We'll admit the start of 2020 has been anything but ordinary. With many organizations adjusting their strategy to fit with the unprecedented circumstances, it's clear that a user-centric approach to digital transformation is more important than ever. That co-innovation can be a very efficient means to deliver such change frugally. A user-centric approach is critical, especially as workers find themselves tethered remotely from their traditional workplaces. Apps must make intuitive sense for users, and the need for special training or IT support is minimized. The Intelligent Enterprise depends on large-scale systems and data integration. SAP is leading and full-court press by SAP and its partners, such as ConvergentIS, to integrate role-based design.
At the Sapphire Now event, Shaun sat down with Jan Ruessel from SAP to share firsthand his views on how a positive user experience can improve people's lives. Don't worry if you haven't seen the video just yet; we captured the top three themes from this discussion, all highly relevant today.
One of the fallacies discussed was the traditional change management of pushing new technology to users with training and communication, while the underlying experience is challenging. This way of thinking has slowly evolved into change management activities that "advise" users what they should expect to create excitement that is not grounded in how users use and view products. Shaun shared that introducing change that appreciates how users work and centering the solution on them, as opposed to "seeing change managed into people, is essential to the Intelligent Enterprise's success.
The current crisis never surfaces like before the importance of putting users first, as many users are working remotely. We need to be prepared for the very real possibility that support for remote and mobile workers will make up an essential and on-going thread of how business will be done. By including affected users in design thinking workshops, solutions are designed to improve the way they are working, and hence, the business outcomes. Since the user directly sees the benefit, they do not need to be "change managed" in the traditional sense.
It's not uncommon to believe that designing something tailored for our users can be costly. Shaun expressed that this does not need to be the case. In addition to creating custom solutions, ConvergentIS creates opportunities for customers to participate in co-innovation actively. Active participation means enterprises facing a specific set of problems aren't unique. So, why not team, saving resources and time, to partner to create solutions create a solution. The result is a less costly or frugal innovation that is still designed to improve your business's users' work processes.
We have seen this same opportunity come to life, recently, in the new Canadian tax forms. Since most of the Canadian workforce is now working from home, there has been an influx of tax forms stating that employees are working from home. This means that someone needs to validate that all documents have been completed correctly, a long and tedious job. To make this process simple and easy, Shaun shared that they are currently working on a user-centric process in a co-innovation partnership with several Canadian enterprises to eliminates the complexity. This is an example of frugal innovation that happened exceptionally quickly. Design and development cycles don't need to take vast amounts of time or costs excessive amounts of money. They can be done in small increments that make huge differences.
We are amidst a digital transformation as we speak. Shaun cautions us; “Despite the crisis, and even because of the crisis, there are things we can do now, in appreciation for how users work, either remotely, or in an office, to frugally innovate new solutions to fill the gaps that stand in the way of producing positive business results. Resources might be tight but there are still things we can do for our people.”
While we might not know what is to come, it doesn't mean we should play it safe and do nothing with a volatile economy. It would be a shame to let them waste opportunities to make significant transformations even in a pandemic. We want to help you become the hero in your journey, just like our friends in the Region of Halton.