UX Expectations in the Workplace

We had an interesting conversation with a prospective client in the US recently. He shared that in his years of developing backend solutions for both large companies and SMEs alike, that the trend was obvious that the people sitting behind the counter—the operators and mainline staff—were reluctant to use software as part of their day-jobs that didn’t match up to the aesthetics and interactivity of the products they are using outside of their work environment.

The best thing about the work that we do with clients to optimise their digital product’s user experience is that it can actually help people enjoy the digital tools they have to use in their everyday business lives. Occasionally the random thought surfaces that we are furtively applying psychological techniques in order to channel people into purchasing products or to work harder at whatever their day job is. But is there actually anything wrong with making people’s lives more effective at doing something that they are choosing to do—whether that choice is to shop, or to complete a task on behalf of an employer? Sometimes design is just about helping people to enjoy what they want to consume, like a piece of art, or helping them have an enjoyable experience in finding a television programme. In some way, all design manipulates and tries to bring about some form of emotion. Persuasive Design for example unashamedly titles itself with what it aims to do: elicit a likely psychological state-of-mind in response to deliberately constructed stimuli. And then we’re all familiar with, if only in concept rather than practice, addictive video console games that are designed to evoke increasing emotions vis-a-vis their effectiveness and popularity.s

It seems understandable then, that life “outside” the glass walls of a business influences the employee expectations more than initially apparent. And, as the tech in the most prevalent areas, such as computing and mobile technology, becomes more powerful and evoke change in the consumer market at a rate that outstrips what enterprise (traditionally the source of innovation) is able to maintain, we’re potentially in for a revolution. Once-upon-a-time, the latest tech was provided by a business to its employees as a reward to help them gain the competitive edge in being able to carry out their role. Consumer-focussed technologies like the iPhone and iPad and their apps are constantly trying to penetrate and disrupt ground commonly held by Microsoft or firms like RIM; and this will, we believe, as does our prospective client, have an effect on the way that technology is viewed and deployed within enterprises. With costs having declined in terms of the complexity and extensiveness of a technology solution attainable for a price, we may see an increased willingness to take risks to develop software to look more like its consumer-focussed counterpart. And employees, who are expecting an increased sense of enjoyment from the tools they use to do their jobs, may well demand it.

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