Enterprise Storytelling Sessions
Summary
With curation and support from Dan Willis, eight presenters told their enterprise UX stories: Kim Bieler, Jane Bungum, David Cain, Audrey Crane, Lada Gorlenko, Jordan Koschei, Liu Liu, and Eva Miller.
Key Insights
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Users resist enterprise tools that feel misaligned with their personal incentives, preferring familiar workarounds like Excel.
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Effective enterprise UX requires not just designing products but fostering human trust and collaboration within teams.
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Enterprise clients often impose processes that can conflict with UX best practices, requiring adaptation and education.
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Enterprise design demands specialized skills blending technical knowledge and complex problem-solving, deserving distinct recognition.
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Technology choices made early in enterprise products often persist unchallenged despite changing requirements, leading to major product limitations.
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Transparent experiences with minimal user interfaces can sometimes better serve enterprise users focused on getting a job done.
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Resistance from development teams can stem from cultural attitudes that overlook user experience in favor of technical pride.
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Meditation and mindfulness practices help designers manage complexity, reduce imposter syndrome, and foster calm in high-pressure environments.
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Framing enterprise UX challenges as elite skills helps attract talent and build credibility within organizations.
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Physical solutions and tooling can greatly improve usability in environments where digital interfaces are impractical or unwelcome.
Notable Quotes
"Nobody wants nothing. Nobody says, can't, what the hell get in my office? How come you did not do anything?"
"Be a human first. I should have been a human first and a designer second."
"It's okay. I just wish it were a little bit jazzier and sexier."
"Anytime you have to justify something by saying just this one time, you know you’re going down a bad road."
"Developers are stinking gods among men, generous in their selfishness who keep fixing what’s not broken until it is."
"When systems fail, Jigad works best within a framework — innovation that must scale happens with an ecosystem view."
"The harder I think, the further I am from the answer."
"Are we bold enough to ditch the user interface in favor of a better experience, a transparent one?"
"Enterprise problems are often engineering problems as much as design problems."
"A typical enterprise customer has like five analysts who need a login, not millions of users."
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