Customer, consumer, user. Customer, consumer, user. And customer, consumer, user. We can’t repeat it enough, as these three terms are so important in the development and use of an application or software. In fact, the customer is not only part of the of organization’s constant preoccupations but is increasingly becoming the strategic core of products or services. Numerous concepts and types of approaches try to find THE way to respond effectively to the user, or to customize the offer according to his needs.
The web is obviously not immune to this strong trend and a large number of applications are mainly based on user feedback to gradually evolve their products. The concept of Lean Startup makes also good use of this feedback in order to reduce risk and benefits from these iterations in order to provide a product adapted to specific needs. Software of all kinds must also take a user-centered tangent, prioritize satisfaction, but more importantly, promote efficiency. The principle applies even more in service management (ITSM). But beyond the basic idea, how can we ensure a successful user experience?
1. The Intuitiveness of Single Page Application
Ergonomics and ease of use have always represented a challenge for service desk software designers, dealing with great amount of incidents, requests, changes, and problems. Therefore, software must ensure features fluidity and more importantly, the intuitiveness of related actions. To meet this need for fluidity, the single page application or SPA model, which is a web application accessed via a single web page, aims to avoid loading a new page for each action requested and thus streamlining the user experience. This application element can have a lot of benefits for resources working in customer care centers or in an IT department (serving internal customers). SPA has an immediate impact on service quality and speed of response provided by resources. A fast access to data, information sources, and problem solving, from a knowledge base per example, is also part of the benefits of SPA.
Thus, the single-page application refers directly to the quality of the proposed interface, which directly influences user efficiency and satisfaction.
2 . Dynamic Process and Customization
Hundreds of business processes are managed through various software. The intuitiveness and understanding of these processes are essential to the proper conduct of organizational activities , as well as their dynamics. In the case management services in an efficient and intuitive practice tends to group a set of process around the service catalog , the software structure and fluidity of the underlying shares based on this central element.
The user experience must be dynamic, moving, and consistent. For an ITSM software, process dynamism includes automation, automated alerts, escalations, business rules and many others automations. This functional vitality brings its advantages, as a better ergonomic experience, but also saves time and work that is not negligible. For technical resources and everyday users of various applications, this saved time represents enormous value and relates to advanced work teams and to the results of the organization as a whole.
Successful user experience should also be based on a flexibility which results in a potential customization of application elements. Being used in various departments and sectors, the ITSM software for example, must permit labeling adapted to be used by various businesses. The user experience is therefore also the understanding of the software and its many facets. However, if this customization is not included or suitable for IT support team or a call center, it will reduce the flow of actions and services, diminishing at the same time the productivity of the group. This aspect also adds customization relational concept between the human and the machine, adding an important link in the success of a given experiment .
Finally, in a context of increasingly automated and constant self-service, the customization of self-service portals parameters such as logo, colors, locations, form fields ,and client- resource, to name but a few, is essential and contributes to the quality of a good user experience.
3 . Tailored to Different Types of Users
Thirdly, we must consider the differences between groups of users. When you choose a software or an application, be sure to prioritize an option that will optimally different groups and adapt its functional features (both in terms of structure than the content) according to individual needs. For ITSM software, here some indicators / criterias on which you can rely.
Depending on the needs of technical resources :
- Ergonomic interface
- Intuitive and simple use
- Rapid assumption of a “request / task”
- Overall flexibility
- Automation capabilities makes life easier for resources (assignment, classification, alerts, escalations, etc.)
Depending on the needs of end users ( internal or external customers ) :
- An ease of use
- A real-time monitoring
- A proactive and responsive to their needs
- A 24/7 service
- Accces to a knowledge base
- An application run by a service catalog
- A quick follow-up on requests (pending, completed)
- A rapid exchange with the service provider (via notes)