This article resonated with me after building eUX for 6 years, I found the same to be true. Especially:
After running a series of tests, we found out that enterprise users tend to prefer to leave the app or platform for instructions.
Enterprise users are power users — and it’s imperative that we take this into account when designing products for them. They interact with niche software on a daily basis and quite possibly for many years. They know their way around the logic of the products they use.
The complicated part, however, is not to force users into flows and scenarios. Experts and professional users need that freedom to make decisions and use the platform as they see fit.
Consumer UX is really passionate about sleek UIs, while enterprise software must ensure that users are able to do their work comfortably. Therefore, simplified, minimalistic interfaces aren’t really what eUX designers are after.
The absolute best example of this in my opinion is the Bloomberg Terminal UI. A seat license is $20k per year per terminal but it’s still the only terminal I’ve ever seen at trading desks.
A good UX puts the decision of the experience in the user’s hands. New users start with a simpler UX and then turns on features to make it work for them. Predetermining what the experience is what I think Krug is talking about. Adam is saying the same thing but in the opposite direction. Don’t force power users into simple UI.
Separately, isn’t the end goal toward transaction automation? Sometimes I think we put a lot of work into the human interface where we should be doing machine interfaces.
Absolutely. There should be a setting that let’s you make the screen works best for you. The developer should not design one design for all. I may never call somebody and remove the Extn. or I may never email and would remove that field but the person next to me is different. A good UX/eUX is flexible.
Excellent thoughts. Reminds me of Windows 8 (Metro). “Everyone wants computers to be like tablets now!”
No, Microsoft, no one wanted that. Desktops are for the creators. Tablets are for the users. Desktops are not slick. That’s OK. I can’t see the iPhone’s file system. That’s good, too. For very different reasons.
