UX for Enterprise: 11 Biggest Challenges (And How to Overcome Them)

User experience is one of the most misconstrued terms in the web development industry. It consists of the ease of use and the pleasantness of service as well. Meaning, the application that we are designing needs to balance these two elements in a favorable way to the end-user. The end-user needs to have an enjoyable experience utilizing the application. There are many trends in the web development industry that might paint this endeavor in a bad light.

User Research, Information Architecture, Usability Testing, etc., make UX for enterprise seem overly complicated. User experience design is not complex but challenging. It is a new field that is constantly evolving. How can we develop with it and improve upon it on our projects? The most important thing in UX improvement is having a user-centric mindset when dealing with the design process. Here are some pointers.

1. What does a good UX design look like?

It has proven to be a bit challenging to explain what constitutes good UX design. It means to design how a website feels to an end-user. This explanation is incomplete as UX does not have an elevator pitch.

UX designers do much more than sketch out layouts of a website. User experience design is about studying user behavior and understanding the motivations of the person from the other end of the line. The goal of a user-centric design is to improve the journey for the user browsing through. UX applies to everything, including digital products. It makes the end product as straightforward as possible and combines three distinct entities into one: business, technology, and the people.

2. Primary and secondary actions

To understand the UX design principles, we need to differentiate between the primary and secondary actions. What exactly are those? Primary actions are positive actions that a brand wants an end-user to take to complete a task. These can also be negative, such as deleting a file.

As a rule of thumb, there are usually only two primary actions connected to a group of elements. A secondary step is optional, like cancelling immediate action, like when a user attempts to delete their account. Businesses and brands want their users as far away from irreversible actions. We promote primary efforts and suppress the negative secondary ones. How we do it highly depends on your personal goals.

3. The ongoing process

Many people tend to learn the craft, stick to what they know, and dare not cross any barriers when it comes to UX design. UX is a field that is constantly shifting, changing, and adapting.

Most importantly, we must adapt our mindset to a client-oriented mission to produce the best UX possible. Clients do not care about set rulebooks and following them to the letter. Each client necessitates a unique approach and, therefore, a unique UX designer. Their primary focus - selling and creating more substantial products for their customers – should also be the main source for their UX strategists.

4. Specialization

We live in a globalized marketplace. Successful businesses are those that specialize in something. Also, this specialization needs to be perfected to a degree where the market finds it hard to find a sustainable substitute or a better alternative.

To start in UX design is not easy. We tend to get swarmed by different viable opportunities to achieve it. A designer will end up bouncing from course to course. All these shifts in direction tend to lead anyone off the path. Anyone who adopts this way of learning will have a scattered set of skills that will not benefit anyone. Avoid this and learn assets strategically. Put down in writing your achievement goals and set a schedule to accommodate for it. Make clear and easily defined goals. Lastly, make a clear and atomized list of stages you will have to fulfill to get there. Specialize in a niche that you find appealing and strictly adhere to a set timeline when planning to tackle it.

5. Error messages for users

We have all witnessed an error message pop up here and there. It is a certainty and serves a purpose. The thing that separates good messages from bad ones is their usability factor. Does the error message provide sufficient data to identify the root of the problem? Simply put, is it helpful or not? Can we do something with that output or not?

Error messages, especially those directed towards the end-user, need to fulfill several conditions. Firstly, they need to be simple and sent in an easy-to-understand language. They need to be rich in data but concise in volume: tell the user precisely what went wrong. Lastly, it needs to be instructive. Help the user understand how to recover from the error itself. Since mistakes are inevitable, use these three principles to make errors as manageable as possible.

6. The UX Pyramid, benchmarking the user experience

Since UX is a broad and ever-changing subject, it can be complicated to gauge progress with the precision necessary for in-depth analysis. This is where a framework called the UX Pyramid comes into play. It represents the foundation of fundamentals in UX design based on Maslow ‘s hierarchy of needs. In this model, the base is, arguably, the most important, followed by everything else piling on top of it. The first three levels of the UX pyramid focus on the user ‘s ability to achieve the desired task. This function is a base for any product, digital or material. These levels ask the question if the user can use the system to achieve the desired goal. The last three levels concentrate on the user ‘s experience while navigating said method. The question arrives: are they enjoying it? Are the user ‘s lives better after using the system? Let us briefly cover those levels.

7. Functionality

The question: does it work? Everything that works carries within itself the minimal number of bugs, errors, and service outages that led to its current state. It also needs to use existing and well-known technologies. The system needs to have some purpose.

There is a user base somewhere that will derive value from using it. It needs to include all the essential features necessary for regular operation. The fundamental part of any system is the foundation that allows everything else to be built upon it. Without this precondition, we will never have a finished product or a service.

8. Reliability

A question arises: Is the system available for consumption and usage? Also, is it accurate? For digital products, this can translate into a reasonable loading time of content, even during rush hours. Remember, the average attention span of an average online user is narrow, a few precious seconds at most.
Content needs to come on display fast, be up to date and accurate. The search engines check for data reliability within your web pages. This is specifically important for all SEO endeavours. If your business relies on a log-in rea, password reset requests must be instantly sent and received when requested. Lastly, your content needs to be used effectively on mobile devices apart from desktops and laptops.

9. Usability

Can the system be used without difficulty? The users need to navigate through it without getting lost or confused. They need to be able to find what they are looking for easily. Long instruction manuals and interrupting help messages are not a desirable choice for any website. A short learning curve is a must. Fast enough for users not to get bored or frustrated with the system but long enough to cover all the features it offers. Visitors need to utilize the system as intended without hacks or workarounds. Robust system usability always covers the basic UX heuristics and standard practices. In eCommerce, often, you need to go beyond the common to make a noticeable tremor.

10. Positive user experience

Is navigating the system enjoyable for the user? Without time and attention investment for the user, the final product is not a good one. Users need to invest for everyone to benefit from the system. If the clients are actively promoting and sharing your content, you are on the right track. This can be measured through social media interactions. Social media platforms made it easier than ever to share content and offer firsthand feedback. Utilize it as much as you can. It also makes it effortless for the system to become a part of the user ‘s daily routine. If we can accomplish these goals, we can count on an outstanding user experience.

11. Meaning

Does the system have any direct or indirect personal and social significance? Do the users love it, and is it because it brings some meaning into their lives? What you are offering needs to come with a deeper meaning than what it may initially seem. Attach a story to your content, one that people can relate to. They would not settle for anything else, and nobody can blame them – there is always the competitors who do not hesitate to walk the extra mile and win the customer.

The verdict

UX for enterprise is naturally pulling a vast array of new challenges. However, when it comes to core principles, it is no different than the user experience of every small web shop with loyal customers – a user-centric approach.
Challenges are there to be met and eventually overcome. Mistakes happen to the best of us. We never give up; instead, we pick ourselves up, examine our past faults, and grow by learning from this precious experience.
Reflecting on your experience may hide a lot more valuable insights for future improvement. Always aim at bringing the quality and consistency that your loyal clients expect and deserve.