intuitively.
Great UX can bubble up from all corners of enterprise. Ken Tabor, Principal Product Engineer at Sabre, explains how usability comes from engaged and aligned teams:
“As a team, UX design is a crucial reminder to make software for other people to use. And in order to make better, more useful software, we must strive to learn about those who will use the product.
Our principal focus is to coach our team towards one unified mentality: that all of our actions are in service of, and informed by, that end user.”
Most users have experienced poor design, challenged to find what we needed when we needed it. Developing a memorable and seamless user experience is not easy — but the pursuit and ultimate success in this area is now a vital core competency for many businesses. It is the user experience that truly has the potential to build sustainable competitive advantage.
This is especially true for the enterprise, where the consumerization of technology leads to more intuitive interfaces that mimic the consumer-facing experience with enterprise-grade utility. Again, it’s not easy to deliver this dual-pronged expectation, as the simplicity of consumer interfaces does not always mesh with the necessary complexities of an enterprise solution.
Ken also highlights the importance of educating the full team on the goal of great UX, saying “One of the challenges we have is coaching people on the team that all of our actions are in the service of, or informed by, a fantastic user experience. Good design means choosing every day to make software that’s consistent, forgiving, and helpful.”
He continues, emphasizing the team nature of great design: “Design isn’t the job of a single person. Everyone on the team is empowered to make intentional choices. Let’s make good choices that help our customers better use our technology!”
Once a team is engaged and rallied behind the importance of focusing on the user experience, then the next step is to begin understand both the customer’s needs — and most importantly those of the customer’s customer. Ultimately it’s the end-user interacting with the product. By building a standout product, the customer enjoys success as customer satisfaction translates into faster conversions and higher retention, as Ken elaborates:
“When we think about the goal of our user-interface, we always come back to delivering a consumer-grade experience. Our customers’ customers expect an app that matches – or bests – any app on their phone. Customers expect a visually-stunning, simple and intuitive UX.”
In the video below, the team dives deeper into the design thinking driving development by highlighting how good UX design means great business.