With SAP UX, Its More Than Just Beautiful Design

For a long time, SAP’s philosophy for GUI (graphical user interface) consisted of just the classic blue screen regardless of the client or the modules. User experience (UX) was not a primary concern with users often training extensively to learn navigation through its complex screens and menus.

But the rising user expectations for consumer-grade UX in enterprise has resulted in SAP reorienting its focus on UI and bringing in some dramatic changes.

SAP’s User Experience (UX) has been revitalised by a range of UX tools and solutions. It has done so under a three-pronged strategy of “New, Renew, And Enable”. New UX innovations will be deployed for its fresh releases, ready-to-use apps and tools would be launched for refreshing UX for existing clients under Renew and customer-specific tools for improving UI will be provided under the Enable umbrella.

For businesses, investing for a refreshed UI results may not be always a priority – but in fact doing so can result in more than just a good-looking interface. SAP’s UX toolbox results in cleaned-up SAP processes, saving time and effort, delivering a marked increase in productivity.

The following UX features boosts the SAP user experience which highlights its importance:

• Customised Navigation: By mapping user needs and developing role-based access, the SAP interface can provide users with a customised experience that significantly boosts productivity and user satisfaction.

• Responsive Web Design: Fiori a package of HTML5-based SAP applications helps users have a device-agnostic experience, thus reducing restrictions on usage and access of the platform

• Screen Personas: SAP Screen Personas is an innovative tool that can be used to personalise both, the look of SAP interface as well as the user experience. It often results in reduction of the number of steps and screens required to complete a task, cutting down the time required.

• Process Simplification: Companies can use custom design services to come up with a lean and efficient process improving the user experience in key and most-used SAP transactions .

 

Design thinking methodology plays a vital role in achieving this. SAP design modifications are not merely superficial as they address core user needs, thus requiring an inside-out approach. By close collaboration with the end-users the IT team can introduce changes that result in dramatic enhancements in user experience, improving overall efficiencies.

Companies experience tangible business benefits by incorporating UX design changes to their SAP installation:

• Productivity gains: By using Screen Personas, Nestle was able to reduce 75% of screens required to complete a task. The reduced screens and simplified processes improves speed and takes less time.

• Reduction in training time/cost: Intuitive UI automatically results in reduced requirement of training or coaching.

• Decreased user errors: Reduced complexity in screens or data entry fields helps users to improve accuracy in inputting data.

• Increased adoption rates: The design modifications often result in making SAP applications easy-to-use and easily accessible, thus encouraging adoption and usage among users.

• Reduced complaints: Optimised SAP processes can greatly improve the user experience which results in lesser complaints and change requests.