For enterprise companies, generating revenue is only one part in the formula for increasing earnings. Cutting costs and increasing the productivity of employees, for instance, can be equally valuable.
However, integrating technology just for technology’s sake can be counterproductive. Applications, intranets and portals, for instance, can be instrumental in helping today’s enterprises succeed. But if these tools aren’t designed with the end-user in mind, the results can be costly.
As a result, enterprises should take their investment in user experience research and design seriously. A simple, inexpensive feature change (that can be uncovered during the research and discovery phase) might save employees mere minutes, but if thousands of employees are repeating that action, the company could save millions.
Here are six statistics business leaders should know about the value of a good user experience:
- Get ahead of the curve now by focusing on the UX for employee-facing applications. Based on the results of a 2015 Gartner study, enterprise leaders have quickly recognized the value of developing internal systems, but have yet to effectively implement a strategy that moves projects from the initial research stage to launch. According to the study, the demand for development of enterprise mobile applications will be five times greater than internal IT organizations’ capacity to develop them by the end of 2017.
- A simple, intuitive user experience for internal systems can re-energize disengaged workers. Only 30 percent of American workers polled for a recent Gallup survey reported being actively engaged during the workday. Enterprises are missing out on significant earning potential due to disengaged workers. Making improvements to the user experience of intranets, portals and enterprise applications has the potential to make daily tasks simpler to complete, streamline communications and foster a unified company culture, all of which can boost morale, engagement and productivity.
- Mobile enterprise applications can accommodate (and allow) employees working remotely. Thanks to improvements in telecommunications technology, the nature of work itself is changing. In fact, 37 percent of Americans now work remotely at least part time. For enterprises with a large remote workforce, superior UX for mobile enterprise applications can make collaborative projects just as easy for remote workers as on-premises staff.
- Enterprises slow to adapt to technology trends will risk losing their talent. Millennials now represent the largest age demographic of workers in the United States. Born in the Internet age, these workers are comfortable and familiar with connected devices, yet 71 percent of Millennials in enterprise settings are unhappy with the collaboration tools available to them. Enterprise leaders that fail to improve the user experience of internal systems will alienate the group of workers they’ll most rely on in the years to come. This may lead to a loss of top talent and a spike in expenses related to employee turnover, putting slow adapting enterprises at a competitive disadvantage.
- Global spending on enterprise software will continue to increase into 2017. Enterprise leaders that think the value of investing in enterprise UX has hit its peak are in for a rude awakening. Global spending on enterprise software hit another high in 2016, reaching $157.6 billion—but that number is forecasted to increase another 27.5 percent over the next three years alone. As new trends and technologies emerge, enterprises that invested in a solid user experience for employees early will reap the benefits: adding new features is quicker and more cost-effective for businesses that have already ditched outdated legacy systems in favor of user-friendly alternatives.
- Follow the leaders. Businesses that have played the long game in regards to investing in superior UX have been treated favorably. The most design-centric enterprises on the S&P 500 outperformed their counterparts by 228 percent over the course of a 10 year period.
Related Blog Posts
- 4 Ways to Get Ahead of the Curve in Enterprise UX – There are several advantages to improving the UX of employee-facing applications. Here are four ways organizations can get ahead of the curve.
- UpTop’s Ideal UX Process – Check out UpTop’s ideal UX process – from Discovery and Research all the way through to launch and ongoing conversion rate optimization. Hear from our design expert on why each phase matters and how they all work together to create an optimal user experience.
- Project Summary: Microsoft Partner Network – Get some quick insight into the work that UpTop did for Microsoft’s Partner Network. Working closely with the MPN Team, UpTop redesigned their portal with the goal of improving the user experience, and to create an overall more effective and enjoyable system for the end users.
