Digital transformation initiatives sometimes yield moderate results because only a fraction of end users participate and comply. What often holds colleagues back from adopting these solutions is the end-user experience, which usually needs more attention or gets completely overlooked when designing and rolling out internal solutions. This requires IT to know not only about infrastructure and data but also how things function on the business end for everyday employees trying to complete their core tasks.
Ultimately, any digital initiative’s success will be judged by its impact, and it takes widespread compliance to move the needle in most cases. Neglecting this aspect can be fatal in any project, so IT must prioritize delivering an efficient, intuitive, and streamlined user experience. Let’s dig into why UX matters even for internal-facing projects.
Digital transformation initiatives aim to ensure end users—employees, knowledge workers, and contractors relying on these solutions—can quickly and painlessly complete core tasks. Suppose a new process isn’t designed and delivered intuitively and streamlined. In that case, end users may feel lost, frustrated, ignored, or even resentful that they must add additional, clunky steps to their daily workflows.
While employees can’t shop around the same way a consumer might, they still have some agency. If they don’t enjoy using a new system or struggle with a redesigned workflow, they might keep doing things the old way or opt-out altogether. Even if they grudgingly become adopters, they may only use things a fraction of the times they could or should be doing so. Asking staff to slog through a painful, uncomfortable process regularly indicates that the business doesn’t value their efficiency or productivity. The user may not feel good about it if it suits the organization.
Given that the goal of digital transformation is maximum participation, incorporating end users early on in the process is vital. Before designing a good user experience for the project, you need a greater context of current affairs.
Good UX practices include:
Minimizing steps and clicks
Consistent naming, color coding, keyboard shortcuts, menu layouts, etc.
Clear labeling that matches the expected results
Information is easy to find and available where needed
Putting yourself in the end user’s shoes and understanding how this process fits into their overall workflow and daily routines
Uncovering these insights and addressing potential issues before and during development maximizes the project's chances of success. The top end-user concerns and complaints will have already been mitigated before deployment. Plus, end users are ideal participants, given their domain expertise when it’s time for QA and beta testing.
And once launch time arrives, who better to help train colleagues than these super-early adopters? Because they’ve been involved in the project, they’re now invested in its success and will add credibility and specificity when educating their peers.
