{"id":7325,"date":"2015-08-10T17:43:42","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T00:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proxystudio.uxpin.com\/?p=7325"},"modified":"2026-04-15T02:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:40:47","slug":"fighting-for-ux-design-in-the-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/fighting-for-ux-design-in-the-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting for UX Design in the Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Working as a UX designer in the enterprise world can be challenging, but the experience can also be fun and rewarding. If you enjoy solving complex problems and function well in an environment with well-defined boundaries, enterprise UX could be right up your alley.<\/p>\n

Having worked on a design team in a large corporation for the past four years, I\u2019ll share tips and observations for more successful design amidst the politics and complex workflows.<\/p>\n

Feature photo credit: Open office collaboration at Digital Telepathy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Knowing Your Users in the Flesh<\/h2>\n

Many\u00a0enterprise companies, including ones that build consumer products, have also established a presence in the B2B space. This means their software is used by very specific, and sometimes narrow, groups of industry professionals.<\/p>\n

For example, UX designers work on projects ranging from medical software, to e-commerce platforms, to HR portals. Because these tools support a defined process, doing thorough initial research is crucial to designing a successful application.<\/p>\n

No matter how much prior knowledge you have about the field, working on a B2B application dictates a steep learning curve. On the plus side, most enterprises have a well-defined relationship with their clients. You can leverage this relationship to get in contact with users to do field studies and interviews.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: Nicholas Wang<\/a>. Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the best ways to gather information about users is through immersion. Spending a couple of days in their workplace reveals wealth of information about their physical and social environment, tools they use, and all the nuanced responsibilities. You can watch your application in action and interview users shortly afterwards, which provides valuable insights into how what you can streamline. While moderated usability testing sessions in a lab or remote setting are still helpful, nothing beats watching how users interact with the product in a realistic setting (especially if you bring your team along).<\/p>\n

For example, one of the companies I worked for built applications for ambulance paramedics. As part of their job, paramedics are expected not only to treat transported patients, but also collect and record their contact and insurance information. This task was challenging because of the stressful and fast-paced work conditions.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: NEC Corporation of America<\/a>. Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To put ourselves in users’ shoes, my team actually spent a day riding in an ambulance to observe medics respond to 911 calls. It was eye-opening to find out how many responsibilities paramedics juggled in the little time they had. We learned that filling out patient reports was secondary to taking care of the patient and it was often done with many interruptions. Every second counted, so we had to create a stripped-down interface featuring information in bite-sized chunks, clear color contrast, and highly legible text.<\/p>\n

Surviving the Dangers of UX Complexity<\/h2>\n

Complexity has become synonymous with enterprise software and it stems from legacy business processes. Users of enterprise applications are busy professionals who have important jobs and they can no longer accomplish these jobs within Excel or Google Docs. They look to enterprise application vendors for more powerful tools that don\u2019t further complicate their work.<\/p>\n

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Image credit: Sacha Chua<\/a>. Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From the previously mentioned paramedic example, it becomes clear that most workflows involve multiple steps and interactions with others. While designers might not have the power to simplify these workflows, we can create applications that align with users’ goals in the most intuitive ways.<\/p>\n

One of the ways to tackle complexity is to break the process down into key steps and analyze the purpose of each step. This approach brings redundancy and duplication to light and informs decisions about how to best prioritize functionality. As discussed in another post, simplify your user flows<\/a> before you design anything.<\/p>\n

Understand the dangers of perceived complexity, which does not reflect how complex the software really is<\/i>, but how complex it looks<\/i> to the user. Reducing perceived complexity makes the interface feel simple and familiar, giving users the confidence in their own ability to learn and use the application. There are many ways to minimize perceived complexity<\/a> by relying on progressive disclosure, reducing visual noise, and reusing the same elements to minimize the learning curve.<\/p>\n

Capitalizing on Teamwork<\/h2>\n

Unlike startups where designers work in many different capacities, responsibilities are clearly differentiated in big organizations. This translates into a larger number of people who work with a UX designer and have a say in the final product. Most likely, you will be partnering with project managers, software engineers, visual designers, content creators, marketing specialists, user researchers, and many others.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: Johannes van Assem<\/a>. Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the upside, you have a larger pool of experts to draw on. Each of these specialists uses their knowledge to help you solve problems outside of your area of expertise. For example, a visual designer will take care of fonts, colors, and graphic assets, while you can focus on your part of the project (perhaps that\u2019s the overall UX design, or just the interaction design<\/a>).<\/p>\n

For more tips on collaborative design, check out the free Design Collaboration in the Enterprise: Building the Foundation of Brilliance<\/a> ebook.<\/p>\n

On the downside, engaging with multiple stakeholders adds steps to the design process and slows down decision making. When the slightest change, such as replacing an icon or removing a tooltip, requires a blessing from another team member, the project does not move forward until all approvals are received. Added wait times are dangerous because they stall the team and offset timelines. Also, be prepared for lengthy discussions with a lot of opinions tossed around the room. Even though everyone’s input is important, you will be exercising your ability to moderate these conversations and make hard decisions to avoid design by committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a few tips to smooth out the process:<\/p>\n