Simplify the User Experience
Co-author : Sachin Avasthi
In the previous blog, we looked at standardization at scale and how common platforms, architectures, and processes can reduce complexity and create a stronger foundation for growth. One of its biggest benefits is felt not behind the scenes but in how people experience technology every day. When systems and processes work together consistently, users should not have to deal with the complexity that exists underneath and that is the essence of the next principle of transformation which is improving user and customer experience.
User experience is about how easily and effectively people can interact with technology to get their work done. A good user experience means users can complete their tasks with minimal effort, without having to worry about the complexity of the systems and processes working behind the scenes.
One of the biggest challenges to user experience is having too many systems involved in a business process. In many organizations, users must move between multiple applications just to complete a single activity. Each application has a different interface, navigation, terminology, or approval process. Users may enter the same information more than once, move data manually between systems, or use spreadsheets and emails to fill the gaps. Even when each individual system works as designed, the overall experience can still be complicated.
This is where standardization and user experience are closely connected. When organizations use common platforms, processes, and integration patterns, information can flow between systems automatically instead of being entered multiple times. Improvements can be made once and reused across the organization rather than solved separately in each system. The same applies to automation and AI, with standardized processes and connected data, AI can help users find information, automate repetitive activities, provide recommendations, and support decisions within their normal flow of work.
A successful transformation should therefore look at the experience from the user’s point of view. Some of the opportunities include:
• Creating unified workflows so users can complete tasks in one place instead of switching between systems
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• Reducing system handoffs and unnecessary manual coordination
• Designing role-based interfaces so users see the information and actions relevant to them
• Streamlining business processes so common tasks can be completed in fewer steps
• Using automation and AI to reduce repetitive work and help users make faster, better-informed decisions
When the experience improves, the impact is visible. People adopt the technology more naturally, errors and manual work decrease, and business processes become faster and easier to execute. Ultimately, the success of transformation is not measured only by how modern the technology is, but by how effectively that technology helps people do their jobs.
One example from our implementation involved a business process that spanned multiple applications and vendor systems. The process started with a manager entering information into a system where system of record exists, then went through several approvals, a downstream system generated the agreement, another system sent the document for digital signature, and once everything was completed, another process calculated the payment. These were disconnected activities, and users often had to move between systems to understand where things stood.
As part of the new implementation, we connected these activities through a single end-to-end workflow, with the required approvals built into different stages of the process. Instead of switching between systems or following up manually, users can now see where the request is, what has been completed, and what needs to happen next. The underlying process still involves multiple systems, but from the user’s perspective, it feels like one connected business process.
Improving user and customer experience is not a nice to have goal. Its fundamental measure of whether transformation has succeeded. When people can complete their work faster, with fewer systems to navigate and less manual effort, the benefits of transformation become visible.
In the next blog which is also the last one in the series, we’ll dive deeper into decommissioning redundant and legacy applications and rationalizing the integration landscape. We will summarize the series and mention why did we even write this series.
