ERP, or enterprise resource planning software, is an incredibly versatile technology used for corporate purposes. However, without a compelling user experience design (UXD), its essential duties cannot be fulfilled effectively; every employee must be able to utilize and comprehend this system quickly regardless of their level of IT literacy - therefore, including user-centered design ideas in ERP development is crucial for its success.
ERP software works best when all staff members use and take full advantage of all its features. Let's now discuss how an ERP system can bolster and speed up company operations.
The Significance Of ERP User Experience Design
ERP systems can be complex, making user experience an ambitious feat. However, an ERP's ease of use is equally important; managers and staff should find it straightforward to operate once they possess all the relevant skills. Proper design of an ERP will enhance processes rather than hinder them due to complexity. Given their nature, ERP systems should meet the needs of multiple stakeholders - these being users who could gain from an efficient ERP program design.
Individual Users
Junior employees, accountants, sales reps, HR consultants, and other staff members use this platform for daily duties.
Functional Managers
Managers in charge of marketing or sales departments require an accurate platform to generate sales projections; unfortunately, these managers often lack direct access to those responsible for UX design.
Executives
Decision makers will immensely affect the future ERP user experience, even if it means less daily engagement with it themselves.
Other Stakeholders
Clients, analysts, and business associates could benefit from ERP systems. Both customers and business associates will use many ERPs, while analysts often have more of an influence in making decisions.
UX Best Practices To ERP Systems Challenges
Since initial ideas were presented, building an ERP system has seen significant modifications. To meet the fundamental requirements of large corporations while also solving standard operational procedures issues. One crucial consideration in any successful ERP implementation project is how easy its use may be for users. By following these best practices for ERP design, you could increase the convenience, speed, and efficiency of daily business operations at your company.
Strive For Simplicity
Experiences can often be complicated when creating an ERP user experience, yet making its final product user-friendly remains paramount. Massive and difficult-to-navigate systems belong in the past; nowadays, managers and staff members understand the advantages of the contemporary software they use daily, meaning the ERP that serves their needs must also simplify their lives.
Embodying intuitiveness in ERP interface design means providing easy access to essential information, uncomplicated navigation, and the capability of delving deeper when necessary to retrieve more detailed facts. Productivity will increase using an approach with reduced complexity to design the system.
Provide User-friendly Tools
Include drag-and-drop features so that users may interact with the system without knowing too much code, making navigation simple and user-friendly to reduce training costs and learning curves. This will reduce learning costs significantly as well. Take, for example, the ABAS ERP workflow editor - its drag-and-drop functionality makes editing possible with just two clicks.
Make A Powerful Search
As time is of the essence, ensure your users can easily locate and retrieve essential information quickly and effortlessly. Include a practical search feature so users can quickly find what they are searching for.
Improve Training
Ensure your staff receives thorough role-based training to quickly adapt to the system. While some users might only utilize some features of ERP systems, power users require more excellent knowledge and comprehension. Ensure staff members receive frequent training, as it is always beneficial to have ongoing education processes in place. Keep them abreast of new features while helping increase production levels.
Deal with Mistakes Instantaneously
Should an issue with ERP systems arise, contact their customer care as quickly as possible to guarantee timely and helpful responses partner with only reputable businesses for optimal response times. An extended wait can harm efficiency and ERP usefulness, potentially necessitating help from professional consultants if your vendor needs to offer more support.
Personalize ERP User Experience
An optimal ERP system should offer users maximum customization to prevent feeling overwhelmed by all its features, so developing an efficient way of organizing display modules is vital to its success. User Personas and User Stories will come in handy here; by creating them, you'll be able to identify who will use the system with its assistance and what form it may take. Deep analytics are crucial when building an ERP system. Customizing pre-loaded ERP solutions to suit a company's requirements can often prove challenging and unfeasible, leading to Oracle Cloud's template-based software appearing grotesque and incomprehensible to employees and management alike.
Visualize Data
Visual representations of specific metrics make them less complicated and intuitively easier for viewers to interpret, with 74% of businesses that employ data visualization tools reporting that managers were able to make quicker, better-informed choices due to them.
Using data visualization dashboards may prove particularly advantageous in an ERP system that is extensive and complex. As every user needs specific data to gather, track, and create predictions based on their daily responsibilities and routines, personalized dashboards can simplify accessing pertinent data by selecting relevant info, adding role-specific metrics, and keeping tabs on KPIs. Users that access visually enhanced information quickly and effortlessly easily access what they require with the ability to dig deeper if required.
Make It Responsive
PCs and laptops are primary tools used by managers and staff within businesses; however, an ERP system that responds rapidly and can access data across devices including smartphones would prove invaluable.
This platform will become more available and flexible with operational variety, real-time updates, and customizable screen features.
Also Read: Maximizing ROI with ERP Systems: How Much Can Your Business Gain?
How to Update Your Existing ERP Design
IF software is unfriendly to its target audience or doesn't meet their needs, redesigning current ERP systems and improving certain UX elements may be required - otherwise, updates would only prove pointless and waste time and money; every redesign must aim towards meeting specific goals. Therefore, individuals must set clear objectives, ensure makeovers will add significant value, and address specific problems they are experiencing.
Accelerating specific business processes is the primary purpose of ERP redesign. Determine what will demonstrate whether your ERP design is performing well as you work toward improving the system's user experience, taking note of current issues and conducting extensive UX research.
Examples of Great ERP System UX Designs
View these ERP user interface design examples to understand how such complex systems could appear and feel natural, intuitive, and modern. UI and UX work hand in hand here to give users of these technologies an excellent user experience.
ERP System Dashboard
This ERP system dashboard shows an example of its components: calendar, to-do list, documents relevant to a project, and communications. It features an intuitive design that facilitates worker coordination effectiveness by simplifying coordination operations; its calendar makes significant events or accomplishments easier to spot by showing them in an easily manageable format.
ERP For An Online Healthcare Marketplace
This dashboard for an online healthcare marketplace serves as an example of an ERP system architecture. This solution includes a database comprising patients, doctors, hospitals, and drug suppliers. The layout displays essential data related to recent orders, sales, and profits and is clear and easily navigable. Coherence and simplicity are assured thanks to each page's blank spaces and information blocks.
ERP System For A Logistics Company
This ERP system example for a logistics company displays an inventory of recent scheduled deliveries. This gives staff important details regarding routes, length estimates, delivery addresses, times, and vehicle data that's easily accessible for fleet management purposes.
Employees at logistics companies may benefit significantly from an instant access platform that gives them instantaneous access to all required data, saving a considerable amount of time in accessing needed details.
Conclusion
In today's competitive business environment, making user experience design the primary focus of ERP software is not simply an indulgence but an absolute necessity. Organizations may enhance productivity, accelerate workflows, and ultimately deliver greater business returns by prioritizing end-user needs and preferences over internal corporate practices. By providing personalized experiences such as smooth interactions and accessible interfaces that focus on them users may enjoy more adoption rates while saving costs from training expenses while increasing happiness levels all round an effective ERP system which prioritizes user experiences could become an indispensable resource in driving productivity, creativity and success within their organizations. Contact us as we are the best ERP Custom Development Company.
