UX expectations grow

Enterprise UX has taken giant strides in the last couple of years. On New Florence, I have profiled design innovation at Microsoft, Oracle, Infor and others.

Yet, in many ways, future benchmarks may not come from each other but other industries that many users are experiencing in their daily lives.

Places like DisneyWorld where the UX has been dramatically transformed. FastCompany has a long article on the MyMagic+ project and the risks Disney took.

“It would push the boundaries of experience design and wearable computing, and impact everything from Disney’s retail operations and data-mining capabilities to its hospitality and transportation services”

It was a $ billion makeover with the credo  of “it better work”"

Or much closer to home in our cars. Consumer Reports has cameos of infotainment projects at all the major auto brands. While Tesla and BMW get plenty of kudos, even humbler Fords and Hyundais are sporting digital makeovers.

The big difference is Disney rethought the  park experience – how guests entered the park, how they unlocked their guest rooms, how they paid for stuff, how they waited for rides – then applied mobile, RFID and other catechnology to improve it. Many enterprise vendors are just presenting prettier retina display versions of earlier screens.

When it comes to automakers, they are not just focused on visual UI. They  are incorporating audio, haptic and other UI. They have long been preparing for driverless cars with sensors, cameras, radar and other technology. Enterprise vendors mostly still design with the finance or order entry professional in mind, not look at how to automate the manual entry process with scanners and other data capture and machine learning technology.

Disney did not turn to SAP or Oracle – it used Frog, the design agency. Some of the automakers may turn next to Google or Apple for next-gen UX.

Enterprise UX has for three decades been influenced by the “consumerization of technology”. Microsoft, Apple and others were the big influencers. In the future, the connected home, car, bank, store, park will be just as influential.

What we use on Monday morning better be as good as what we experience Sunday morning and evening.