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Summary
Many of the most successful software development practices — like agile and UX — emerged in the consumer facing private sector. Think Airbnb, Spotify, Uber. But what happens when we try to map those practices onto large enterprises that typically serve internal employees rather than the public? For example, are UX’ers prepared to think about how large systems connect and interact? How about the challenges of HR and roles and responsibilities? Challenges such as these are highly relevant in enterprise spaces, and perhaps even more so in the public sector where systems are often quite old and ways of working have calcified. This talk focuses on “gaps” in Enterprise UX, and how we might seek to close them.
Key Insights
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Enterprise UX often requires adopting solutions like AI before clear problems are defined, shifting traditional problem-first dogma.
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Internal enterprise users frequently have no choice in software adoption, making traditional metrics like usage less meaningful.
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Designers must learn to design effectively for off-the-shelf software platforms commonly used in enterprises, such as Sitecore and Salesforce.
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Legacy interconnected systems create hidden constraints and dependencies that complicate UX improvements and require holistic system thinking.
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People and process design are as critical as technology design in enterprise UX but often overlooked by designers.
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Enterprise UX designers often play roles in adoption and training of new tools, expanding their traditional scope of work.
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Facilitation skills are essential for UX designers to manage stakeholder politics and achieve consensus in complex enterprise environments.
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Existing UX playbooks focusing on consumer-facing methods are insufficient for enterprise challenges and need extension.
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Measuring success in enterprise UX requires new metrics such as quality, efficiency, and employee satisfaction beyond simple adoption numbers.
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Users often develop workarounds outside official systems when frustrated, indicating important unseen challenges in enterprise UX.
Notable Quotes
"Sometimes the solution perceives the problem in the eyes of users, especially in enterprise spaces."
"Users have no choice but to use the software we build, so adoption metrics are often not useful."
"Designers need better training to work with off-the-shelf enterprise software like Sitecore, Salesforce, and SharePoint."
"Legacy interconnected systems mean improving one area can create problems in another, and we don't always know those constraints upfront."
"People and process design are real, real things we have to consider, not just the technology piece."
"Enterprise UX often pulls designers into adoption and training roles, even if that feels outside traditional design work."
"Facilitation is the grease between the wheels of difficult organizational challenges."
"No one is born knowing how to facilitate; it takes training, observation, and practice."
"Users creatively circumvent broken enterprise systems, which traditional metrics often miss."
"The current design education system doesn't always prepare designers for the complexity of enterprise challenges."
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