Over the past several years, we have worked on a number of different UX projects. Some of them were utilizing SAP technology (i.e. Fiori and SAPUI5 ) and some were custom.
During these projects a couple of situations arose where we ‘learned’ a great deal. Here are some of those lessons. Hopefully they will be helpful in your projects
Ask the 'Buy vs Build' question
Clients purchase SAP not because they provide the most advanced technology, but because SAP provides the most sophisticated business applications.
Building custom applications and not using the SAP delivered applications is a major investment. There needs to be valid reasons for it. These reasons should be the core focus when designing the custom application.
Responsive design is a core benefit of HTML5 architectures. It provides a way to create applications which run, correctly, on both mobile and non-mobile platforms.
Building native applications provides more robust mobile functionality, like offline support, but think hard about the need since you will need to write seperate applications for mobile and non-mobile users.
Never ask users what they 'want'
Asking what they ‘want’ tends to lead to unproductive discussions around what is possible based on technology and time/money. Instead given them a set of different options to choose from.
For example, instead of asking ‘what color do you want the button to be’. Show them three different colors ( which match the established pallet ) and ask them which one they would want. This keeps from having to explain to them why they cannot use a flashing red button!
Do not let the ‘backend’ drive the ‘front end’
The main purpose of an SAP UX project is to simplify the lives of the users accessing the system. .
The main purpose of an SAP UX project is to simplify the lives of the users accessing the system. Everyone will agree that the SAPGUI screens are NOT user friendly. So avoid the temptation to add functionality to an HTML5 screen just because ‘its on the SAPGUI transaction’
If you would like more information on how we can help you with your project, please contact us.
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