Any time we visit a website, use an application, electronic device or any other product, we quickly develop an attitude toward the experience. We refer to the overall attitude toward product usage as the user experience (UX). It’s the way we feel when we interact with a product or a system.
Positive user experiences are the reason people recommend Apple computers to their grandparents or use Airbnb to stay in a stranger’s house. In user experience design, the user is a core focus of the project while creating a product that is purposeful and, ultimately, wowing users with great experiences that keep them coming back.
Salesforce User Experience Design
First impressions are crucial. This goes for the examples above and for a CRM like Salesforce.
Your Salesforce interface may have one chance for the user to understand the value of the system and how it can positively impact their day-to-day tasks. A poorly built user interface can cause someone to abandon the system and risk your company’s Salesforce user adoption.
On the flip side, an interface designed with users in mind has the reverse effect. UX design makes users feel like the technology is working for them rather than the other way around.
UX design requires you to gain a comprehensive understanding of how your users will navigate the system and its data. As a result, you can empower users with all the information they need in the right place and at the right time.
Emotions are powerful, and thoughtful UX design can tap into that power. Ultimately, a positive and effective Salesforce user experience can:
Increase Salesforce user adoption
Transform business operations
Maximize Salesforce return on investment (ROI)
Lead to better outcomes for your business
Key Elements of Salesforce User Experience Design
UX design is a relatively new concept in the digital world. Over the years, many methodologies and opinions have been shared in the space. But as in any other field of expertise, there are fundamental elements that we generally gravitate toward because they are proven Salesforce user experience best practices.
Salesforce User Experience Research
Graphic artists often say, “You can’t design in a vacuum.” This is even more critical where user interactions are concerned.
Users are central to everything that encompasses UX, and user feedback is the lifeblood of good UX design. However, receiving user feedback is not always an easy task.
Get To Know Real Salesforce Users
There are myriad methods for gaining user feedback, but the important thing to remember is to get as close to the source as possible. You need to understand day-to-day tasks of actual Salesforce users in the org you’re designing. For example, you can conduct user surveys at strategic intervals throughout the deployment phase. Or, you can host an in-person gathering and obtain user feedback in a more conversational manner.
At CRM Science, we partner with our clients to help them obtain and validate user feedback, so we can tailor the Salesforce user experience based on empirical data rather than assumptions.
Consistency in Salesforce User Experience Design
Consistency is crucial. When my former teammates used to nitpick over process, I would tell them, “Rather than finding the optimum process, it’s more important that we are all working the same way.” Consistency allows for efficiency because it takes out the guesswork. At the time of this blog, Microsoft Office applications still use an icon of a floppy disk to represent the save button. Many younger users don’t know what floppy disks are, but they know that clicking the icon will save their work!
It’s important; however, to discern between industry standards and simply “mimicking” a successful design. Imitation doesn’t work because companies and its users are unique.
The Salesforce Lightning Design System is a great example of streamlining the user experience based on industry standards — from both technical and visual standpoints. It allows for a seamless transition because components look and feel familiar to users. Simultaneously, it increases efficiency and empowers users to work not just faster, but smarter.
Adapting Salesforce User Experience Design Strategy
It’s okay to deviate from the plan. Be flexible enough to make changes to your Salesforce org as new data and feedback presents itself. Salesforce user experience strategy and design can shift at any time due to:
Changes in technology
Market trends
Industry standards
Organizational change (mergers and acquisitions, leadership changes)
On a micro-level, you should be ready to update your system based on the feedback you receive. Prototypes, wireframes, and mockups are all powerful tools based on the principle of being ready to change the system mid-process.
Our team of U.S.A-based Salesforce experts uses Agile methodologies to deliver value throughout the life of a partnership.
UX It is often a forgotten step in a Salesforce implementation, but the design of your projects is just as important as the solution it brings to you.
Contact CRM Science Salesforce Consultants
UX is not a fad. As long as there will be human beings interacting with machines and systems, UX will be relevant. That’s why CRM Science has added in-house UX resources to the team. With these resources, CRM Science Salesforce consulting clients benefit from our white-glove services even more.
Contact us to discuss how CRM Science’s UX capabilities can drive your project forward.
