Usability in ERP today / Standard system vs in-house development

The ERP system does a lot of the work for you ? if the usability is right.

There are things that don't need to be explained. Paper is one of them. Envelopes. Folders. Pens. Paper baskets. We are fully aware of their symbolism in everyday office life. We use them the way we use these things. The designers of user interfaces make use of this intuition every day. This is called usability ? or why do you think you feel the need to empty the wastepaper basket on your desktop? Exactly.

Versino Financial Suite for SAP Business One Finance

With paper baskets, this intuition is still easily retrievable. Even with writing programmes. Or emails. Are the processes behind an application is more complex, the user sometimes sits in front of the screen at a loss. And in the end clicks on the X in frustration. Because he knows that.

If you are only trying to familiarise yourself with software "privately" - because your wife's brother said that since he has been recording his expenses in Excel, he has really been able to save money - it is not a bad thing if your patience breaks. However, in everyday working life, which is becoming increasingly digitalised in the vast majority of industries, it is important to be adaptable when it comes to software. Although the system does a lot of work for you, it still needs to be learnt how to use it. Depending on Industry it must still be possible to understand the complex processes in operation.

Usability in ERP systems

Although users can be influenced by these processes The standardised symbols can be used to guide the user, but after a certain point, arrows and magnifying glasses can no longer be used to automatically understand certain processes. Nevertheless, it is important that these processes are depicted as user-friendly as possible. Especially with complex ERP software, in which many processes are presented almost identically in one system, this is a special challenge. On the one hand, it is possible to guide the user through the system in a similar way for similar processes, but the user must be intercepted exactly where special features require different handling.

ERP Usability - In-house Development vs. Standardised

In the case of software that is specifically programmed for a company, the internal IT or key users are integrated into the development of the processes to such an extent that training can also be handled internally. At standardised systems such as SAP Business One However, the processes are already mapped and are 'only' adapted to the company. It is advisable to have someone with system experience train the employees. Especially since standardised software such as SAP Business One benefits from the fact that the processes have been tested by many companies and efficiently improved to the optimum. However, this optimum can only be exploited if the processes are understood and applied accordingly.

ERP usability as a growing process

Similarly, weak points in the individual processes can be more easily recognised and improved in the future. Those who know their processes also know where they are prone to errors. Usability is therefore more than just the mindless running of a process path. If the paths are clearly presented and the goal is also clear to the user, these processes can be constantly and efficiently expanded.

More on usability in standard systems here.

SAP B1 blog