Design matters even when it "doesn't matter"

The other day I was at an event discussing the importance of preparing for ediscovery within an organization. One of the technical solutions mentioned by a panelist during the presentation was a widely used enterprise document management tool. After the presentation, I was discussing our new custom Digital Asset Management system with a few acquaintances. The first question out of their mouth was, “Is it easier to use than [widely used enterprise doc management tool]?" While the easy (and true) answer to this question was a definitive “yes,” this first-thought question struck me as a powerful indicator of how users perceive enterprise software.

Rightfully so, the most important aspect of a custom application within the enterprise is to fulfill the real world business requirements. Since most managers consider usability costs as an added expense, good UI design is rarely on that list of requirements. Decisions makers should reconsider this stance, because an often overlooked success factor in application adoption and revenue enhancement is design.

Here’s why UI design and overall aesthetics can often provide that extra push towards project success.

Usability

When a new application is introduced to a user, the developer is essentially requesting that the user change their well-establish habits in some way. While poorly designed applications have been successful, this is often due to sheer marketing power, closed proprietary standards and long-term market domination. An aesthetically pleasing, user interface contributes dramatically to user satisfaction and application adoption. One of the easiest ways to encourage adoption is to provide features and social hooks, such as commenting or rating ideas, that encourage user participation.

For instance, the idea of a tree-like navigation structure has become dated. Applying “social metadata,” such as tags and popularity recommendations, to content – a staple of the Web 2.0 consumer culture – has only recently entered the realm of corporate application infrastructure. This move is extremely important, because it changes the fundamentals of UI design. This usability heuristic transforms the data manipulation experience into a collaborative effort. Now the application is as much about the people using it, as it is about the structuring of corporate data.

First, a quote:

“When systems match user needs, satisfaction often improves dramatically. In a 1992 Gartner Group study, usability methods raised user satisfaction ratings for a system by 40%.” (Bias & Mayhew, 1994)

And some basic usability guidelines:

• Break complicated tasks into small chunks. Focus on collecting one distinct piece of information at a time instead of overwhelming the user. This alone can add immediate, substantive ROI.
• KISS. Avoid adding design features unless they serve a distinct purpose.
• Add a collaborative element to the application by encouraging users to rate/comment/review and subscribe to information and services within the application.
  

Emotional experience

Don’t be mislead – there is no such thing as truly “rational experience”. Even the most rational people tend to act on emotion, then back up their emotional response with a rational argument. Within a business application, design is one of the few ways you can connect with your users on an emotional level. Good design delivers an aesthetic experience that puts a user at ease. The better a user feels about an application, the more likely they are to engage with it.

This visceral feeling is called emotional capital. Coca Cola President Steven Heyer refers to it as, “the value of the emotional commitments held in the hearts of the people within your business. It can be described as the feelings, beliefs and values held by everyone working in the business.”

On an extreme end, when people buy in to the design, they associate their aspirations with using your application or product. The easiest example to cite is the often cult-like Apple Mac experience, or the rave reviews by a dedicated few to products like Twitter.

Credibility

As we established above, many of the decisions we make are based on gut feelings. And trust is definitely one of those feelings. So how does one elicit trust?

Think about the last time you went on a job interview or a date. You probably spent a lot of time working on your appearance before the big event. The reason you did that, is of course the dreaded “first impression”. As many studies have pointed out, people decide whether they are going to hire you within the first few seconds of your conversation. Talk about pressure!

The same case can be made for web applications. The fact is, busy users are not going to spend several hours determining whether they want to use your tool. You have a couple of minutes – if you’re lucky.

The easy path towards a good impression is with design. Clean visual design that shows the time, personal care and effort that went into the application will cause the user to give pause. Remember that visceral feeling? Providing a sumptuous user experience tells people that your application is important. That is deserves their time, and their commitment to learn.

And when you’ve achieved the all important emotive buy in, you’ve virtually ensured project adoption.